scholarly journals Social attention during COVID-19 pandemic: Face masks do not alter gaze cueing of attention

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Dalmaso ◽  
Xinyuan Zhang ◽  
Giovanni Galfano ◽  
Luigi Castelli
Keyword(s):  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Face Mask ◽  
Social Attention ◽  
Mask Condition ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Gaze Cueing ◽  
Attentional Resources ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Averted Gaze

Interacting with others wearing a face mask has become a regular worldwide practice since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the impact of face masks on cognitive mechanisms supporting social interaction is still largely unexplored. In the present work we focused on gaze cueing of attention, a phenomenon tapping the essential ability which allows individuals to orient their attentional resources in response to eye gaze signals coming from others. Participants from both a Western (i.e., Italy; Experiment 1) and an Asian (i.e., China; Experiment 2) country were involved, namely two countries in which the daily use of face masks before COVID-19 pandemic was either extremely uncommon or frequently adopted, respectively. Both samples completed a task in which a peripheral target had to be discriminated while a task irrelevant averted gaze face, wearing a mask or not, acted as a central cueing stimulus. Overall, a reliable and comparable gaze cueing emerged in both experiments, independent of the mask condition. These findings suggest that social attention is preserved even when the person perceived is wearing a face mask.

scholarly journals Face Masks Do Not Alter Gaze Cueing of Attention: Evidence From the COVID-19 Pandemic

i-Perception ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 204166952110584
Author(s):  
Mario Dalmaso ◽  
Xinyuan Zhang ◽  
Giovanni Galfano ◽  
Luigi Castelli
Keyword(s):  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Face Mask ◽  
Mask Condition ◽  
Peripheral Target ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Gaze Cueing ◽  
Attentional Resources ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Averted Gaze

Interacting with others wearing a face mask has become a regular worldwide practice since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the impact of face masks on cognitive mechanisms supporting social interaction is still largely unexplored. In the present work, we focused on gaze cueing of attention, a phenomenon tapping the essential ability which allows individuals to orient their attentional resources in response to eye gaze signals coming from others. Participants from both a European (i.e., Italy; Experiment 1) and an Asian (i.e., China; Experiment 2) country were involved, namely two countries in which the daily use of face masks before COVID-19 pandemic was either extremely uncommon or frequently adopted, respectively. Both samples completed a task in which a peripheral target had to be discriminated while a task irrelevant averted gaze face, wearing a mask or not, acted as a central cueing stimulus. Overall, a reliable and comparable gaze cueing emerged in both experiments, independent of the mask condition. These findings suggest that gaze cueing of attention is preserved even when the person perceived is wearing a face mask.

scholarly journals Cross-cultural asymmetries in oculomotor interference elicited by gaze distractors belonging to Asian and White faces

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinyuan Zhang ◽  
Mario Dalmaso ◽  
Luigi Castelli ◽  
Shimin Fu ◽  
Giovanni Galfano
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
The Face ◽  
Perceived Social Status ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Interference Study ◽  
Averted Gaze

AbstractThe averted gaze of others triggers reflexive attentional orienting in the corresponding direction. This phenomenon can be modulated by many social factors. Here, we used an eye-tracking technique to investigate the role of ethnic membership in a cross-cultural oculomotor interference study. Chinese and Italian participants were required to perform a saccade whose direction might be either congruent or incongruent with the averted-gaze of task-irrelevant faces belonging to Asian and White individuals. The results showed that, for Chinese participants, White faces elicited a larger oculomotor interference than Asian faces. By contrast, Italian participants exhibited a similar oculomotor interference effect for both Asian and White faces. Hence, Chinese participants found it more difficult to suppress eye-gaze processing of White rather than Asian faces. The findings provide converging evidence that social attention can be modulated by social factors characterizing both the face stimulus and the participants. The data are discussed with reference to possible cross-cultural differences in perceived social status.

scholarly journals Assessing the impact of verbal and visuospatial working memory load on eye-gaze cueing

2010 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 1420-1438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna S. Law ◽  
Stephen R. H. Langton ◽  
Robert H. Logie
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Visuospatial Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Gaze Cueing ◽  
The Impact

