Genuine eye contact elicits self-referential processing

The effect of eye contact on self-awareness was investigated with implicit measures based on the use of first-person singular pronouns in sentences. The measures were proposed to tap into self-referential processing, that is, information processing associated with self-awareness. In addition, participants filled in a questionnaire measuring explicit self-awareness. In Experiment 1, the stimulus was a video clip showing another person and, in Experiment 2, the stimulus was a live person. In both experiments, participants were divided into two groups and presented with the stimulus person either making eye contact or gazing downward, depending on the group assignment. During the task, the gaze stimulus was presented before each trial of the pronoun-selection task. Eye contact was found to increase the use of first-person pronouns, but only when participants were facing a real person, not when they were looking at a video of a person. No difference in self-reported self-awareness was found between the two gaze direction groups in either experiment. The results indicate that eye contact elicits self-referential processing, but the effect may be stronger, or possibly limited to, live interaction.     

Using computer‐assisted instruction to increase the eye gaze of children with autism

Many children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders have difficulty making appropriate eye contact and engaging in joint attention. The current study evaluated a computer‐assisted instruction package (pairing visual stimuli with vocal stimuli) as a novel treatment to improve the eye gaze accuracy in 3 elementary school children with autism. The researchers measured the latency from a recorded verbal stimulus to the students making eye contact with pictures of familiar individuals displayed on a computer screen, and the duration for which eye gaze on the stimulus was maintained. An automated infrared camera system for measuring eye gaze was utilized that eliminated the need for an instructor to make subjective judgments regarding participants' eye gaze. For all three participants, duration of eye contact increased, and latency to responding decreased following exposure to the computer‐assisted instruction. The implications of these findings for the treatment of individuals with autism are discussed, along with suggestions for future research on the topic.     

Biological bases of face preference in 6-week-old infants

Six-week-old infants (N =40) who started the experiment in either a calm or crying state, received sucrose from an experimenter, while in eye contact with her. Sucrose was delivered either by syringe or on a pacifier. After 3.5 min., the experimenter retired, the mother came into the test room and placed her infant over her shoulder en face with a video camera. The experimenter and a confederate, both dressed identically, sat in front of and slightly to either side of the infant and the infant could choose to look at either experimenter. To minimize position bias, experimenters switched sides every 30 sec. To maintain a stable level of infant attention, they simultaneously called the baby's name at 10 sec. intervals. When an infant looked at one or the other experimenters, she raised her thumb in camera view. Only crying infants who sucked a sweet pacifier showed a preference for their experimenter. As a group none of the other infants did so. However, there was a wide distribution of sucking times in calm week 6 infants. Choice was linearly related to sucking duration. Infants who sucked for substantial periods of time, showed a strong preference for the experimenter. Those who sucked for minimal periods of time strongly preferred the confederate. Based on these findings and ones from 9- and 12-week-old infants, a model is presented in which preference in this experimental paradigm is determined by idealized levels of central activation. These levels may be inferred from the normal crying function at a particular age.     

The eyes have it: Exposure times and saccadic movements in visual half-field experiments

Several tachistoscopic visual half-field experiments using exposure times in excess of 150 msec have been reported and arguments have been put forth justifying this procedure. An experiment was done investigating visual field accuracy under conditions where eye movement was allowed, following parafoveal exposure. Two control experiments were done to evaluate the viewing conditions. When eye movement is permitted, accuracy in both visual fields reaches 100%. It is concluded that visual field differences found with exposure times greater than 150 msec are due to the active cooperation of the subjects and not due to the justifications advanced by experimenters using long exposure times.     

