Tales of the Tape

By DAVID GLENN

Researchers in psychology have found new ways to listen in on everyday human behavior

One morning in 2004, a pair of undergraduates at the University of Texas at Austin walked down a street, perhaps on their way to class. They talked to each other in a low and sleepy murmur, using affectionate, melodic tones, bantering in a private idiom.

"But you want to love me, yes?" said the young woman.

"But you whine," said her boyfriend.

"No, I just require kisses," she