Methodology matters: The impact of research design on conversational entrainment outcomes

Abstract

Purpose: Conversational entrainment describes the tendency for individuals to alter their communicative behaviors to more closely align with those of their conversation partner. This communication phenomenon has been widely studied, and thus, the methodologies used to examine it are diverse. Here, we summarize key differences in research design and present a test case to examine the effect of methodology on entrainment outcomes. Method: Sixty neurotypical adults were randomly assigned to experimental groups formed by a 2 × 2 factorial combination of two independent variables: stimuli organization (blocked vs. random presentation) and stimuli modality (auditory-only vs. audiovisual stimuli). Individuals participated in a quasiconversational design in which the speech of a virtual interlocutor was manipulated to produce fast and slow speech rate conditions. Results: There was a significant effect of stimuli organization on entrainment outcomes. Individuals in the blocked, but not the random, groups altered their speech rate to align with the speech rate of the virtual interlocutor. There were no effect of stimuli modality and no interaction between modality and organization on entrainment outcomes. Conclusion: Findings highlight the importance of methodological decisions on entrainment outcomes. This underscores the need for more comprehensive research regarding entrainment methodology.