On universality in human correspondence activity.

Full Abstract

The identification and modeling of patterns of human activity have important ramifications for applications ranging from predicting disease spread to optimizing resource allocation. Because of its relevance and availability, written correspondence provides a powerful proxy for studying human activity. One school of thought is that human correspondence is driven by responses to received correspondence, a view that requires a distinct response mechanism to explain e-mail and letter correspondence observations. We demonstrate that, like e-mail correspondence, the letter correspondence patterns of 16 writers, performers, politicians, and scientists are well described by the circadian cycle, task repetition, and changing communication needs. We confirm the universality of these mechanisms by rescaling letter and e-mail correspondence statistics to reveal their underlying similarity.

Author information

Author/s: Malmgren, R Dean (RD); Stouffer, Daniel B (DB); Campanharo, Andriana S L O (AS); Amaral, Luís A Nunes (LA);

Affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. dean.malmgren(-atsign-)u.northwestern.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Journal: Science (New York, N.Y.) (Science), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Sep; vol 325 (issue 5948) : pp 1696-700

Dates: Created 2009/09/25; Completed 2009/10/09;

PMID: 19779200, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/9/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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