Hedonic Contrast Effects Are Larger When Comparisons Are Social

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 286-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carey K Morewedge ◽  
Meng Zhu ◽  
Eva C Buechel
Keyword(s):  
Social Comparison ◽  
Contrast Effect ◽  
Time Pressure ◽  
Social Comparisons ◽  
Social Attention ◽  
Contrast Effects ◽  
Attentional Resources ◽  
Comparison Standards ◽  
Hedonic Contrast ◽  
The Impact

Abstract A hedonic contrast effect occurs when comparing a stimulus to its alternatives makes it better or worse. We find that counterfactual comparisons induce larger hedonic contrast effects when they are also social comparisons. Hedonic contrast effects influence happiness with a food or wage more when another person receives its counterfactual alternative than when no person receives its counterfactual alternative. Social attention, the propensity to attend to the experiences of other people, underlies the larger hedonic contrast effects induced by social comparisons. People pay more attention to counterfactual alternatives when they are also social comparison standards, and this difference in the allocation of attention mediates the larger hedonic contrast effects that social counterfactual comparisons induce. Reducing attentional resources with cognitive load or time pressure reduces the impact of social counterfactual comparisons, and drawing attention to nonsocial counterfactual comparisons increases their impact. Social attention makes comparisons stronger when they are social.

scholarly journals No preference for direct versus averted gaze in autistic adults: a reinforced preferential looking paradigm

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elise Clin ◽  
Pauline Maes ◽  
Fanny Stercq ◽  
Mikhail Kissine
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Social Attention ◽  
Visual Exploration ◽  
Direct Gaze ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Preferential Looking ◽  
Autistic Adults ◽  
Spontaneous Exploration ◽  
Averted Gaze

Abstract Background With the overarching objective to gain better insights into social attention in autistic adults, the present study addresses three outstanding issues about face processing in autism. First, do autistic adults display a preference for mouths over eyes; second, do they avoid direct gaze; third, is atypical visual exploration of faces in autism mediated by gender, social anxiety or alexithymia? Methods We used a novel reinforced preferential looking paradigm with a group of autistic adults (n = 43, 23 women) pairwise matched on age with neurotypical participants (n = 43, 21 women). Participants watched 28 different pairs of 5 s video recordings of a speaking person: the two videos, simultaneously displayed on the screen, were identical except that gaze was directed at the camera in one video and averted in the other. After a 680 ms transition phase, a short reinforcement animation appeared on the side that had displayed the direct gaze. Results None of the groups showed a preference for mouths over eyes. However, neurotypical participants fixated significantly more the stimuli with direct gaze, while no such preference emerged in autistic participants. As the experiment progressed, neurotypical participants also increasingly anticipated the appearance of the reinforcement, based on the location of the stimulus with the direct gaze, while no such anticipation emerged in autistic participants. Limitations Our autistic participants scored higher on the social anxiety and alexithymia questionnaires than neurotypicals. Future studies should match neurotypical and autistic participants on social anxiety and alexithymia and complement questionnaires with physiological measures of anxiety. Conclusions The absence of preference for direct versus averted gaze in the autistic group is probably due to difficulties in distinguishing eye gaze direction, potentially linked to a reduced spontaneous exploration or avoidance of the eye region. Social attention and preference for direct versus averted gaze correlated with alexithymia and social anxiety scores, but not gender.

A New Technique to Measure the Level of Interest Using Heartbeat-Evoked Brain Potential

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-22
Author(s):  
Kohei Fuseda ◽  
Jun’ichi Katayama
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Random Order ◽  
Overt Response ◽  
Brain Potential ◽  
Probe Technique ◽  
Dynamic Stimuli ◽  
Attentional Resources ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
A New Technique ◽  
Task Irrelevant

Abstract. Interest is a positive emotion related to attention. The event-related brain potential (ERP) probe technique is a useful method to evaluate the level of interest in dynamic stimuli. However, even in the irrelevant probe technique, the probe is presented as a physical stimulus and steals the observer’s attentional resources, although no overt response is required. Therefore, the probe might become a problematic distractor, preventing deep immersion of participants. Heartbeat-evoked brain potential (HEP) is a brain activity, time-locked to a cardiac event. No probe is required to obtain HEP data. Thus, we aimed to investigate whether the HEP can be used to evaluate the level of interest. Twenty-four participants (12 males and 12 females) watched attractive and unattractive individuals of the opposite sex in interesting and uninteresting videos (7 min each), respectively. We performed two techniques each for both the interesting and the uninteresting videos: the ERP probe and the HEP techniques. In the former, somatosensory stimuli were presented as task-irrelevant probes while participants watched videos: frequent (80%) and infrequent (20%) stimuli were presented at each wrist in random order. In the latter, participants watched videos without the probe. The P2 amplitude in response to the somatosensory probe was smaller and the positive wave amplitudes of HEP were larger while watching the videos of attractive individuals than while watching the videos of unattractive ones. These results indicate that the HEP technique is a useful method to evaluate the level of interest without an external probe stimulus.

