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We conducted a 2x2 Wizard of Oz between-subject user study with sixteen healthy older adults. We investigated how to make social robots converse more naturally and reciprocally through unstructured conversation. We varied the level of interaction by changing the level of verbal and nonverbal communication the robot provided. Participants interacted with the robot for eight sessions engaging in an unstructured conversation. These conversations lasted thirty minutes to an hour. This paper will evaluate four questions from the post-interaction survey individuals completed after each session with the robot. The questions include: (i) I had fun talking to the robot; (ii) I felt I had a meaningful conversation; (iii) I was engaged the whole interaction; and (iv) I would consider the robot my friend. All participants reported they were engaged, had a meaningful conversation, and had fun during all eight sessions. Seven individuals felt the robot was their friend.
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Laughter Indicates Perceived Similarity Among Friends and Strangers
Abstract Laughter is a signature of social connection, thought to communicate a shared understanding of nonseriousness. Building on this idea, the present work examines whether people laugh more when they perceive similarity with their social partner, or instead, feel more similar when they laugh. Participants (Ndyads = 132) had semi-structured conversations with both a friend and a stranger, discussing ways they were similar to and different from one another. Although conversation topic did not affect overall laughter, friends laughed even more than strangers when discussing their differences. A composite of baseline perceived similarity measures predicted how much dyads laughed and colaughed. Participants laughed more if they felt similar to their partnerorif their partner felt similar to them. Partners who laughed more also expressed more shared reality during their conversations (e.g., saying “I agree”) and self-reported greater subjective shared reality afterwards. Laughter and verbal agreement appeared to serve overlapping conversational functions: when laughter occurred, shared reality verbal expressions became less likely in the next two seconds. A subset analysis of friend dyads showed that onlyperceivedsimilarity—not actual similarity—predicted laughter. However, laughter was not associated with subsequent changes in perceived similarity. In sum, conversational laughter reflects a preexisting sense of similarity and shared understanding, both of which underly social connection.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2145385
- PAR ID:
- 10677230
- Publisher / Repository:
- Journal of Nonverbal Behavior
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Nonverbal Behavior
- ISSN:
- 0191-5886
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-026-00501-x
