A new Bournemouth University study, in collaboration with University of Portsmouth, has challenged conventional thinking that people's attention is readily captured by other people's faces above all other objects.
The study tested three conditions where people observed footage of two women in a waiting room, with different groups told that they were watching a live webcam and either told they would or would not meet the women afterwards whilst others were told that the video had been pre-recorded.
Explaining what they expected to see, Dr Gregory said: "We thought that when participants believed that they would be meeting the people in the scene, they would have their attention drawn towards the faces of those people more readily, and look where they looked more often, than the other two groups as the people would be most socially relevant to the participants".
"We also expected that in the condition which was least like real-life, when people thought the scene was pre-recorded, they would look least at the faces of the actors and follow their gaze direction the least.
"However, we found the complete opposite. Regardless of whether they thought they would meet the people in the scene, when participants thought they were watching a live webcam they seemed to avoid looking at the faces of the people and hardly followed their direction of gaze at all even though the people in the scene could not see the participants. When participants thought the scene was pre-recorded, they looked at the faces and followed gaze direction of the actors much more.
"Perhaps what we think we know about the way we view other people is wrong. As soon as viewing behaviour is measured within a genuinely social context, the way we look at people changes, and rather than having our attention drawn towards them, we actually seem to avoid looking at those people's faces.
"This likely reflects the complex interplay of factors which are present in a real social scenario, which are absent in most experimental studies, such as adhering to social rules and norms, or thinking about lots of different things at once, which causes us to look less at people than when we view pictures of them in the lab.
"Psychologists need to start taking this into account in their research, which is really very rare at the moment to make sure that what we find out from our experiments can actually be applied to real-life behaviour. If it can't then the value of it must be reassessed".
Nicola Gregory's research provides fresh insight to this research field, taking place in a more natural and social context unlike the older studies. It also refutes previous work suggesting that people predominantly look at faces and automatically shift their attention in the direction that other people are looking.
The study is published online in PLOS ONE.
Explore further: Visual 'gist' helps us figure out where a crowd is looking
More information: Reduced Gaze Following and Attention to Heads when Viewing a "Live" Social Scene , Nicola Jean Gregory, Beatriz Lόpez, Gemma Graham, Paul Marshman, Sarah Bate, Niko Kargas, PLOS ONE, http://ift.tt/1axdkVO
Medical Xpress on facebook
Related Stories
Visual 'gist' helps us figure out where a crowd is looking
Have you ever seen a crowd of people looking off into the distance, perhaps toward a passing biker or up to the top of a building? There's a good chance you looked there, too, instantly, even without paying ...
Psychologists reveal the secret of successful wooing
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new University of Sussex study shows that,without being consciously aware, we change our judgment of a person's attractiveness based on what they do, not their physical characteristics.
Are people really staring at you?
(Medical Xpress)—People often think that other people are staring at them even when they aren't research led by the University of Sydney has found.
Spotting a famous face in the crowd
People can only recognize two faces in a crowd at a time – even if the faces belong to famous people. So says Volker Thoma of the University of East London in the UK in an article which sheds light on people's ...
Who's happy? How long we look at happy faces is in our genes
Though we all depend on reading people's faces, each of us sees others' faces a bit differently. Some of us may gaze deeply into another's eyes, while others seem more reserved. At one end of this spectrum people with autism ...
Recommended for you
Increased use of psychological testing would strengthen process for social security disability determination
Broader use of standardized psychological testing for applicants submitting disability claims to the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) should improve the accuracy and consistency of disability determinations, says ...
Ketamine found to alleviate depression
Researchers at the University of Hertfordshire have found that Ketamine, which has a reputation as an illicit 'recreational' drug, has an extremely large depression reducing effect. Although Ketamine has ...
Survey asks nation's youth 'How would you like to feel?'
How do you feel in school? How would you like to feel?
Children begin to empathize with others at a younger age than expected
Here's a psychology experiment you can try at home: Watch a Hitchcock film with someone and observe how they respond as the story unfolds.
Dodo bird verdict given new life by psychosis therapy study
A study by researchers at the University of Manchester and the University of Liverpool has examined the psychological treatment of more than 300 people suffering from psychosis, showing that, whatever the therapy, it is the ...
Psychologist studies the emotional disconnect between our present and future selves
While we routinely make sacrifices for the people we feel closest to—our spouses, children and parents—and will even give money or our time to help complete strangers like the homeless, the one person ...
User comments
Please sign in to add a comment. Registration is free, and takes less than a minute. Read more
Click here to reset your password.
Sign in to get notified via email when new comments are made.