The impact of state and dispositional mindfulness on prospective memory: a virtual reality study

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Charles Girardeau ◽  
Philippe Blondé ◽  
Dominique Makowski ◽  
Maria Abram ◽  
Pascale Piolino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prospective Memory ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Dispositional Mindfulness ◽  
Attentional Resources ◽  
Natural Tendency ◽  
Dispositional Trait ◽  
Main Observation ◽  
Mindfulness Facets ◽  
Event Based ◽  
The Impact

Objectives. Prospective memory (PM) consists of remembering to perform an action that was previously planned. The recovery and execution of these actions require attentional resources. Mindfulness, as a state or a dispositional trait, has been associated with better attentional abilities. In this study, we investigated the impact of mindfulness on PM. Methods. Eighty participants learned 15 cue-action associations. They were, then, asked to recall the actions at certain moments (time-based items) or places (event-based items) during a walk in a virtual town. Before the PM task, participants were randomly assigned to a mindfulness or mind-wandering (control condition) session. Dispositional mindfulness was measured via the Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Results. We found no difference between the two groups in the PM scores. Nevertheless, the natural tendency to describe one's own sensations (the Describing facet of the FFMQ) predicted time-based performance in both groups. Conclusions. To our knowledge, this study is the first to explore the link between mindfulness and PM. We did not report any effect of a short mindfulness session, compared to mind-wandering, on PM. We discuss different hypotheses to explain this finding. Our main observation is a positive link between the Describing facet and time-based PM performances. We propose that this link could be due to the common association of this mindfulness facets and PM with attentional and interoceptive abilities. Additional studies are needed to explore this hypothesis.

scholarly journals Impact of Face Masks on 6-Minute Walk Test in Healthy Volunteers

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 204589402098843
Author(s):  
Kevin M. Swiatek ◽  
Charnetta Lester ◽  
Nicole Ng ◽  
Saahil Golia ◽  
Janet Pinson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Healthy Volunteers ◽  
Face Mask ◽  
Walk Test ◽  
Six Minute Walk Test ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
6 Minute Walk Test ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Minute Walk

Our objective was to establish the impact of wearing a face mask on the outcome of six-minute walk test in healthy volunteers. In a study of 20 healthy volunteers who each completed two 6MWTs, one with a mask and one without, there was no difference in distance walked. However, there was a significant difference in perception of dyspnea between the two groups.

Test anxiety, evaluative stress, and susceptibility to distraction from threat

2001 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edmund Keogh ◽  
Christopher C. French
Keyword(s):  
Test Anxiety ◽  
Educational Practice ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Attentional Resources ◽  
Specific Trait ◽  
Selective Search ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
High Test ◽  
Specific Susceptibility

Examinations are perhaps one of the main methods of assessment in education. Unfortunately, there are some individuals who are so fearful of such events that performance is impaired. Test anxiety is believed to be the trait that predisposes individuals to react negatively to examinations and tests. One way in which it is believed that test anxiety affects performance is by increasing susceptibility to distraction from task‐irrelevant material. However, few studies have directly investigated this impairment. An experiment was therefore conducted to investigate susceptibility to distraction in high and low test‐anxious students. The task used was based on one developed by Mathews, May, Mogg and Eysenck (1990), which distinguishes between focused attention and selective search. In order to determine whether a specific susceptibility to distraction exists, the distractors were varied in terms of valence and relevance to examinations. Since test anxiety is a situation‐specific trait, an evaluation‐related stressor was used to trigger test‐anxious reactions. A specific susceptibility to distraction from threat was found amongst high test‐anxious participants who received the evaluation‐related stressor. However, this effect was only found when participants were using focused attention. This suggests that the disturbed performance often found to be associated with test anxiety might be due to an inability to ignore threatening material when attempting to focus attentional resources. These results are discussed in light of current theories of test anxiety and implications for educational practice. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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