ATTRIBUTION OF MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING 411
area,^54 transcripts previously analyzed by Steuber^55 in the
identification of linguistic features that discriminate transcripts of
interviews with individuals diagnosed with either schizophrenia
or depression have been considered, finding no significant level
of repetitions of others, but individual persistence via self-
repetition. The potential use of the methods proposed in the suite
of tools for diagnosis of syndromes with distinctive
accompanying effects on conversational linguistic abilities is an
area ripe for deeper exploration using the methods demonstrated
here.
This article has introduced a method of interaction analysis
based on repetition analysis that is distinct in analytical details
from other analytical methods in the literature. The use of the
methods has been demonstrated by analyzing transcripts that are
freely available and with respect to which it is possible to draw
upon independent assessments of the degree to which the
transcribed conversations demonstrate engaged interaction and
mutual understanding. Allo-repetition effects are taken to be
those where the repetitions of tokens by an individual of
dialogue partners immediately preceding contributions, summed
over the conversation, significantly exceed in actual conversation
the same measurement averaged over turn-randomized
treatments of the conversation. Self-repetition effects are those
where in the cumulative counts of repetitions of a speaker’s
immediately prior contribution significantly exceed for actual
conversation the averaged accumulated counts for randomized
counterparts. Self-repetition effects are taken to be indicative of
speaker persistence with dialogue plans. Allo-repetition effects
are taken to be signals of mutual engagement in dialog, and the
conversations where these effects appear accord with
independent intuition about the level of engagement and mutual
understanding (distinct from mutual agreement) achieved within
(^54) Carl Vogel, Quantifying Interaction Synchrony as Evidence of Mutual
Understanding, 49 CORTEX (forthcoming 2013).
(^55) Lucas C. Steuber, Disordered Thought, Disordered Language: A
Corpus-Based Description of the Speech of Individuals Undergoing Treatment
for Schizophrenia (2011) (unpublished M.A. thesis, Portland State Univ.),
http://dr.archives.pdx.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/psu/7087/Steuber_psu_0180
E_10321.pdf?sequence=1.