<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The ability to communicate complex meanings is a specific human ability which plays a crucial role in social interactions. A habitual example of these interactions is conversation. However, we observe that spontaneous conversation often hits an <italic>impasse</italic> when none of the interlocutors immediately produces a follow-up utterance. The existence of impasses in conversations, and the way that interlocutors overcome them provide evidence for our argument that conversation is a sequence of creative problem solving. In this work we use techniques from Conversation Analysis (CA) on publicly available databases of naturally-occurring speech and we suggest a framework to understand how impasses are reached and overcome. As a result, we hope to reveal yet another instance of the bond between language and creativity.</p></abstract>

The ability to communicate complex meanings is a specific human ability which plays a crucial role in social interactions. A habitual example of these interactions is conversation. However, we observe that spontaneous conversation often hits an impasse when none of the interlocutors immediately produces a follow-up utterance. The existence of impasses in conversations, and the way that interlocutors overcome them provide evidence for our argument that conversation is a sequence of creative problem solving. In this work we use techniques from Conversation Analysis (CA) on publicly available databases of naturally-occurring speech and we suggest a framework to understand how impasses are reached and overcome. As a result, we hope to reveal yet another instance of the bond between language and creativity.

Overcoming Impasses in Conversations: A Creative Business

Creativity. Theories – Research - Applications

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Overcoming Impasses in Conversations: A Creative Business"}

The ability to communicate complex meanings is a specific human ability which plays a crucial role in social interactions. A habitual example of these...

Overcoming Impasses in Conversations: A Creative Business

Published Online: Dec 30, 2016

Page range: 244 - 260

Received: Mar 13, 2016

Accepted: Oct 15, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ctra-2016-0016

Keywords
Impasse, Conversation, Creative problem solving, Conversation Analysis

© 2016 Ilaria Torre et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Overcoming Impasses in Conversations: A Creative Business

Published Online: Dec 30, 2016

Page range: 244 - 260

Received: Mar 13, 2016

Accepted: Oct 15, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ctra-2016-0016

KeywordsImpasse, Conversation, Creative problem solving, Conversation Analysis

© 2016 Ilaria Torre et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Impasse, Conversation, Creative problem solving, Conversation Analysis