Work

Close-recurrence analysis: a mixed-methods tool for studying joint attention in mobile interaction

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: A foundational aspect of social interaction is the phenomenon of joint attention, typically defined as a shared focus between two or more interlocutors on a particular subject, object or event. While joint attention research in the fields of Cognitive Linguistics and psycholinguistics has predominantly relied on task-based interactions in static environments, studies in the tradition of Interactional Linguistics and Conversation Analysis have focused on the sequential-interactional organization of joint attention in unrestrained interaction but have often been limited to smaller datasets. Moreover, existing work has mainly adopted either quantitative methods (in cognitively oriented research) or qualitative approaches (in interactionally oriented studies), whereas mixed-methods analyses of joint attention remain scarce. To address these methodological research gaps, this study draws on a substantial eye-tracking dataset of naturally occurring interactions in a mobile setting (i.c. joint museum visits) and adopts a mixed-methods approach. On the one hand, we apply an established quantitative method for examining gaze behavior in controlled environments, namely cross-recurrence quantification analysis, to the novel context of mobile interactions. On the other hand, we integrate this quantitative perspective with a multimodal conversation analysis to explore the advantages and limitations of combining methods in joint attention research. Specifically, we also propose the idea of a close-recurrence analysis as a visualization technique that repurposes the central logic of cross-recurrence quantification for qualitative analytic work.

Source: Frontiers in Communication

DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2026.1821332

Authors: Julie Janssens, Bert Oben, Dorien Van De Mieroop, Geert Brône

Institution: KU Leuven

Language: English

Topic: Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies

Subfield: Language and Linguistics

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,418

Funder: Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek