Spatial interference between gaze direction and gaze location: A study on the eye contact effect

Abstract

Perceived gaze in faces is an important social cue that influences spatial orienting of attention. In three experiments, we examined whether the social relevance of gaze direction modulated spatial interference in response selection, using three different stimuli: faces, isolated eyes, and symbolic eyes (Experiments 1, 2, and 3, respectively). Each experiment employed a variant of the spatial Stroop paradigm in which face location and gaze direction were put into conflict. Results showed a reverse congruency effect between face location to the right or left of fixation and gaze direction only for stimuli with a social meaning to participants (Experiments 1 and 2). The opposite was observed for the nonsocial stimuli used in Experiment 3. Results are explained as facilitation in response to eye contact.

The Mediating Effects of Facial Expression on Spatial Interference Between Gaze Direction and Gaze Location

“…In terms of the reverse congruency effect reported by Cañadas and Lupiáñez (2012), if the gaze directed toward the center of the computer screen is, indeed, construed by the viewer as directed toward them, then the reverse congruency effect should be enhanced for the "approach emotions" of happiness and anger compared to the "avoidance emotions" of fear or sadness. In sum, the interaction between emotion and gaze congruency should display the same pattern as that reported by Adams and Franklin (2009), with a reverse-congruency effect for angry faces, but not for fearful faces.…”

“…More particularly, people prefer to believe that they are the cause of another's happiness but not their anger or sadness. If this interpretation of the relationship between gaze and Downloaded by [New York University] at 01:27 16 June 2015 emotionality is correct, then it should follow that, in the type of task reported by Cañadas and Lupiáñez (2012), if the reverse congruency effect is attributable to the gaze being directed towards the viewer, then it should be enhanced when the target face displays happiness compared to a target face displaying anger or fear.…”

“…Experiment 1 was designed to replicate the reverse congruency effect reported by Cañadas and Lupiáñez (2012). As they employed a novel paradigm, it was important to establish that the effect was replicable before investigating further.…”

“…The two experiments reported here were designed to firstly replicate the reverse congruency effect as reported by Cañadas and Lupiáñez (2012) and then to further explore the role of emotional facial expression in the processing of gaze, particularly with a view to exploring the two possibilities explained above.…”

“…Further, this trend toward a reverse congruency effect was evident when only the eyes were visible in the absence of other facial features, and it reduced when other facial features were added. Cañadas and Lupiáñez (2012) suggested that earlier studies, such as those of Ricciardelli and Driver (2008) did not control eye contact, and that there may be more rapid detection of gaze direction when gaze is directed towards the perceiver than when gaze is averted. In a series of experiments, they found a reverse congruency effect such that, for example, a face located on the left side of a computer screen but with eyes directed towards the right (i.e., towards the viewer) produced faster response times to identify the direction of the gaze compared with a face located on the left side and with gaze directed to the left.…”