Perlocutionary acts are a concept in the field of linguistics and philosophy of language, particularly within the study of speech acts. They refer to the effects or outcomes that a speaker's utterance has on a listener. For example, when someone says, "It's cold in here," and the listener responds by closing a window, the act of closing the window is a perlocutionary effect of the speaker's statement. These acts differ from locutionary acts, which involve the actual utterance, and illocutionary acts, which pertain to the intended meaning behind the utterance. Understanding perlocutionary acts helps in analyzing communication dynamics, as they highlight how language can influence emotions, beliefs, and actions in social interactions.