Attention to eye contact in the West and East: autonomic responses and evaluative ratings

Screening tools for autism in culturally and linguistically diverse paediatric populations: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has varying prevalence rates worldwide, often higher in culturally diverse populations. Cultural differences can affect autism symptom recognition. Language barriers and differing healthcare attitudes may delay diagnosis and intervention. Most autism screening tools were developed in Western, predominantly Caucasian populations, and their appropriateness in culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) contexts remains uncertain. There is a lack of comprehensive data on the accuracy of these tools in identifying autism in culturally and linguistically diverse groups. Consequently, it is unclear whether current screening tools are culturally sensitive and appropriate.

METHODS

A research protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022367308). A comprehensive search of literature published from inception to October 2022 was conducted using the following databases: PubMed, Medline Complete, Scopus, PsychInfo and CINAHL Complete. The articles were screened using pre-determined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data extracted included participant demographics, screening tool psychometric properties (validity, reliability, accuracy) and acceptability. A narrative synthesis approach was used.

RESULTS

From the initial retrieval of 2310 citations, 51 articles were included for analysis. The studies were conducted in 32 different countries with screening tools in the following languages: Chinese, Spanish, Korean, Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, Persian, Serbian, Italian, French, Sinhala, Taiwanese, Finnish, Northern Soho, Albanian, German, Japanese, Vietnamese, Farsi, Greek and English. There was no data on acceptability of the screening tools in CALD populations. Validity, reliability, and accuracy ranged from poor to excellent with consistently high performance by screening tools devised within the populations they are intended for.

CONCLUSIONS

The review evaluated autism screening tools in culturally diverse populations, with a focus on validity, reliability, and acceptability. It highlighted variations in the effectiveness of these tools across different cultures, with high performance by tools devised specifically for the intended population, emphasizing the need for culturally sensitive screening tools. Further research is needed to improve culturally specific, reliable autism screening tools for equitable assessment and intervention in diverse communities.

Conceptual Model of and Intervention Development for Unplanned Suicide Attempts

INTRODUCTION

More than half of those who die by suicide do not communicate about suicide prior to their death. This project describes the emotional state and decision-making among "unplanned" attempt survivors to inform a conceptual model and suicide prevention interventions.

METHODS

This qualitative study purposefully sampled patients who reported having no suicidal thoughts on a standardized mental health questionnaire within 60 days (about 2 months) prior to a nonfatal suicide attempt documented in the health record. Participants verbally consented to telephone interview participation. Semistructured audio-recorded interviews elicited suicide attempt survivor descriptions of their emotional state and experiences in the days, hours, and minutes leading up to their suicide attempt. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using grounded theory. The biopsychosocial theory of emotion regulation informed conceptual model development.

RESULTS

Participants (N = 26) described 2 distinct "phases" prior to the attempt. First, a phase of increasing life stressors, transitory and nonspecific suicidal thoughts, and a reluctance to disclose experiences. Second, an overwhelming emotional state led to a sudden suicide attempt and nondisclosure due to the rapidity and intensity of the experience. These results informed the conceptual model and intervention development to manage unplanned and overwhelming urges to attempt suicide.

DISCUSSION

Qualitative analysis informed the development of an intervention for the high-intensity "hot" period preceding an attempt, including specific steps to manage a highly intense emotional state in combination with overwhelming urges to kill oneself.

CONCLUSION

Future research is needed to evaluate whether and how this intervention helps support people with a chance of "unplanned" suicide attempts.

Emotion-gaze interaction affects time-to-collision estimates, but not preferred interpersonal distance towards looming faces

Estimating the time until impending collision (time-to-collision, TTC) of approaching or looming individuals and maintaining a comfortable distance from others (interpersonal distance, IPD) are commonly required in daily life and contribute to survival and social goals. Despite accumulating evidence that facial expressions and gaze direction interactively influence face processing, it remains unclear how these facial features affect the spatiotemporal processing of looming faces. We examined whether facial expressions (fearful vs. neutral) and gaze direction (direct vs. averted) interact on the judgments of TTC and IPD for looming faces, based on the shared signal hypothesis that fear signals the existence of threats in the environment when coupled with averted gaze. Experiment 1 demonstrated that TTC estimates were reduced for fearful faces compared to neutral ones only when the concomitant gaze was averted. In Experiment 2, the emotion-gaze interaction was not observed in the IPD regulation, which is arguably sensitive to affective responses to faces. The results suggest that fearful-averted faces modulate the cognitive extrapolation process of looming motion by communicating environmental threats rather than by altering subjective fear or perceived emotional intensity of faces. The TTC-specific effect may reflect an enhanced defensive response to unseen threats implied by looming fearful-averted faces. Our findings provide insight into how the visual system processes facial features to ensure bodily safety and comfortable interpersonal communication in dynamic environments.

Comparison between Thai and Indian Adolescents' Self-Figure Drawing as Child Abuse Art-Based Assessment

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

The current study compared Self-Figure drawings from Thai and Indian adolescents to assess the cross-cultural applicability of a child abuse assessment tool. The research aims to understand the extent to which distinctions or similarities arise in Self-Figure drawings among adolescents from two culturally similar yet distinct backgrounds characterized by differences in religious affiliations, socioeconomic contexts, and political environments.

METHODS

Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study utilized quantitative measures, including the Traumatic Events Checklist (TEQ-5) and Medical Somatic Dissociation Questionnaire (MSDQ), alongside a qualitative analysis of Self-Figure drawings. Ethical approval was obtained with waived informed consent, and a convenience sample of 386 adolescents aged 13-18 years (193 from Thailand [M = 14.8, SD = 1.73; 135 females (69.9%) and 58 males (30.1%)], and 193 from India [M = 15.2, SD = 1.64; 135 females (69.9%) and 58 males (30.1%)]), who reported experiencing child abuse, participated in the study by completing questionnaires and drawing themselves.

RESULTS

The analysis revealed that Thai adolescents had higher MSDQ scores, while Indian adolescents exhibited more prominent pictorial indicators. Indian participants reported experiencing a broader range of event types, whereas Thai adolescents predominantly depicted verbal or emotional abuse. Variations in pictorial indicators were found significant, except for hair, cheek or chin, omitted legs or feet, and omitted eyes.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings contribute to the understanding of how cultural factors influence adolescents' self-representations through drawing. The differences in pictorial indicators highlight the nuanced variations within similar cultures, emphasizing the cultural specificity of self-expression.

Synchrony within, synchrony without: establishing the link between interpersonal behavioural and brain-to-brain synchrony during role-play

Interpersonal synchrony is a crucial construct in understanding social interactions, which has been used in clinical studies to measure the quality of the therapeutic alliance. However, there is a lack of studies investigating the correlation between synchrony expressed on different levels: behavioural and neurophysiological. Furthermore, there are no studies that examine how the implementation of psychodramatic role-playing techniques, when individuals adopt the persona of a different character, may influence intrinsic biobehavioural synchrony between two parties. The present study, therefore, aims to uncover the relationship between behavioural and brain-to-brain synchrony across different role-playing techniques and elucidate the impact of these synchronies on participants' levels of anxiety and empathy. By using functional near-infrared imaging and behavioural coding in a dyadic role-playing paradigm (n = 41 dyads), the study found correlations between behavioural and brain-to-brain synchrony during naturalistic conversations, but not during role-play, implying a qualitative change in interpersonal synchrony when implementing role-playing techniques. Additionally, the study noted significant contributions of both behavioural and brain-to-brain synchrony as well as peripheral factors such as dyadic sex make-up and role immersion in predicting dyadic anxiety and empathy changes. Findings call for future studies to consider role-playing scenarios as a qualitatively different form of social interaction.