RELATIONAL MESSAGES ASSOCIATED WITH NONVERBAL BEHAVIORS

Based on the assumptions that relational messages are multidimensional and that they are frequently communicated by nonverbal cues, this experiment manipulated five nonverbal cues -eye contact, proximity, body lean, smiling, and touch - to determine what meanings they convey along four relational message dimensions. Subjects (N= 150) observed 2 out of 40 videotaped conversational segments in which a male-female dyad presented various combinations of the nonverbal cues. High eye contact, close proximity, forward body lean, and smiling all conveyed greater intimacy, attraction, and trust. Low eye contact, a distal position, backward body lean, and the absence of smiling and touch communicated greater detachment. High eye contact, close proximity, and smiling also communicated less emotional arousal and greater composure, while high eye contact and close proximity alone conveyed greater dominance and control. Effects of combinations of cues and sex-differences are also reported.     

Observer recorder error as affected by different tasks and different expectancy inducements

Four experiments were designed to investigate the effects of systematic observer/recorder error on experimental results where experimenters had been induced to expect certain results. In the first experiment, experimenters were induced to expect certain outcomes for three different tasks. No observer error nor experimenter-effects were observed. Postexperimental interviews indicated some suspiciousness as well as failure to understand the hypotheses on the part of experimenters. In the second experiment expectancies were induced in observers who did not act as experimenters. No observer effects were noted, and again postexperimental interviews indicated manipulation failure. In the third experiment experimenters were asked to attempt to influence subjects' responses. Three tasks were used, but in two of these tasks observer error was controlled rather than measured. No differences in subjects' responses were noted for any of the measures. However, significant observer/recorder error was noted for both male and female experimenters in the task where such error was measurable. In the fourth experiment experimenters were again asked to influence subjects' responses. For the two tasks used observer error was measured. A predicted Task × Observer Error Interaction was obtained. Again, no differences in subjects' responses were noted.     

Evaluating the Effects of Establishing Eye Contact on the Skill Acquisition of Individuals with Autism

Journal of Behavioral Education - Researchers widely assert that requiring eye contact from students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) before instruction is highly important to the outcome of...     

Understanding the referential nature of looking: infants' preference for object-directed gaze

In four experiments, we investigated whether 9-month-old infants are sensitive to the relationship between gaze direction and object location and whether this sensitivity depends on the presence of communicative cues like eye contact. Infants observed a face, which repeatedly shifted its eyes either toward, or away from, unpredictably appearing objects. We found that they looked longer at the face when the gaze shifts were congruent with the location of the object. A second experiment ruled out that this effect was simply due to spatial congruency, while a third and a fourth experiment revealed that a preceding period of eye contact is required to elicit the gaze-object congruency effect. These results indicate that infants at this age can encode eye direction in referential terms in the presence of communication cues and are biased to attend to scenes with object-directed gaze.     

The impact of eye contact on the sense of agency

Recent research suggests that eye contact can lead to enhanced self-awareness. A related phenomenon, the sense of agency deals with the notion of the self as the origin of our actions. Possible links between eye contact and agency have been so far neglected. Here, we investigated whether an implicit sense of agency could be modulated by eye gaze. We asked participants to respond (button press) to a face stimulus: looking or not at the participant (experiment 1); or displaying distinct eye gaze before or after a mask (experiment 2). After each trial, participants estimated the time between their key press and the ensuing effects. We found enhanced intentional binding for conditions that involved direct compared to averted gaze. This study supports the idea that eye contact is an important cue that affects complex cognitive processes and suggests that modulating self-processing can impact the sense of agency.     

Sex differences in the effects of visual contact and eye contact in negotiations

Previous research has proposed that the ability to see others would benefit negotiations. We argue that this view is too narrow and that the impact of visual contact on negotiated agreements depends on the meaning individuals ascribe to either its presence or absence. Based on previous research showing that females are more likely to understand others in the presence of visual contact while males understand others better in the absence of visual contact, we explore how visual contact, eye contact, and sex affect the quality of negotiated agreements in a meta-analysis (Study 1) and a laboratory experiment (Study 2). The two studies combined show that because direct communication via the face facilitates a shared understanding for two unacquainted females, their agreements are of higher quality when they have visual contact compared to when they do not (Study 1), and if they have visual contact, their agreements are better when they have eye contact than when they do not (Study 2). Because communication via the face increases discomfort between two unacquainted males, their agreements are of higher quality when they do not have visual contact (Study 1), and if they do have visual contact, their agreements are better when they have no eye contact than when they do (Study 2).     

