Referential Communication Between Friends and Strangers in the Wild

The Map Task (Anderson et al., 1991) and Tangram (Clark & Wilkes-Gibbs, 1986) are traditional referential communication tasks that used in psycholinguistics research to demonstrate how conversational partners mutually agree on descriptions (or referring expressions) for landmarks or unusual target objects. These highly-controlled, laboratory-based take place under conditions relatively naturally-occurring conversations (Speed, Wnuk, Majid, 2016). In this study, we the Artwalk (Liu, Fox Tree, Walker, 2016) – a real world-situated blend of process negotiating expressions ‘in wild’ is similar takes laboratory. Artwalk, participant pairs communicated via Skype-to-mobile phone connection. One guided other through small downtown area with goal identifying public art objects, finding objects twice during two rounds. addition replicating laboratory results, also found acquaintanceship extraversion influenced number unique descriptors by dyads task. Round 1, introverts stranger fewer but friend were indistinguishable from extraverts. influence declined 2. This study suggests referent negotiation observed labs generalizable naturalistic subject social personality factors may not be as influential conditions.