Emma Templeton
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emmatempleton.bsky.social
Emma Templeton
@emmatempleton.bsky.social
1.5K followers 790 following 22 posts
Assistant Professor of Behavioral Science at Chicago Booth. Trying to answer the question, "What makes conversation good?" she/her

https://emmatempleton.com/
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Reposted by Emma Templeton
markthornton.bsky.social
Very excited to share this preprint from me, @emmatempleton.bsky.social, @lindseytepfer.bsky.social & @thaliawheatley.bsky.social!

"Friends and strangers engage in distinct regimes of body motion synchrony during conversation"

osf.io/preprints/ps...
Forms of body motion synchrony. A) Motion quantity synchrony – synchrony in the amount of motion (orange) people engage in over time. This form of synchrony is agnostic to the direction of this movement, may be positive or negative, occurs at varying time lags, and is not specific to matched body parts across members of the dyad. B) Pseudo-synchrony – motion quantity synchrony between people who are not actually interacting. That is, members of different conversations engaging in similar amounts of motion at similar points in the conversation relative to its initiation. And C) directional synchrony – people moving the same body parts in the same direction (or along the same axis in the opposite direction) at the same time (or at some specific time lag). Mechanisms of synchrony. A) Turn-taking, which causes increases in motion around the time of speaker role exchanges, as participants gesture to hand over or take over the floor. B) Conservation of motion in which one participant moves less when the other moves more, holding the total motion quantity relatively constant over time (note that the total amount of motion across the dyad is similar in the two panels, because one person reduces their motion to balance out the increase in the other’s motion). C) Entrainment, in which mutual following of the same conversational script leads to synchronized movement among people who are not directly interacting (i.e. pseudo-synchrony). Greeting gestures such as the handshakes depicted are one acute manifestation of this entrainment. D) Station-keeping, which maintains proxemic distance and eye level between members of the dyad. This mechanism accounts for directional synchrony, particularly between strangers who feel uncomfortable within each other’s personal space. Motion quantity synchrony among friends and strangers. A) Friends displayed significant positive synchrony in total motion quantity at short time lags (< 2.5 s) and B) this effect generalized across the majority of body part pairs (each line represents one pair). For example, one series of points might represent the synchrony between the amount of motion in one participant’s left hand and the other’s right foot. C) Strangers displayed significant positive synchrony in total motion quantity at short time lags (< 1 s) and significant negative total motion quantity synchrony at longer time lags (2.5 – 16.6 s). D) Again, this effect generalized to most body part pairs. Directional synchrony among friends and strangers. A) Among friends, we observed statistically significant directional synchrony in only two body parts (nose and eye) and only in the vertical axis. B) Among strangers, we observed statistically significant directional synchrony in a large number of body parts in the horizontal, vertical, and depth axes.
August 3, 2026 at 7:17 PM
emmatempleton.bsky.social
Looking forward to seeing folks at APS!
mrossignacmilon.bsky.social Maya Rossignac-Milon @mrossignacmilon.bsky.social · May 25
What makes people “click” with each other in conversation? Come check out our #APS26BCN symposium about how shared reality sparks conversational connection, with talks from @emmatempleton.bsky.social, @emmamiller.bsky.social, @mikeyeomans.bsky.social, and me. Co-chaired w/ @cenestrom.bsky.social.
May 26, 2026 at 4:43 PM
emmatempleton.bsky.social
Check out this 4-part series on a really rewarding collaboration with filmmakers @theskindeep.bsky.social

We’ve been conducting research on their videos, and they created videos about our research! Excited to see what unfolds as we continue digging deeper together.

www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
The Science of Human Connection - YouTube
www.youtube.com
May 15, 2026 at 4:39 PM
Reposted by Emma Templeton
mrossignacmilon.bsky.social
New preprint! ✨ Do you and your partner have made-up words ("eggy" to mean awkward)? Do you and your bestie have an anecdote you love to tell together (that time one of you tripped over an acorn)? Do you and your closest colleague have a cherished ritual (weekly lunch at "the usual spot")? 🧵
March 26, 2026 at 1:09 PM
Reposted by Emma Templeton
fusaroli.eurosky.social
People re-use each other's words, syntax and semantics in conversation, arguably to facilitate common ground. In a new Proceedings of the Royal Society B we assess whether this tendency can be used an individually reliable trait (e.g. to correlate it to something else): doi.org/10.1098/rspb... 1/
March 18, 2026 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by Emma Templeton
mh-christiansen.bsky.social
📣 New paper out in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B in which we investigated whether conversational alignment — the tendency to reuse each other's words, syntactic constructions, topics, sounds and gestures — can be used as a reliable individual trait. It cannot!
🧵 1/4

doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
March 18, 2026 at 2:41 AM
Reposted by Emma Templeton
mrossignacmilon.bsky.social
Thrilled to release this year’s program for the Shared Reality Virtual Conference (Mar 24-25)!!

Register here to receive the Zoom link (free!):
universityofhouston.iad1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Organized with: @emmamiller.bsky.social @abdoe.bsky.social @changlu-cl.bsky.social
March 10, 2026 at 9:59 PM
emmatempleton.bsky.social
This was a fun conversation about conversation with Topaz Adizes, founder of @theskindeep.bsky.social! I highly recommend checking out their project {THE AND} for beautifully curated, intimate conversations designed to deepen connection.
March 10, 2026 at 7:51 PM
emmatempleton.bsky.social
I'll start reviewing applications next week! Please apply!
emmatempleton.bsky.social Emma Templeton @emmatempleton.bsky.social · Feb 13
I will be hiring a full-time pre-doctoral Research Professional to work with me at Chicago Booth.

