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Abstract

Same-sex pairs of high or low "openers, "persons more or less adept at encozvraging others to talk, engaged in 10-minute conversations. Conversations were videotaped, and the moment-by-moment patterning of speech and gaze was examined by computer. Interest and attentiveness expressed in the subjects' faces were also judged. The high openers used a set of behaviors that may serve to reinforce their partners' participation. An attentive facial expression and the appearance of comfort and enjoyment are part of their visual display during conversation. Brief utterances of simultaneous speech were also emitted by higher opener males while their partners were speaking.

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The "Opener"

Abstract

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