Infants' psychophysiological responses to eye contact with a human and with a humanoid robot

Eye contact with a human and with a humanoid robot elicits attention- and affect-related psychophysiological responses. However, these responses have mostly been studied in adults, leaving their developmental origin poorly understood. In this study, 114 infants (6-8 months old) viewed direct and averted gaze directions of a live human and an embodied humanoid robot while their heart rate deceleration (attention orienting), skin conductance (affective arousal), and facial muscle activity (affective valence) were measured. In addition, a non-humanoid object (a vase) was used as a control stimulus. Infants' attention orienting was stronger to averted versus direct gaze of a human and a robot, but indifferent to the averted versus direct orientation of the non-humanoid object. Moreover, infants' attention orienting was equally intensive toward a human and a robot, but less intensive toward a non-humanoid object. Affective arousal was insensitive to gaze direction and did not differ between the human, the robot, and the non-humanoid object. Facial muscle responses showed sensitivity to the gaze direction of a human and of a robot but not to the orientation of the non-humanoid object. These results suggest that infants recognize the attentional and affective/affiliative significance not only in a human's gaze but also in a robot's gaze.

Evidence That Pervasive Body Gaze Behavior in Heterosexual Men Is a Social Marker for Implicit, Physiological, and Explicit Sexual Assault Propensities

Deliberate and effortful attempts to gaze at the bodies of women is emerging as a valuable marker of sexual objectification in men. Some preliminary evidence suggests that pervasive body gaze behavior may also accompany insidious attitudes which can facilitate sexual assault. The present study aimed to further explore this potential by examining pervasive body gaze associations with explicit, implicit, and physiological sexual assault propensity measures. We presented 110 heterosexual male participants with images of fully and partially dressed women with and without injuries while measuring their skin conductance responses. We also captured implicit and explicit sexual assault measures in addition to self-reported pervasive body gaze behavior. Pervasive body gaze behavior was significantly correlated with rape myth acceptance attitudes, prior perpetration of sexual assault, a stronger implicit association between erotica and aggression, and lower physiological reactivity during exposure to partially dressed injured women. These findings suggest that body gaze towards women could be a behavioral marker for inclinations to victim blame, preferences for rough sexual conduct, and a physiological desensitization towards female victims. This study further validates a five item self-reported body gaze measure as a valuable tool for detecting deviant sexual objectification attitudes and affective states. As such, measurement and observation of body gaze behavior could be useful for developing risk assessments, estimating intervention efficacy, and enhancing public awareness.

In the eye of the beholder: Social traits predict motor simulation during naturalistic action perception

Previous research has robustly demonstrated that eye contact between actor and observer promotes the simulation of perceived actions into the observer's own motor system, which in turn facilitates social perception and communication. The socially relevant connotation embedded in eye contact may however be different for individuals with differing social traits. Here, we examined how "normal" (i.e. non-clinical) variability in self-reported social responsiveness/autistic traits, social anxiety and interpersonal relationship style (secure, avoidant or anxious attachment) influences neural motor simulation during action observation in different gaze conditions. To do so, we analyzed an existing dataset involving 124 adult participants (age range: 18-35 years) who underwent transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) while observing an actor performing simple hand actions and simultaneously engaging in eye contact or gazing away from the observer. Motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitudes were adopted as an index of motor resonance. Regression-based analyses highlighted the role of social responsiveness and secure attachment in shaping motor resonance, indicating that socially responsive motor resonance during dyadic gaze (i.e., MEPdirect > MEPaverted) was only observed in participants displaying high levels of these traits. Furthermore, a clustering analysis identified two to three distinct subgroups of participants with unique social trait profiles, showing a clear differentiation in motor resonant patterns upon different gaze cues that is in accordance with a recent neurobiological framework of attachment. Together, results demonstrate that motor resonance within a given social interaction may serve as a sensitive tracker of socio-interactive engagement, which allows to capture subclinical inter-individual variation in relevant social traits.

