Abstract
Recent behavioral data have shown that central nonpredictive gaze direction triggers reflexive shifts of attention toward the gazed-at location (e.g., Friesen & Kingstone, 1998). Friesen and Kingstone suggested that this reflexive orienting effect is unique to biologically relevant stimuli. Three experiments were conducted to test this proposal by comparing the attentional orienting produced by nonpredictive gaze cues (biologically relevant) with the attentional orienting produced by nonpredictive arrow cues (biologically irrelevant). Both types of cues produced reflexive orienting in adults (Experiment 1) and preschoolers (Experiment 2), suggesting that gaze cues are not special. However, Experiment 3 showed that nonpredictive arrows produced reflexive orienting in both hemispheres of a split-brain patient. This contrasts with Kingstone, Friesen, and Gazzaniga's (2000) finding that nonpredictive gaze cues produce reflexive orienting only in the face-processing hemisphere of split-brain patients. Therefore, although nonpredictive eyes and arrows may produce similar behavioral effects, they are not subserved by the same brain systems. Together, these data provide important insight into the nature of the representations of directional stimuli involved in reflexive attentional orienting.
Article PDF
References
Bertelson, P. (1967). The time course of preparation.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,19, 272–279.
Brodeur, A. D., Trick, M. I., &Enns, J. T. (1997). Selective attention over the lifespan. In A. J. Burack & J. T. Enns (Eds.),Attention, development, and psychopathology (pp. 74–97). New York: Guilford.
Danziger, S., &Kingstone, A. (1999). Unmasking the inhibition of return phenomenon.Perception & Psychophysics,61, 1024–1037.
D'Entremont, B., Hains, S. M. J., &Muir, D. W. (1997). A demonstration of gaze following in 3- to 6-month-olds.Infant Behavior & Development,20, 569–572.
Driver, J., Davis, G., Ricciardelli, P., Kidd, P., Maxwell, E., &Baron-Cohen, S. (1999). Gaze perception triggers visuospatial orienting by adults in a reflexive manner.Visual Cognition,6, 509–540.
Enns, J. T., &Akhtar, N. (1989). Relations between covert orienting and filtering in the development of visual attention.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology,48, 315–334.
Friesen, C. K., &Kingstone, A. (1998). The eyes have it! Reflexive orienting is triggered by nonpredictive gaze.Psychonomic Bulletin & Review,5, 490–495.
Friesen C. K., Ristic, J., & Kingstone, A. (2002).Reflexive and volitional orienting to directional cues: Separable attention effects unique to biologically relevant gaze stimuli. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Gazzaniga, M. S., Nass, R., Reeves, A., &Roberts, D. (1984). Neurologic perspectives on right hemisphere language following surgical section of corpus callosum.Seminars in Neurology,13, 536–540.
Harries, M., &Perrett, D. I. (1991). Visual processing of faces in temporal cortex: Physiological evidence for a modular organization and possible anatomical correlates.Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience,3, 9–24.
Hoffman, E. A., &Haxby, J. V. (2000). Distinct representations of eye gaze and identity in the distributed human neural system for face perception.Nature Neuroscience,3, 80–84.
Hommel, B., Pratt, J., Colzato, L., &Godijn, R. (2001). Symbolic control of visual attention.Psychological Science,12, 360–365.
Jonides, J. (1981). Voluntary vs. automatic control over the mind's eye's movement. In J. B. Long & A. D. Baddeley (Eds.),Attention and performance IX (pp. 187–203). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Kanwisher, N., Downing, P., Epstein, R., &Kourtzi, Z. (2001). Functional neuroimaging of visual recognition. In R. Cabeza & A. Kingstone (Eds.),Handbook of functional neuroimaging of cognition (pp. 109–151). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Kingstone, A., Friesen, C. K., &Gazzaniga, M. S. (2000). Reflexive joint attention depends on lateralized cortical connections.Psychological Science,11, 159–165.
Langton, S. R. H., &Bruce, V. (1999). Reflexive social orienting.Visual Cognition,6, 541–567.
Langton, S. R. H., Watt, R. J., &Bruce, V. (2000). Do the eyes have it? Cues to the direction of social attention.Trends in Cognitive Sciences,4, 50–59.
Maurer, D. (1985). Infants' perception of facedness. In T. M. Field & N. A. Fox (Eds.),Social perception in infants (pp. 73–100). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Mowrer, O. H. (1940). Preparatory set (Expectancy): Some methods of measurements.Psychological Review Monograph,52 (Whole No. 233).
Posner, M. I. (1980). Orienting of attention.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,32, 3–25.
Puce, A., Allison, T., Bentin, S., Gore, J. C., &McCarthy, G. (1998). Temporal cortex activation in humans viewing eye and mouth movements.Journal of Neuroscience,18, 2188–2199.
Tipples, J. (2002). Eye gaze is not unique: Automatic orienting in response to uninformative arrows.Psychonomic Bulletin & Review,9, 314–318.
Vecera, S. (2000).The eyes may not have it: Interrupting the allocation of “social attention.” Unpublished manuscript.
Wicker, B. F., Michel, F., Henaff, M., &Decety, J. (1998). Brain regions involved in the perception of gaze: A PET study.NeuroImage,8, 221–227.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This research was supported by an undergraduate award to J.R. from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), by graduate awards to C.K.F. by NSERC, the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, and the Killam Foundation, and by grants to A.K. from NSERC, the Human Frontier Science Foundation, and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ristic, J., Friesen, C.K. & Kingstone, A. Are eyes special? It depends on how you look at it. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 9, 507–513 (2002). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196306
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196306