Group interpersonal skills training in a natural setting: an experimental study.

This study assessed effectiveness of group interpersonal skills training conducted in a natural setting with nonanalogue clients. Subjects (Ss) in a behavioral-training condition received 4 hr of instruction consisting of modeling, behavioral rehearsal, coaching, feedback and reinforcement. Training focused on positive and negative social responses and on initiating interactions, as well as reacting to interactions initiated by others. Subjects in a discussion-control condition engaged in focused discussion of interpersonal concerns but received no experiential practice. Within a pre-test-post-test control group design, subjective and objective measures were used to assess training effects. When compared to Ss involved in group discussion. Ss participating in group behavioral training revealed greater pre- to post-test changes on selfreported probability of engaging in selected interpersonal responses and on objective measures of eye contact, speech duration, positive affective responses, use of no-statements, compliance, refusals and requests for new behavior. Support for generalization of training is presented and methodological issues are discussed.     

社会调节对内隐刻板印象的影响研究

本研究以性别一职业刻板印象IAT纸笔测验为实验材料和测量工具．安排不同的主试主持实验。研究表明：男性被试在女性主试条件下比在男性主试条件下,呈现较轻的内隐刻板印象,而女性被试无此现象,说明社会调节作用对男性被试有显著的影响;在不同主试条件下男女被试均表现出非常显著的内隐效应;实验证明IAT纸笔测验版本是简便可行的。     

Preschoolers’ appreciation of speaker vocal affect as a cue to referential intent

An eye tracking methodology was used to evaluate 3- and 4-year-old children’s sensitivity to speaker affect when resolving referential ambiguity. Children were presented with pictures of three objects on a screen (including two referents of the same kind, e.g., an intact doll and a broken doll, and one distracter item), paired with a prerecorded referentially ambiguous instruction (e.g., “Look at the doll”). The intonation of the instruction varied in terms of the speaker’s vocal affect: positive-sounding, negative-sounding, or neutral. Analyses of eye gaze patterns indicated that 4-year-olds, but not 3-year-olds, were more likely to look to the referent whose state matched the speaker’s vocal affect as the noun was heard (e.g., looked more often to the broken doll referent in the negative affect condition). These findings indicate that 4-year-olds can use speaker affect to help identify referential mappings during on-line comprehension.     

Effects of Eye Contact on the Evaluation of Job Applicants

This experiment attempted to determine if eye contact affects job interviewers' evaluations of applicants. Photographs were taken of a male and a female in two eye positions: looking straight into the camera and looking downward. Forty-four job interviewers in an employment agency were randomly assigned to one of the four photographs. Each subject was told to assume that he or she was interviewing the stimulus person for a job as a management trainee and was instructed to rate the stimulus person on a series of scales. The findings supported the hypothesis that eye contact is a determinant of the decision to hire. The findings also suggested that the effects of eye contact are mediated by the perceived attributes of applicants; that is, eye contact affected the interviewers' evaluations of the applicants, and those evaluations were related to the decision to hire.     

THE RELATIVE EFFICACY OF METHYLPHENIDATE (RITALIN) AND BEHAVIOR-MODIFICATION TECHNIQUES IN THE TREATMENT OF A HYPERACTIVE CHILD

Drug versus placebo effects were contrasted with those of contingency management in the treatment of a hyperactive child. Several criterion behaviors were monitored in two different settings to gauge the breadth and generalizability of drug and behavior-management effects. Medication and contingency management effects were both found to be situation specific. No interaction effects were found. Accuracy of task performance, amount of eye contact with the experimenters, frequency of repetitive hand movements, and distractible behavior were apparently unaffected by medication (Ritalin versus placebo) within the clinic. A multiple-baseline design incorporating contingency reversals revealed the reinforcement contingencies to be the crucial variable controlling behavior within the clinic. Medication effects were shown to be significant within the home setting where reinforcement contingencies were not changed. While aggressive behavior decreased as a function of Ritalin, repetitive hand movements increased.     