A new Bournemouth University study, in collaboration with University of Portsmouth, has challenged conventional thinking that people's attention is readily captured by other people's faces above all other objects.
The study tested three conditions where people observed footage of two women in a waiting room, with different groups told that they were watching a live webcam and either told they would or would not meet the women afterwards whilst others were told that the video had been pre-recorded.
Explaining what they expected to see, Dr Gregory said: "We thought that when participants believed that they would be meeting the people in the scene, they would have their attention drawn towards the faces of those people more readily, and look where they looked more often, than the other two groups as the people would be most socially relevant to the participants".
"We also expected that in the condition which was least like real-life, when people thought the scene was pre-recorded, they would look least at the faces of the actors and follow their gaze direction the least.
"However, we found the complete opposite. Regardless of whether they thought they would meet the people in the scene, when participants thought they were watching a live webcam they seemed to avoid looking at the faces of the people and hardly followed their direction of gaze at all even though the people in the scene could not see the participants. When participants thought the scene was pre-recorded, they looked at the faces and followed gaze direction of the actors much more.
"Perhaps what we think we know about the way we view other people is wrong. As soon as viewing behaviour is measured within a genuinely social context, the way we look at people changes, and rather than having our attention drawn towards them, we actually seem to avoid looking at those people's faces.
"This likely reflects the complex interplay of factors which are present in a real social scenario, which are absent in most experimental studies, such as adhering to social rules and norms, or thinking about lots of different things at once, which causes us to look less at people than when we view pictures of them in the lab.
"Psychologists need to start taking this into account in their research, which is really very rare at the moment to make sure that what we find out from our experiments can actually be applied to real-life behaviour. If it can't then the value of it must be reassessed".
Nicola Gregory's research provides fresh insight to this research field, taking place in a more natural and social context unlike the older studies. It also refutes previous work suggesting that people predominantly look at faces and automatically shift their attention in the direction that other people are looking.
The study is published online in PLOS ONE.
Explore further: Visual 'gist' helps us figure out where a crowd is looking
More information: Reduced Gaze Following and Attention to Heads when Viewing a "Live" Social Scene , Nicola Jean Gregory, Beatriz Lόpez, Gemma Graham, Paul Marshman, Sarah Bate, Niko Kargas, PLOS ONE, http://ift.tt/1axdkVO
Medical Xpress on facebook
Related Stories
Visual 'gist' helps us figure out where a crowd is looking
Have you ever seen a crowd of people looking off into the distance, perhaps toward a passing biker or up to the top of a building? There's a good chance you looked there, too, instantly, even without paying ...
Psychologists reveal the secret of successful wooing
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new University of Sussex study shows that,without being consciously aware, we change our judgment of a person's attractiveness based on what they do, not their physical characteristics.
Are people really staring at you?
(Medical Xpress)—People often think that other people are staring at them even when they aren't research led by the University of Sydney has found.
Spotting a famous face in the crowd
People can only recognize two faces in a crowd at a time – even if the faces belong to famous people. So says Volker Thoma of the University of East London in the UK in an article which sheds light on people's ...
Who's happy? How long we look at happy faces is in our genes
Though we all depend on reading people's faces, each of us sees others' faces a bit differently. Some of us may gaze deeply into another's eyes, while others seem more reserved. At one end of this spectrum people with autism ...
Recommended for you
Increased use of psychological testing would strengthen process for social security disability determination
Broader use of standardized psychological testing for applicants submitting disability claims to the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) should improve the accuracy and consistency of disability determinations, says ...
Ketamine found to alleviate depression
Researchers at the University of Hertfordshire have found that Ketamine, which has a reputation as an illicit 'recreational' drug, has an extremely large depression reducing effect. Although Ketamine has ...
Survey asks nation's youth 'How would you like to feel?'
How do you feel in school? How would you like to feel?
Children begin to empathize with others at a younger age than expected
Here's a psychology experiment you can try at home: Watch a Hitchcock film with someone and observe how they respond as the story unfolds.
Dodo bird verdict given new life by psychosis therapy study
A study by researchers at the University of Manchester and the University of Liverpool has examined the psychological treatment of more than 300 people suffering from psychosis, showing that, whatever the therapy, it is the ...
Psychologist studies the emotional disconnect between our present and future selves
While we routinely make sacrifices for the people we feel closest to—our spouses, children and parents—and will even give money or our time to help complete strangers like the homeless, the one person ...
User comments
Please sign in to add a comment. Registration is free, and takes less than a minute. Read more
Click here
to reset your password.
Sign in to get notified via email when new comments are made.
0 comments:
Post a Comment