Off-camera gaze decreases evaluation scores in a simulated online job interview

During the pandemic, digital communication became paramount. Due to the discrepancy between the placement of the camera and the screen in typical smartphones, tablets and laptops, mutual eye contact cannot be made in standard video communication. Although the positive effect of eye contact in traditional communication has been well-documented, its role in virtual contexts remains less explored. In this study, we conducted experiments to gauge the impact of gaze direction during a simulated online job interview. Twelve university students were recruited as interviewees. The interview consisted of two recording sessions where they delivered the same prepared speech: in the first session, they faced the camera, and in the second, they directed their gaze towards the screen. Based on the recorded videos, we created three stimuli: one where the interviewee's gaze was directed at the camera (CAM), one where the interviewee's gaze was skewed downward (SKW), and a voice-only stimulus without camera recordings (VO). Thirty-eight full-time workers participated in the study and evaluated the stimuli. The results revealed that the SKW condition garnered significantly less favorable evaluations than the CAM condition and the VO condition. Moreover, a secondary analysis indicated a potential gender bias in evaluations: the female evaluators evaluated the interviewees of SKW condition more harshly than the male evaluators did, and the difference in some evaluation criteria between the CAM and SKW conditions was larger for the female interviewees than for the male interviewees. Our findings emphasize the significance of gaze direction and potential gender biases in online interactions.

Interpersonal eye-tracking reveals the dynamics of interacting minds

The human eye is a rich source of information about where, when, and how we attend. Our gaze paths indicate where and what captures our attention, while changes in pupil size can signal surprise, revealing our expectations. Similarly, the pattern of our blinks suggests levels of alertness and when our attention shifts between external engagement and internal thought. During interactions with others, these cues reveal how we coordinate and share our mental states. To leverage these insights effectively, we need accurate, timely methods to observe these cues as they naturally unfold. Advances in eye-tracking technology now enable real-time observation of these cues, shedding light on mutual cognitive processes that foster shared understanding, collaborative thought, and social connection. This brief review highlights these advances and the new opportunities they present for future research.

Sharing and Receiving Eye-Contact Predicts Mate Choice After a 5-Minute Conversation: Evidence from a Speed-Dating Study

In popular narratives, the first date with a potential mate often centers on their gaze as embodiment of interest and attraction. However, evidence is still lacking on the role of eye-contact as a potent signal in human social interaction in the context of dating. In addition, behavioral mechanisms of mate selection are not well understood. In the present study, we therefore examined mutual eye-contact and its influence on mate choice by applying dual mobile eye-tracking during naturalistic speed-dates. A total of 30 male and 30 female subjects attended four speed-dates each (N = 240). Subjects were more likely to choose those dating partners with whom they shared more eye-contact with. In addition, perceived attractiveness played an important role for mate choice. Interestingly, receiving but not giving eye-contact also predicted individual mate choice. Eye-contact thus acts as an important signal of romantic attraction when encountering a dating partner.

Item-Based Analysis of Some ADOS-2 Items with Typically Developing Participants Might help Improve Cross-Cultural Validity of ADOS-2

Most internationally recognized instruments for the screening and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder have been developed in the USA, which calls into question the degree of their cultural adaptation to diverse populations. The aim of this study is to examine the characteristics of social communication in typically developing Croatian-speaking participants (N = 220) using ADOS-2-defined item-level normative values. Croatian subjects showed the expected ("typical") results in the domain of verbal communication, slightly atpical results in nonverbal communication (primarily gesture use), and more significant deviations in pragmatics (offering and asking for information), relative to the expectations of the ADOS-2. As ADOS-2 has become an important component of thorough ASD diagnostic evaluations worldwide, identifying methods for increasing the cross-cultural validity is essential.

Psychophysiological responses to eye contact with a humanoid robot: Impact of perceived intentionality

Eye contact with a social robot has been shown to elicit similar psychophysiological responses to eye contact with another human. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that the attention- and affect-related psychophysiological responses differentiate between direct (toward the observer) and averted gaze mainly when viewing embodied faces that are capable of social interaction, whereas pictorial or pre-recorded stimuli have no such capability. It has been suggested that genuine eye contact, as indicated by the differential psychophysiological responses to direct and averted gaze, requires a feeling of being watched by another mind. Therefore, we measured event-related potentials (N170 and frontal P300) with EEG, facial electromyography, skin conductance, and heart rate deceleration responses to seeing a humanoid robot's direct versus averted gaze, while manipulating the impression of the robot's intentionality. The results showed that the N170 and the facial zygomatic responses were greater to direct than to averted gaze of the robot, and independent of the robot's intentionality, whereas the frontal P300 responses were more positive to direct than to averted gaze only when the robot appeared intentional. The study provides further evidence that the gaze behavior of a social robot elicits attentional and affective responses and adds that the robot's seemingly autonomous social behavior plays an important role in eliciting higher-level socio-cognitive processing.