Adolescent substance use groups: antecedent and concurrent personality differences in a longitudinal study

This study attempted to extend Shedler and Block's (1990) influential study, which found that adolescent drug experimenters had the healthiest personality functioning compared to abstainers and frequent users. Using a prospective design, we examined the relationship between antecedent and concurrent personality and age-18 substance use in a community sample of 1,298 twins (96% Caucasian, 49% male). Personality measures at ages 11 and 18 assessed positive emotionality (agentic and communal), negative emotionality, and constraint. Substance use groups-abstainers, experimenters, and problem users-were created at age 18. Age-18 substance use groups differed in age-11 and age-18 constraint such that problem users were lower than experimenters, who were lower than abstainers. Age-18 substance use groups did not differ in age-18 positive emotionality. However, abstainers were significantly lower than experimenters in communal positive emotionality, whereas female abstainers scored higher in agentic positive emotionality than female experimenters, who scored higher than female problem users. Experimenters were significantly lower in negative emotionality than problem users. Our findings are inconsistent with the notion that experimenters had the healthiest personality functioning and instead suggest different strengths and weaknesses for each group. Future studies should examine agentic and communal positive emotionality separately.     

The Eyelink Toolbox: Eye tracking with MATLAB and the Psychophysics Toolbox

The Eyelink Toolbox software supports the measurement of eye movements. The toolbox provides an interface between a high-level interpreted language (MATLAB), a visual display programming toolbox (Psychophysics Toolbox), and a video-based eyetracker (Eyelink). The Eyelink Toolbox enables experimenters to measure eye movements while simultaneously executing the stimulus presentation routines provided by the Psychophysics Toolbox. Example programs are included with the toolbox distribution. Information on the Eyelink Toolbox can be found at http://psychtoolbox.org/.     

Selective attention and the control of binocular rivalry

The control of binocular rivalry (BR) was reintroduced as an example of selective attention after several decades. Ss passively observed BR in a stereoscopic tachistoscope and, at an undetermined phase of rivalry, received an instruction signal to attend to one of the rivalry patterns. Letter test stimuli were presented to either the instructed (I) eye or noninstructed (NI) eye 1, 3, 5, or 7 sec following the instruction signal. The difference between the eyes in recognition performance (I-NI) provided an objective measure of control, which was correlated with previously used measures based on subjective reports of rivalry alternation rates. Subjective and objective measures showed correlated increases as a result of practice of control. The fact that the objective measure reached a peak value at the 3-sec delay of test stimuli suggested a minimum time to shift attention and maximum time to maintain attention in BR. In addition, it was found that the control of BR results in a change of signal strength with no associated change in the use of confidence ratings, a result similar to that found with selective attention in dichotic listening.     

Interpreting statistical testing: Process and propensity, not population and random sampling

The standard textbook treatment of conventional statistical tests assumes random sampling from a population and interprets the outcome of the statistical testing as being about a population. Problems with this interpretation include that (1) experimenters rarely make any attempt to randomly sample, (2) if random sampling occurred, conventional statistical tests would not precisely describe the population, and (3) experimenters do not use statistical testing to generalize to a population. The assumption of random sampling can be replaced with the assumption that scores were produced by a process. Rejecting the null hypothesis then leads to a conclusion about process, applying to only the subjects in the experiment (e.g., that some difference in the treatment of two groups caused the difference in average scores). This interpretation avoids the problems noted and fits how statistical testing is used in psychology.