fEMG as a window into conversational commitments

Abstract

This paper presents a first experiment within a larger series of experiments on commitments taken on by our speech acts. The experiment serves as a proof of method, demonstrating that the physiological measure of facial electromyography (fEMG)—the recording of facial muscle activity—is a useful methodology for studying commitments in communication. Specifically, we experimentally demonstrate that we can use fEMG to measure norm violations in conversation and from there infer the commitments taken on by conversational participants. We explain how this methodology can be expected to contribute to a better understanding of what happens when we communicate.