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Article published In: Interaction Studies
Vol. 26:1 (2025) ► pp.102–129

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Structural alignment leads to lower cognitive load in a collaborative task

ORCiD logo with link | Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
 | University of Vienna
Published online: 9 January 2026
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/is.24029.pla
Abstract
One of the characteristics of dialogue is that interlocutors tend to converge on the same linguistic choices, called alignment. In this paper, we aim to investigate whether structural alignment — the tendency to use the same syntactic structures — has a positive effect on cognitive load and task completion in a task-based conversation. To do so, we engage participants in a collaborative task where they have to interact with another interlocutor (actually a bot) and inform each other about the location of landmarks on a map. In one condition the bot aligns with the participant and in the other it does not. Participants are recorded with an eye tracker during the experiment so that we can evaluate cognitive load and performance in the task. We found that when participants interact with an aligning bot, their cognitive load decreases and task completion is facilitated, but only to a certain degree. The results of the study suggest that alignment is a strategy that can be used in order to facilitate task performance.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Dialogue and alignment
  • 3.Mechanisms of priming and alignment
  • 4.Alignment and cooperation
  • 5.Motivation
  • 6.The study
    • 6.1Method
    • 6.2Equipment
    • 6.2Operationalisations and hypotheses
    • 6.3Results
  • 7.Discussion
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Open data statement
  • Competing interests
  • Ethics and consent
  • Note
  • References
References (62)
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