A direct comparison of gaze-mediated orienting elicited by schematic and real human faces
During social interactions, we tend to orient our visual attention towards the spatial location indicated by the gaze direction of others. However, modern societies are characterised by the increasing presence of facial stimuli of various natures, often schematic and pertaining to fictional entities...
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| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Acta Psychologica |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825002471 |
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| author | Mario Dalmaso Giovanni Galfano Alessandra Baratella Luigi Castelli |
| author_facet | Mario Dalmaso Giovanni Galfano Alessandra Baratella Luigi Castelli |
| author_sort | Mario Dalmaso |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | During social interactions, we tend to orient our visual attention towards the spatial location indicated by the gaze direction of others. However, modern societies are characterised by the increasing presence of facial stimuli of various natures, often schematic and pertaining to fictional entities, used in contexts such as advertisements or digital interfaces. In this study, we directly compared the impact of eye-gaze belonging to schematic and real faces on visual attention. These two types of stimuli were utilized in three experiments, where either manual (Experiment 1, N = 160; and Experiment 2, N = 160) or oculomotor (Experiment 3, N = 80) responses were recorded. In addition, schematic and real faces were presented either separately within two distinct blocks or intermixed within the same block of trials. The latter manipulation was aimed to test for eventual stronger differences between schematic and real faces in contexts that maximise the comparison processes between the two types of stimuli. In all experiments, a robust gaze-mediated orienting of attention effect emerged, and this was not significantly influenced by either the type of facial stimulus (i.e., schematic or real) or by the intermixed/blocked presentation. Overall, these results suggest that the human social attention system may treat both types of stimuli similarly. This finding suggests that schematic faces can be effectively used in various applied contexts, such as digital interfaces and advertising, without compromising gaze-mediated attentional orienting. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a7dea01ea00f40109a20c4ef282f63ea |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 0001-6918 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acta Psychologica |
| spelling | doaj-art-a7dea01ea00f40109a20c4ef282f63ea2025-08-20T02:26:28ZengElsevierActa Psychologica0001-69182025-05-0125510493410.1016/j.actpsy.2025.104934A direct comparison of gaze-mediated orienting elicited by schematic and real human facesMario Dalmaso0Giovanni Galfano1Alessandra Baratella2Luigi Castelli3Corresponding author at: Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padova, Italy.; Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, ItalyDepartment of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, ItalyDepartment of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, ItalyDepartment of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, ItalyDuring social interactions, we tend to orient our visual attention towards the spatial location indicated by the gaze direction of others. However, modern societies are characterised by the increasing presence of facial stimuli of various natures, often schematic and pertaining to fictional entities, used in contexts such as advertisements or digital interfaces. In this study, we directly compared the impact of eye-gaze belonging to schematic and real faces on visual attention. These two types of stimuli were utilized in three experiments, where either manual (Experiment 1, N = 160; and Experiment 2, N = 160) or oculomotor (Experiment 3, N = 80) responses were recorded. In addition, schematic and real faces were presented either separately within two distinct blocks or intermixed within the same block of trials. The latter manipulation was aimed to test for eventual stronger differences between schematic and real faces in contexts that maximise the comparison processes between the two types of stimuli. In all experiments, a robust gaze-mediated orienting of attention effect emerged, and this was not significantly influenced by either the type of facial stimulus (i.e., schematic or real) or by the intermixed/blocked presentation. Overall, these results suggest that the human social attention system may treat both types of stimuli similarly. This finding suggests that schematic faces can be effectively used in various applied contexts, such as digital interfaces and advertising, without compromising gaze-mediated attentional orienting.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825002471Gaze cueing of attentionGaze followingReal facesSchematic facesSocial cognition |
| spellingShingle | Mario Dalmaso Giovanni Galfano Alessandra Baratella Luigi Castelli A direct comparison of gaze-mediated orienting elicited by schematic and real human faces Acta Psychologica Gaze cueing of attention Gaze following Real faces Schematic faces Social cognition |
| title | A direct comparison of gaze-mediated orienting elicited by schematic and real human faces |
| title_full | A direct comparison of gaze-mediated orienting elicited by schematic and real human faces |
| title_fullStr | A direct comparison of gaze-mediated orienting elicited by schematic and real human faces |
| title_full_unstemmed | A direct comparison of gaze-mediated orienting elicited by schematic and real human faces |
| title_short | A direct comparison of gaze-mediated orienting elicited by schematic and real human faces |
| title_sort | direct comparison of gaze mediated orienting elicited by schematic and real human faces |
| topic | Gaze cueing of attention Gaze following Real faces Schematic faces Social cognition |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825002471 |
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