Lateral presentation of faces alters overall viewing strategy

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Eye tracking is crucial for understanding facial feature salience and cognitive processes.
• Gaze biases, such as center-of-screen and left-gaze bias, affect viewing patterns in face perception tasks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the interaction between screen location biases and inherent facial expression processing biases.
• To determine how screen position influences gaze patterns during face categorization.

Main Methods:

• Face stimuli were presented in left, right, and center screen positions.
• Eye tracking data was analyzed to compare fixation patterns across different screen locations.
• Fixation locations were analyzed for screen center bias and leftward horizontal gaze bias.

Main Results:

• A significant screen center bias was observed, drawing fixations toward the screen's center.
• This center bias modified typical gaze patterns seen in facial categorization.
• A leftward horizontal gaze bias was independent of screen position but interacted with the center bias, directing focus to the left hemi-face.

Conclusions:

• Screen position is a critical factor that can alter gaze biases in eye tracking studies of face perception.
• Researchers should consider screen location effects when interpreting eye tracking data, especially for centrally presented faces.
• Understanding these biases is essential for accurate inference of cognitive processes in facial recognition.