How Should Doctors Frame the Risk of a Vaccine's Adverse Side Effects? It Depends on How Trustworthy They Are

BACKGROUND

How health workers frame their communication about vaccines' probability of adverse side effects could play an important role in people's intentions to be vaccinated (e.g., positive frame: side effects are unlikely v. negative frame: there is a chance of side effects). Based on the pragmatic account of framing as implicit advice, we expected that participants would report greater vaccination intentions when a trustworthy physician framed the risks positively (v. negatively), but we expected this effect would be reduced or reversed when the physician was untrustworthy.

DESIGN

In 4 online experiments (n = 191, snowball sampling and n = 453, 451, and 464 UK residents via Prolific; Mage≈ 34 y, 70% women, 84% White British), we manipulated the trustworthiness of a physician and how they framed the risk of adverse side effects in a scenario (i.e., a chance v. unlikely adverse side effects). Participants reported their vaccination intention, their level of distrust in health care systems, and COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs.

RESULTS

Physicians who were trustworthy (v. untrustworthy) consistently led to an increase in vaccination intention, but the way they described adverse side effects mattered too. A positive framing of the risks given by a trustworthy physician consistently led to increased vaccination intention relative to a negative framing, but framing had no effect or the opposite effect when given by an untrustworthy physician. The exception to this trend occurred in unvaccinated individuals in experiment 3, following serious concerns about one of the COVID vaccines. In that study, unvaccinated participants responded more favorably to the negative framing of the trustworthy physician.

CONCLUSIONS

Trusted sources should use positive framing to foster vaccination acceptance. However, in a situation of heightened fears, a negative framing-attracting more attention to the risks-might be more effective.

HIGHLIGHTS

How health workers frame their communication about a vaccine's probability of adverse side effects plays an important role in people's intentions to be vaccinated.In 4 experiments, we manipulated the trustworthiness of a physician and how the physician framed the risk of adverse side effects of a COVID vaccine.Positive framing given by a trustworthy physician promoted vaccination intention but had null effect or did backfire when given by an untrustworthy physician.The effect occurred over and above participants' attitude toward the health care system, risk perceptions, and beliefs in COVID misinformation.

Reputation Reminders: When do Eye Cues Promote Prosocial Behavior?

The watching eyes effect has gained significant attention in recent years both from scientists and from policy makers and professionals in the field. The phenomenon posits that the mere presence of eye cues can promote prosocial behavior. However, there is a growing debate about the generality of the effect across various measures and contexts. This review seeks to combine various distinct -and formerly isolated- perspectives by identifying four key components for effective interventions based on the watching eyes effect: Anonymity, crowdedness, costs, and exposure. Eye cues need to reduce perceived anonymity, be placed in non-crowded places, target low-cost prosocial acts and appear for a short amount of time. Next to these conditions, we discuss implications for other cues to reputation and recommend directions that will stimulate further research and applications in society.

[Formula: see text] A cross-cultural study of visual attention in autism spectrum disorder

Differences in visual attention have been documented in ASD, and appear linked to clinical symptoms. However, most research has been conducted in Western cultures. Because striking differences in visual attention patterns have been documented in other cultures, it is important to understand how culture may influence attentional patterns in ASD. This study compared differences in visual attention in ASD across Western and East Asian cultures, where differences in attention to contextual and global information have been repeatedly demonstrated, to investigate potential culturally-specific ASD phenotypes. One hundred thirty-two total participants included individuals with ASD (n = 24) and controls (n = 47) from Hong Kong (HK), along with a previously studied group of age- and IQ-comparable participants from the United States (n = 26 ASD; n = 35 control). Gaze was tracked while participants completed two narrative tasks that differed in social-emotional complexity. Proportions of fixations to face, bodies, and setting were examined across groups using linear mixed-effect models and a series of growth curve models. Cultural differences were found across tasks and groups. Both the ASD and control HK groups attended more to global contextual setting information, more to the body regions, and less toward faces of characters compared to US groups. Growth curve models indicated that these differences attenuated over time in certain stimuli. ASD-related effects were only observed in the more complex stimuli depicting characters with ambiguous facial expressions. Findings indicate a notable cultural influence on visual attention patterns in ASD, and underscore the importance of stimuli complexity in differentiating cultural versus diagnostic effects on attentional styles.

