Speech planning depends on next-speaker selection
Evidence from pupillometry in question–answer sequences in naturalistic triadic conversation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11273084 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Christoph Rühlemann (0000-0001-7464-1984, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, corresponding author), Manfred Barthel (0000-0003-1747-1290, Leibniz Institute for the German Language), Mathias Barthel |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 62 |
| Issue | 10 |
| Pages | 765-786 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-26 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Discourse Processes (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0163-853X • E-ISSN: 1532-6950 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/0163853x.2025.2544109 |
| OpenAlex | W4414018724 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 84 |
Next-speaker selection, which controls who should speak next, is fundamental to turn taking. While it is central in Conversation Analysis, little is known about its cognitive repercussions. We draw on turn-taking and pupillometric data in triadic interaction, investigating open-floor questions, which license more than one participant to respond, and closed-floor questions, which license only a single participant to answer. Comparing pupil size changes in answerers versus not-answerers at turn transitions, we find that answerers’ pupils dilate irrespective of question type, while not-answerers’ pupils dilate only in open-floor questions, indicating that in closed-floor questions not-selected participants do not prepare a response, whereas in open-floor questions both recipients engage in response planning, even if only one responds. Mutual gaze, by contrast, is not found to have an effect on pupil size at turn transitions. We propose an extension to the current model of language processing in turn taking, including next-speaker selection as a relevant variable impacting interlocutors’ behavior and their mental processes
Conversation · Conversation analysis · Linguistics · Natural language processing · Naturalism · Pupil · Pupillometry · Selection (genetic algorithm · Speech communication · Speech recognition · Communication · Computer Science · Language Development and Disorders · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Psychology · Speech and dialogue systems · Artificial Intelligence
Speaking
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The pupil as a measure of emotional arousal and autonomic activation
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Universals and cultural variation in turn-taking in conversation
On the Preferences for Agreement and Contiguity in Sequences in Conversation
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Glossary of transcript symbols with an introduction
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Neural correlates of turn-taking in the wild
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Reaching beneath the tip of the iceberg
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An Appeal for a Methodological Fusion of Conversation Analysis and Experimental Psychology
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The Timing and Construction of Preference
Task-evoked pupillary responses, processing load, and the structure of processing resources
On signalling that it's your turn to speak
Gaze selects the next speaker in answers to questions pronominally addressed to more than one co-participant
Mobilizing Response
Some signals and rules for taking speaking turns in conversations
Turn-allocation and gaze
Speakers advance-project turn completion by slowing down
Listeners use intonational phrase boundaries to project turn ends in spoken interaction
Pauses, gaps and overlaps in conversations
When gaze-selected next speakers do not take the turn
Gaze and overlap resolution in triadic interactions
Symmetrical and asymmetrical voice systems and processing load
A Simplest Systematics for the Organization of Turn-Taking for Conversation
Selecting next speaker
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |