[Visual behavior in conversational dyads: comparison between total eye contact measure and localized gaze pattern...

The present paper investigated visual interaction in conversational dyads by using a larger range of gaze pattern measures associated with conversation than the total eye contact measure. Specifically, it aimed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the localized gaze pattern measure, which was scored for each subject by summing up gaze patterns for 3 s immediately prior to and following the end of the interviewer's utterance over three occasions. Twenty female students were interviewed by one male student for about 10 min. The interview topics were "fashion" for the first 5 min and "sex" for the remaining 5 min. (1) The frequency of a subject's gaze and eye contact was significantly greater in the "fashion" topic than in the "sex" topic, but the total amount and average length of both measures were not significantly different between the topics. (2) Immediately after the end of the interviewer's utterance subjects' gaze decreased, with significantly lesser localized gaze in the "sex" topic than in the "fashion" topic. It could thus be said that the localized gaze measure was more sensitive than the total eye contact measure.