Rhythm Perception, Speaking Rate Entrainment, and Conversational Quality: A Mediated Model.

In unfamiliar conversation partners, better rhythm perception abilities were indicative of increased conversational quality mediated by higher levels of speaking rate entrainment. These results support theoretical postulations specifying rhythm perception abilities as a component of acoustic-prosodic entrainment, which, in turn, facilitates conversational success. Knowledge of this relationship contributes to the development of a causal framework for considering a mechanism by which rhythm perception deficits in clinical populations may impact conversational success.