Cortical arousal and social intimacy in the human female under different conditions of eye contact

Gale, Anthony; Kingsley, Eliot; Brookes, S.; Smith, David G.

doi:10.1016/0376-6357(78)90019-0

Cited by 29 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Additionally, fixating on the eyes elicited larger P2s than fixating on the forehead. Although not predicted, this effect is consistent with evidence that faces with direct gazes are arousing and capture attention (Gale et al , 1978; Senju and Hasegawa, 2005). Race and fixation location did not interact in this analysis, however.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

The iterative nature of person construal: Evidence from event-related potentials

Volpert‐Esmond

Merkle

Bartholow

2017

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

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Recently, a dynamic-interactive model of person construal (DI model) has been proposed, whereby the social categories a person represents are determined on the basis of an iterative integration of bottom-up and top-down influences. The current study sought to test this model by leveraging the high temporal resolution of event-related brain potentials (ERPs) as 65 participants viewed male faces that varied by race (White vs Black), fixating either between the eyes or on the forehead. Within face presentations, the effect of fixation, meant to vary bottom-up visual input, initially was large but decreased across early latency neural responses identified by a principal components analysis (PCA). In contrast, the effect of race, reflecting a combination of top-down and bottom-up factors, initially was small but increased across early latency principal components. These patterns support the DI model prediction that bottom-up and top-down processes are iteratively integrated to arrive at a stable construal within 230 ms. Additionally, exploratory multilevel modeling of single trial ERP responses representing a component linked to outgroup categorization (the P2) suggests change in effects of the manipulations over the course of the experiment. Implications of the findings for the DI model are considered.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

The iterative nature of person construal: Evidence from event-related potentials

Volpert‐Esmond

Merkle

Bartholow

2017

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

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“…Direct gaze signals an increased likelihood for social engagement (Cary, 1978; Ellsworth & Ross, 1975; Grumet, 1999), captures attention (see Frischen, Bayliss, & Tipper, 2007 for review), is associated with greater galvanic skin response (Nichols & Champness, 1971), greater EEG arousal (Gale, Kingsley, Brookes, & Smith, 1978; Gale, Lucas, Nissim, & Harpham, 1972; Gale, Spratt, Chapman, & Smallbone, 1975), increased heart rate (Kleinke & Pohlen, 1971), and increased amygdala responsivity in the perceiver (Kawashima et al, 1999). Humans are sensitive to eye gaze from birth (Farroni, Csibra, Simion, & Johnson, 2002) and cross-species evidence reveals this sensitivity is not unique to humans (Emery, 2000) suggesting that it may be innately prepared.…”

Section: Eye Contact and Social Perceptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Looking the other way: The role of gaze direction in the cross-race memory effect

Adams

Pauker

Weisbuch

2010

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

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One of the most replicable findings reported in the social psychological literature is the cross-race memory effect. We argue this effect derives from higher-order interactions among social cues that determine the perceived relevance of a face to an observer. The current research tested this hypothesis by examining the combined influences of eye gaze direction and race on face memory. The physical subtlety of eye gaze belies its powerful influence on social perception, and in this case helps specify the relevance of same-versus other-race faces. We found that only in faces making direct eye contact -not those displaying averted eye gaze-was the cross-race memory effect evident. Likewise, only in same-race faces did direct relative to averted gaze enhance face memory. These findings have implications for our general understanding of the combinatorial nature of social perception and help clarify the underlying cause of the cross-race memory effect.The proportionally large size of the human brain is sometimes explained as a consequence of social memory requirements (e.g., Dunbar, 1998;1995;1998). To keep track of relatively large social networks, people possess an extraordinary ability to remember faces. By the same token, social memory can not be entirely indiscriminate; for example, it is more important to remember the identity of a spouse than a cashier. Generally, people should better remember those whose actions are likely to be relevant to their own wellbeing (Maner et al., 2003;Mealey, Daood, & Krage, 1996;Oda, 1997;Rodin, 1987). Such a functional account has been invoked to explain several biases in face memory, including those favoring same-race faces (e.g., Shriver, Young, Hugenberg, Bernstein, & Lanter, 2007). Indeed, the cross-race effect (CRE) in memory is well chronicled (cf. Meissner & Brigham, 2001) and is often cited to explain alarming racial inequities in faulty eyewitness testimony (Innocence Project, 2007).If the CRE stems from the perceived relevance of ingroup faces, non-race facial cues that influence perceived relevance, such as eye contact, should impact the presence or absence of the CRE. Extending the functional approach in this way assumes that the combined processing of social cues is adaptive, facilitating the detection of self-relevant information signaled by the face (Adams, Franklin, Stevenson, & Nelson, in press Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. (Maner, Gailliot, & DeWall, 2007), possibility for affiliation (Mason, Tatkow, & Macrae, 2005), the presence of environmental danger and its source (Adams & Kleck, 2005), and ...

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“…One study used videotaped silent images of faces displaying frontal head with direct gaze or deviated head with averted gaze but found only marginal increase of skin conductance response (SCR), an autonomic index of arousal, for eye contact relative to eye aversion (Donovan & Leavitt, 1980). In sum, the perception of direct gaze has been particularly linked to arousal increase but only, so far, under the physical presence of the observer (Gale, Kingsley, Brookes, & Smith, 1978;Gale et al, 1975;Nichols & Champness, 1971). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

The mere perception of eye contact increases arousal during a word-spelling task

Conty

Russo

Loehr

et al. 2010

Social Neuroscience

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Eye contact is a highly salient and fundamentally social signal. This entails that the mere perception of direct gaze may trigger differentiated neurobehavioral responses as compared to other gaze directions. We investigated this issue using a visual word-spelling task where faces under different gaze directions and head orientations were displayed on-screen concomitantly with the words. We show evidence for automatic increase of skin conductance response (SCR), indicative of arousal, associated with the perception of direct gaze as compared to both averted gaze and closed eyes. Moreover, the perception of averted gaze was associated with an increase of electromyographic (EMG) corrugator activity. These effects were observed in two demanding word-spelling tasks, but not in a simple letter decision task. We propose to interpret these findings in terms of the social value of direct and averted gaze and conclude that some circumstances such as the task at hand may be essential for uncovering the neurobehavioral responses associated with the perception of others' gaze.

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Cortical arousal and social intimacy in the human female under different conditions of eye contact

Cited by 29 publications

References 6 publications

The iterative nature of person construal: Evidence from event-related potentials

The iterative nature of person construal: Evidence from event-related potentials

Looking the other way: The role of gaze direction in the cross-race memory effect

The mere perception of eye contact increases arousal during a word-spelling task

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