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Just one look: Direct gaze briefly disrupts visual working memory

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Just one look: Direct gaze briefly disrupts visual working memory. / Wang, Jen Jessica; Apperly, Ian.
In: Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, Vol. 24, No. 2, 01.04.2017, p. 393-399.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Wang, JJ & Apperly, I 2017, 'Just one look: Direct gaze briefly disrupts visual working memory', Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 393-399. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-016-1097-3

APA

Vancouver

Wang JJ, Apperly I. Just one look: Direct gaze briefly disrupts visual working memory. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review. 2017 Apr 1;24(2):393-399. Epub 2016 Jun 29. doi: 10.3758/s13423-016-1097-3

Author

Wang, Jen Jessica ; Apperly, Ian. / Just one look : Direct gaze briefly disrupts visual working memory. In: Psychonomic Bulletin and Review. 2017 ; Vol. 24, No. 2. pp. 393-399.

Bibtex

@article{a0beb44b33614adab4e31db1f4548f44,
title = "Just one look: Direct gaze briefly disrupts visual working memory",
abstract = "Direct gaze is a salient social cue that affords rapid detection. A body of research suggests that direct gaze enhances performance on memory tasks (e.g., Hood, Macrae, Cole-Davies, & Dias, Developmental Science, 1, 67–71, 2003). Nonetheless, other studies highlight the disruptive effect direct gaze has on concurrent cognitive processes (e.g., Conty, Gimmig, Belletier, George, & Huguet, Cognition, 115(1), 133–139, 2010). This discrepancy raises questions about the effects direct gaze may have on concurrent memory tasks. We addressed this topic by employing a change detection paradigm, where participants retained information about the color of small sets of agents. Experiment 1 revealed that, despite the irrelevance of the agents{\textquoteright} eye gaze to the memory task at hand, participants were worse at detecting changes when the agents looked directly at them compared to when the agents looked away. Experiment 2 showed that the disruptive effect was relatively short-lived. Prolonged presentation of direct gaze led to recovery from the initial disruption, rather than a sustained disruption on change detection performance. The present study provides the first evidence that direct gaze impairs visual working memory with a rapidly-developing yet short-lived effect even when there is no need to attend to agents{\textquoteright} gaze.",
keywords = "Direct gaze, Eye contact, Visual working memory, Social cognition",
author = "Wang, {Jen Jessica} and Ian Apperly",
year = "2017",
month = apr,
day = "1",
doi = "10.3758/s13423-016-1097-3",
language = "English",
volume = "24",
pages = "393--399",
journal = "Psychonomic Bulletin and Review",
issn = "1069-9384",
publisher = "Springer",
number = "2",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Just one look

T2 - Direct gaze briefly disrupts visual working memory

AU - Wang, Jen Jessica

AU - Apperly, Ian

PY - 2017/4/1

Y1 - 2017/4/1

N2 - Direct gaze is a salient social cue that affords rapid detection. A body of research suggests that direct gaze enhances performance on memory tasks (e.g., Hood, Macrae, Cole-Davies, & Dias, Developmental Science, 1, 67–71, 2003). Nonetheless, other studies highlight the disruptive effect direct gaze has on concurrent cognitive processes (e.g., Conty, Gimmig, Belletier, George, & Huguet, Cognition, 115(1), 133–139, 2010). This discrepancy raises questions about the effects direct gaze may have on concurrent memory tasks. We addressed this topic by employing a change detection paradigm, where participants retained information about the color of small sets of agents. Experiment 1 revealed that, despite the irrelevance of the agents’ eye gaze to the memory task at hand, participants were worse at detecting changes when the agents looked directly at them compared to when the agents looked away. Experiment 2 showed that the disruptive effect was relatively short-lived. Prolonged presentation of direct gaze led to recovery from the initial disruption, rather than a sustained disruption on change detection performance. The present study provides the first evidence that direct gaze impairs visual working memory with a rapidly-developing yet short-lived effect even when there is no need to attend to agents’ gaze.

AB - Direct gaze is a salient social cue that affords rapid detection. A body of research suggests that direct gaze enhances performance on memory tasks (e.g., Hood, Macrae, Cole-Davies, & Dias, Developmental Science, 1, 67–71, 2003). Nonetheless, other studies highlight the disruptive effect direct gaze has on concurrent cognitive processes (e.g., Conty, Gimmig, Belletier, George, & Huguet, Cognition, 115(1), 133–139, 2010). This discrepancy raises questions about the effects direct gaze may have on concurrent memory tasks. We addressed this topic by employing a change detection paradigm, where participants retained information about the color of small sets of agents. Experiment 1 revealed that, despite the irrelevance of the agents’ eye gaze to the memory task at hand, participants were worse at detecting changes when the agents looked directly at them compared to when the agents looked away. Experiment 2 showed that the disruptive effect was relatively short-lived. Prolonged presentation of direct gaze led to recovery from the initial disruption, rather than a sustained disruption on change detection performance. The present study provides the first evidence that direct gaze impairs visual working memory with a rapidly-developing yet short-lived effect even when there is no need to attend to agents’ gaze.

KW - Direct gaze

KW - Eye contact

KW - Visual working memory

KW - Social cognition

U2 - 10.3758/s13423-016-1097-3

DO - 10.3758/s13423-016-1097-3

M3 - Journal article

VL - 24

SP - 393

EP - 399

JO - Psychonomic Bulletin and Review

JF - Psychonomic Bulletin and Review

SN - 1069-9384

IS - 2

ER -