Going with the Flow: An Examination of Entrainment in Typically Developing Children

Purpose: Conversational entrainment is the tendency for individuals to modify their behavior to more closely converge with the behavior of their communication partner and is an important aspect of successful interaction. Evidence of entrainment in adults is robust, yet research regarding its develop...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of speech, language, and hearing research Vol. 62; no. 10; pp. 3706 - 3713
Main Authors:	Wynn, Camille J, Borrie, Stephanie A, Pope, Kiersten A
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	American Speech-Language-Hearing Association 01-10-2019
Subjects:	Age Differences Behavior Change Children Early Adolescents Interaction Interpersonal Communication Preadolescents Speech Communication Speech Habits Time
Online Access:	Get more information
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Summary:	Purpose: Conversational entrainment is the tendency for individuals to modify their behavior to more closely converge with the behavior of their communication partner and is an important aspect of successful interaction. Evidence of entrainment in adults is robust, yet research regarding its development in children is sparse. Here, we investigate the emergence of entrainment skills in typically developing children. Method: Data were collected from a total of 50 typically developing children between the ages of 5 and 14 years. Children participated in a quasiconversational paradigm with a virtual interlocutor. Speech rate of the interlocutor was digitally manipulated to produce fast and slow speech rate conditions. Results: Data from the fast and slow conditions were compared using linear mixed models. Results indicated that children, regardless of age, did not alter their speech to match the rate of the virtual interlocutor. Conclusions: Findings suggest that entrainment in children may not be as robust as entrainment in adults and therefore not adequately captured with the current experimental paradigm. Modifications to the current paradigm will help identify a methodology sufficiently sensitive to capture the speech alignment phenomenon in children and provide much needed information regarding the typical stages of entrainment development.
ISSN:	1092-4388
DOI:	10.1044/2019_JSLHR-S-19-0116