Distinguished Professor Jean E. Fox Tree co-authored “Small talk in videoconferencing improves conversational experience and fosters relationships” with UCSC psychology alumni Andrew Guydish in Cognition and Emotion.
The article explores how, while many people dislike videoconferencing, one thing that can make it better is allowing time for small talk. Participants in the researchers’ study engaged in three iterations of tasks-and-breaks. Some could chat during breaks, and others couldn’t. Those who could chat enjoyed their conversations more, reported that they were more willing to talk to their partners in the future, and actually did talk to their partners more at the end of the study.”
Fox Tree and Guydish also co-authored “Collateral signals and conversation quality” in Language Sciences, which examines how we think of conversations not just related to the topics being discussed or whether goals were achieved, but how ideas are communicated. Researchers discuss how collateral signals (pronunciations of words, positioning of words, facial expressions, body language, discourse markers) could affect conversation quality.
Fox Tree and Allison Nguyen published “Pragmatic uses of I don’t know, boosters, and hedges in text and talk” in Dialogue & Discourse about how people use words like totally, kinda, and I don’t know differently depending on whether they are speaking or writing, talking to a friend or a stranger, or working on a task or engaging in small talk.