Norah E. Dunbar

Perceptions of power and interactional dominance in interpersonal relationships

This investigation uses dyadic power theory (Dunbar, 2000, 2004; Rollins & Bahr, 1976) to examine the relationship between dominance and power and the behavioral manifestations of power in close relationships. Ninety-seven couples (58 married, 39 cohabiting) completed a problem-solving task together while being videotaped. The videotapes were coded for a variety of verbal and nonverbal dominant control attempts including dysfluencies, interruptions, frequency of adaptor and illustrator gestures, vocal characteristics, and general perceptions of dominance. The results revealed that individuals’ perceptions of power led to more dominant communication behavior during discussions with their partner. Comparisons between the perceptions of participants and observers and the implications for future research are also discussed.

An interactionist perspective on dominance‐submission: Interpersonal dominance as a dynamic, situationally contingent social skill

Dominance‐submission in interpersonal interaction typically has been conceptualized as largely a function of either highly stable characteristics of individual actors (e.g., basic termperament, genetic heritage, fixed social roles) or highly dynamic properties of situations (e.g., relational control sequences). Too, the dominance end of the continuum frequently has been infused with negative connotations. Here it is argued that a more balanced and comprehensive perspective is achieved by conceptualizing interpersonal dominance as influenced by a combination of person, situation, and relationship factors and as including positive qualities that also underwrite social competence. Experimental data relevant to this interactionist perspective were examined for the impacts of one traitlike actor variable (self‐reported social skills), two situational factors (communication format and message goal), and one relationship factor (acquaintanceship) on dominance displays during dyadic interactions. Sender and receiver perceptions were also triangulated with observational data from trained coders. Results support an interactionist conceptualization of dominance.

Effects of Veracity, Modality, and Sanctioning on Credibility Assessment During Mediated and Unmediated Interviews

An experiment examined how veracity, modality, and experimenter sanctioning of deception influenced credibility assessments made by professionals who conducted interviews face-to-face (FtF) or by video conference (VC). Participants (N = 243) completed a trivia game with a confederate who encouraged cheating. Some lies were sanctioned by the experimenter and others were unsanctioned. The professional interviewers educed a high number of confessions in the sanctioned (58%) and unsanctioned (79%) lie conditions. Overall accuracy of the interviewers ranged from 45% to 67%. Interviewers were more accurate when judging veracity FtF than in VC. Those in the deceptive VC conditions (especially sanctioned liars) were rated by interviewers as more dominant, involved, relaxed, and active than those in the FtF condition, revealing that modality affected deceivers’ demeanor.

Implicit and explicit training in the mitigation of cognitive bias through the use of a serious game

We examine the mitigation of two cognitive biases through a video game.We conducted an experiment (N=708) to compare the game to an instructional video.The game was compared to outcomes testing knowledge and mitigation of the biases.Explicit instruction improved familiarity and knowledge of the biases more than implicit.More exposure through repeated play enhanced learning. Heuristics can interfere with information processing and hinder decision-making when more systematic processes that might lead to better decisions are ignored. Based on the heuristic-systematic model (HSM) of information processing, a serious training game (called MACBETH) was designed to address and mitigate cognitive biases that interfere with the analysis of evidence and the generation of hypotheses. Two biases are the focus of this paper-fundamental attribution error and confirmation bias. The efficacy of the serious game on knowledge and mitigation of biases was examined using an experiment in which participants (N=703) either played the MACBETH game or watched an instructional video about the biases. Results demonstrate the game to be more effective than the video at mitigating cognitive biases when explicit training methods are combined with repetitive play. Moreover, explicit instruction within the game provided greater familiarity and knowledge of the biases relative to implicit instruction. Suggestions for game development for purposes of enhancing cognitive processing and bias mitigation based on the MACBETH game design are discussed.

