Take a breath and take the turn: how breathing meets turns in spontaneous dialogue

Abstract

Physiological rhythms are sensitive to social interactions and could contribute to defining social rhythms. Nevertheless, our knowledge of the implications of breathing in conversational turn exchanges remains limited. In this paper, we addressed the idea that breathing may contribute to timing and coordination between dialogue partners. The relationships between turns and breathing were analysed in unconstrained face-to-face conversations involving female speakers. No overall relationship between breathing and turn-taking rates was observed, as breathing rate was specific to the subjects' activity in dialogue (listening versus taking the turn versus holding the turn). A general inter-personal coordination of breathing over the whole conversation was not evident. However, specific coordinative patterns were observed in shorter time-windows when participants engaged in taking turns. The type of turn-taking had an effect on the respective coordination in breathing. Most of the smooth and interrupted turns were taken just after an inhalation, with specific profiles of alignment to partner breathing. Unsuccessful attempts to take the turn were initiated late in the exhalation phase and with no clear inter-personal coordination. Finally, breathing profiles at turn-taking were different than those at turn-holding. The results support the idea that breathing is actively involved in turn-taking and turn-holding.