Multiple Gaze Cues and Their Effect on Observer Eye Movements in a Visual Search Task

Abstract

Responses to Posner-type tasks are well documented. Whether presented with a schematic or realistic face, observers seem to reflexively follow the eye movements of the face even when they have been instructed not to do so. However, these tasks do not necessarily elicit the same behaviour as seen in the real world, where gaze cues come with the context of a whole body and often simultaneously with many other cues. We examined search behaviour in realistic scenes with two individuals present. Each individual in the scene cued either the target or a distractor within an array of 15 everyday objects. Unlike results from traditional paradigms, observers rarely fixated on either individual – fixations on the head or body occurring in only 4.38% of trials. Regardless of the lack of overt gaze-following, participants' eye movements were still influenced by gaze cue direction. First saccades were more likely to be directed towards, and land closer to, the target when it was cued by both individuals in the scene. M...