Know someone interested in studying conversation and connection? Please help spread the word!

More details, including application instructions, are here: www.chicagobooth.edu/-/media/facu...
www.chicagobooth.edu
February 24, 2026 at 2:59 PM
emmatempleton.bsky.social
I will be hiring a full-time pre-doctoral Research Professional to work with me at Chicago Booth.

Know someone interested in studying conversation and connection? Please help spread the word!

More details, including application instructions, are here: www.chicagobooth.edu/-/media/facu...
www.chicagobooth.edu
February 13, 2026 at 5:51 PM
Reposted by Emma Templeton
jeremyrmanning.bsky.social
Excited to be teaching a new undergraduate course on Models of Language and Conversation this term!

Check it out here: context-lab.com/llm-course/

I've added lots of fun interactive demos of chatbots and NLP techniques that let students dig into the approaches.
Models of Language and Communication - PSYC 51.17
Course materials for PSYC 51.17: Language Models from Scratch - Dartmouth College
context-lab.com
January 7, 2026 at 1:10 PM
Reposted by Emma Templeton
ayeletfishbach.bsky.social
Today is Publication Day! 🎉
The Psychological Quest for Meaning is out!

Aimed at researchers, but we hope it is readable for anyone interested in how humans make sense of their lives.

Guilford Press is offering 15% off with code AU2E:
www.guilford.com/books/The-Ps...
November 17, 2025 at 3:55 PM
emmatempleton.bsky.social
Consider applying to the PhD program at Chicago Booth! The application deadline is Dec 15. 1/

www.chicagobooth.edu/phd/admissio...
See Application Requirements
Ready to join our community of bold thinkers? Here’s how to apply.
www.chicagobooth.edu
October 15, 2025 at 6:52 PM
emmatempleton.bsky.social
Next summer I will start as an Assistant Professor of Behavioral Science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. I couldn't be more excited! 1/
Jason and I wearing Chicago Booth swag, inadvertently looking like new MBA students. We are smiling and celebrating at a restaurant!
June 30, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Reposted by Emma Templeton
ashwinia.bsky.social
🚨🚨 I’m looking for a postdoctoral fellow to join my lab at Harvard's Psychology Department starting Fall 2025 🚨📣

Please share widely and spread the word to interested candidates! 🧵

🗓 Application review begins April 30

Apply here: rb.gy/k7q9kf (1/2)
Postdoctoral Fellow in Psychology
Dr. Ashwini Ashokkumar’s lab at the Department of Psychology at Harvard University invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow position to start in Fall 2025. The lab conducts research related to i...
rb.gy
April 22, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Reposted by Emma Templeton
joshcjackson.bsky.social
I'm hiring a new lab manager!

Deadline to apply is April 1st. More details here: www.chicagobooth.edu/-/media/facu...

I formed some of my deepest and most impactful partnerships as a lab manager, and it's a position that I highly value.

If you are a PI, please circulate to possible applicants!
March 5, 2025 at 1:47 AM
emmatempleton.bsky.social
Yay!!!!!
eshjolly.bsky.social Eshin Jolly @eshjolly.bsky.social · May 31
Some very exciting news... after many, many, winter beards, I'm overjoyed to be joining sunny @UCSDPsychology as an Asst Prof in Jan 2025!

Looking to recruit folks interested in doing some fun science, while building some cool (and useful) toys! Details: eshinjolly.com/lab/
Lab
I'm joining @UCSDPsychology as an Assistant Professor in Jan 2025! I'll be starting a lab group and hiring, checkout for more details.
eshinjolly.com
June 3, 2024 at 12:11 AM
emmatempleton.bsky.social
This was so fun! Thanks @bethfisher.bsky.social and @avamadesousa.bsky.social!
January 3, 2024 at 6:12 PM
Reposted by Emma Templeton
kiarasanchez.bsky.social
📢Postdoc alert!📢
Come work with me as a Guarini Dean’s Postdoc Fellow at Dartmouth! This 2-year fellowship supports scholars whose research addresses questions about intergroup dynamics in social interactions and relationships. Apply by Feb 1! Position begins this summer apply.interfolio.com/137922
December 15, 2023 at 9:58 PM
Reposted by Emma Templeton
thaliawheatley.bsky.social
My first bsky post! New paper in Perspectives with my fantastic colleagues on why we need to better understand social interaction & how new tools are accelerating that progress.👇
December 18, 2023 at 6:47 PM
Reposted by Emma Templeton
kiarasanchez.bsky.social
I'm hiring a lab manager! The Social Identity in Dialogue (SID) Lab at Dartmouth is seeking a full-time lab manager interested in the social psychological study of interracial interactions, relationships, and conversations about race. Pref. apply by Jan 9

searchjobs.dartmouth.edu/postings/71464
Research Assistant I
The Dartmouth Social Identity in Dialogue Lab (PI: Kiara L. Sanchez) seeks a full-time research assistant to design, conduct, and analyze studies of interracial interactions, relationships, and conver...
searchjobs.dartmouth.edu
November 30, 2023 at 10:21 PM