Empowered by Persuasive Deception: The Effects of Power and Deception on Dominance, Credibility, and Decision Making

This paper examines how power differences and deception jointly influence interactional dominance, credibility, and the outcomes of decision-making. Two theories, interpersonal deception theory and dyadic power theory, were merged to produce hypotheses about the effects of power and deception. A 3 (power: unequal-high, unequal-low, equal) × 3 (deception: truth-truth, truthful with deceptive partner, deceptive with truthful partner) experiment (N = 120) was conducted in which participants were asked to make a series of mock hiring decisions. Actor-partner analyses revealed that participants in the deception condition reported a significant increase in perceptions of their own power whereas their truthful partners reported a significant decrease in perceptions of their own power. Further, interactional dominance fostered credibility and goal attainment (i.e., making the best hiring decision in the truthful condition and hiring a friend in the deceptive condition) for both truth-tellers and deceivers.

Are users threatened by credibility assessment systems

Despite the improving accuracy of agent-based expert systems, human expert users aided by these systems have not improved their accuracy. Self-affirmation theory suggests that human expert users could be experiencing threat, causing them to act defensively and ignore the systems conflicting recommendations. Previous research has demonstrated that affirming an individual in an unrelated area reduces defensiveness and increases objectivity to conflicting information. Using an affirmation manipulation prior to a credibility assessment task, this study investigated if experts are threatened by counterattitudinal expert system recommendations. For our study, 178 credibility assessment experts from the American Polygraph Association (n = 134) and the European Unions border security agency Frontex (n = 44) interacted with a deception detection expert system to make a deception judgment that was immediately contradicted. Reducing the threat prior to making their judgments did not improve accuracy, but did improve objectivity toward the system. This study demonstrates that human experts are threatened by advanced expert systems that contradict their expertise. As more and more systems increase integration of artificial intelligence and inadvertently assail the expertise and abilities of users, threat and self-evaluative concerns will become an impediment to technology acceptance.

Is Interactional Dissynchrony a Clue to Deception? Insights From Automated Analysis of Nonverbal Visual Cues

Detecting deception in interpersonal dialog is challenging since deceivers take advantage of the give-and-take of interaction to adapt to any sign of skepticism in an interlocutors verbal and nonverbal feedback. Human detection accuracy is poor, often with no better than chance performance. In this investigation, we consider whether automated methods can produce better results and if emphasizing the possible disruption in interactional synchrony can signal whether an interactant is truthful or deceptive. We propose a data-driven and unobtrusive framework using visual cues that consists of face tracking, head movement detection, facial expression recognition, and interactional synchrony estimation. Analysis were conducted on 242 video samples from an experiment in which deceivers and truth-tellers interacted with professional interviewers either face-to-face or through computer mediation. Results revealed that the framework is able to automatically track head movements and expressions of both interlocutors to extract normalized meaningful synchrony features and to learn classification models for deception recognition. Further experiments show that these features reliably capture interactional synchrony and efficiently discriminate deception from truth.

MACBETH: Development of a Training Game for the Mitigation of Cognitive Bias

This paper describes the process of rapid iterative prototyping used by a research team developing a training video game for the Sirius program funded by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA). Described are three stages of development, including a paper prototype, and builds for alpha and beta testing. Game development is documented, and the process of playtesting is reviewed with a focus on the challenges and lessons-learned. Advances made in the development of the game through the playtesting process are discussed along with implications of the rapid iterative prototyping approach.

Designing interfaces to maximize the quality of collaborative work

Technological advances provide designers with tools to develop interfaces with anthropomorphic qualities. However, it is not known how human participants accommodate such design features in their interactions with computers, nor do we know if these features facilitate or hinder information exchange and task performance. Study 1 examined the properties of mediation, contingency, and modality richness, whereas study 2 examined the property of mediation. Results show that the some design features are better than others given the goal of the encounter (e.g., passive involvement vs. relation building). Discussion focuses on the relation between user perceptions, design features, and task outcomes.

Humorous Responses to Interpersonal Complaints: Effects of Humor Style and Nonverbal Expression

ABSTRACT Based on disposition theory (Zillmann & Cantor, 1996), this study assessed reactions to vignettes in which individuals humorously respond to complaints from their partners. Vignettes varied based upon the sex and affective expression (positive/negative) of the speaker, and style of humor used (affiliative, aggressive, self-enhancing, self-defeating). Although males were rated as funnier than females, speakers were generally rated as more funny and likeable, and evoked less counterarguing, when they had positive facial expressions even when using negative humor styles. Aggressive humor garnered the highest evaluations of funniness, likeability, and credibility, but also the most counterarguing.