How facial attractiveness affects sustained attention

The present study investigated whether and how facial attractiveness affects sustained attention. We adopted a multiple‐identity tracking paradigm, using attractive and unattractive faces as stimuli. Participants were required to track moving target faces amid distractor faces and report the final location of each target. In Experiment 1, the attractive and unattractive faces differed in both the low‐level properties (i.e., luminance, contrast, and color saturation) and high‐level properties (i.e., physical beauty and age). The results showed that the attractiveness of both the target and distractor faces affected the tracking performance: The attractive target faces were tracked better than the unattractive target faces; when the targets and distractors were both unattractive male faces, the tracking performance was poorer than when they were of different attractiveness. In Experiment 2, the low‐level properties of the facial images were equalized. The results showed that the attractive target faces were still tracked better than unattractive targets while the effects related to distractor attractiveness ceased to exist. Taken together, the results indicate that during attentional tracking the high‐level properties related to the attractiveness of the target faces can be automatically processed, and then they can facilitate the sustained attention on the attractive targets, either with or without the supplement of low‐level properties. On the other hand, only low‐level properties of the distractor faces can be processed. When the distractors share similar low‐level properties with the targets, they can be grouped together, so that it would be more difficult to sustain attention on the individual targets.     

阅读目标和阅读任务对读者眼动的影响(中文)

We review two studies examining task effects on eye guidance during reading. The first study investigated effects of reading perspective on eye behavior in reading. It demonstrated that both the initial encoding of words as well as the later integration stage of wrapping up the sentence meaning are influenced by the reading perspective. Early effects of reading perspective were observed both in saccadic programming and in fixation times and were primarily seen when reading a text of familiar content. In the second study, effects of reading task were examined by comparing eye movements between proofreading and reading for comprehension. Task effects appeared very early in the processing time line; both temporal and spatial aspects of eye movements were affected. Taking together, the two studies demonstrate that readers make a global adjustment to eye behavior on the basis of reading task or goal.     

Reign of God,Trinity, or Promise? Alternative Missiological Keys for Engaging Religious Pluralism

The fact of religious pluralism demands a theological response. Recent models for engaging religious pluralism overcome the shortcomings of traditional models. However, they inadequately address the categories of sin and divine hiddenness, while struggling to articulate a coherent relationship between dialogue and proclamation. The classic Lutheran tradition offers three fruitful resources (the gospel as promise, the law/gospel distinction, and the hiddenness of God) for engaging religious pluralism and balancing interreligious dialogue and gospel proclamation.