Examination of the COVID-19 Pandemic's Impact on Mental Health From Three Perspectives: Global, Social, and Individual

The extent of the deleterious effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health is recognized ubiquitously. However, these effects are subject to many modulatory factors from a plethora of domains of examination. It is important to understand the intersection of societal and individual levels for global stressors compared with local phenomena and physical-health outcomes. Here, we consider three perspectives: international/cultural, social, and individual. Both the enduring threat of COVID-19 infection and the protective measures to contain contagion have important consequences on individual mental health. These consequences, together with possible remedial interventions, are the focus of this article. We hope this work will stimulate more research and will suggest factors that need to be considered in the coordination of responses to a global threat, allowing for better preparation in the future.

Caregiver Perceptions of Social Communication and Interaction: Development and Validation of the SCIPS

Social communication and interaction (SC/I) skill quality may be influenced by cultural values, norms, and expectations. Because difficulties in SC/I is a core criterion for identifying autism and is a frequent construct of interest in autism research, a measure designed to capture cross-cultural differences in the perspectives of SC/I skills is warranted. To address this need we developed and validated the Social Communication and Interaction Perceptions Scale (SCIPS), a caregiver report measure for children ages 6-18 years, that measures both frequency and perceived importance of various SC/I skills. Results from 401 diverse caregiver participants showed that for both domains (i.e., Frequency and Importance) the SCIPS has good reliability (α = 0.88-0.95) and two factors that examine basic and advanced aspects of SC/I skills. Findings support the use of the SCIPS as a measure of caregiver perspectives of SC/I skills in clinical and research contexts.

Vocabulary Acquisition and Usage for Late Talkers: The Feasibility of a Caregiver-Implemented Telehealth Model

PURPOSE

This feasibility study examined a caregiver-implemented telehealth model of the Vocabulary Acquisition and Usage for Late Talkers (VAULT) protocol. We asked whether caregivers could reach fidelity on VAULT, if the protocol was socially and ecologically valid, and if late-talking toddlers could learn new words with this model.

METHOD

Five late-talking monolingual and bilingual toddlers and four caregivers participated. The caregiver-related research questions involved measurements taken at multiple time points and replication across subjects but did not follow a specific research design. The toddler-related research questions included elements of a single-case design. Caregivers completed self-paced online training modules and then provided 8 weeks of VAULT to their children with remote coaching. Fidelity data were collected during coached sessions and through rating scales. Social and ecological validity data were collected via surveys and interviews. Children's word learning was measured before, during, and after treatment via production of targets and controls and via standardized vocabulary inventories.

RESULTS

Caregivers demonstrated high fidelity to VAULT throughout treatment. They reported being comfortable with many aspects of VAULT. Feedback was mixed regarding the time required. Many reported their child was talking more as a result of the program. Visual analysis revealed that toddlers learned more target than control words, which was corroborated by Tau-U and d effect size analyses.

CONCLUSION

A caregiver-implemented telehealth model of VAULT was feasible, was socially and ecologically valid, and benefited toddlers, making this a worthwhile model for future studies to examine.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL

https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.21753872.

Skin conductance, facial EMG, and heart rate responses in multi-person gaze interactions

Previous literature has reported enhanced affective and attentional responses to faces with a direct vs. averted gaze. Typically, in these studies, only single faces were presented. However, daily social encounters often involve interaction with more than just one person. By employing an experimental set-up in which the participants believed they were interacting with two other persons, the present study, for the first time, investigated participants' skin conductance, facial electromyographic (EMG), and heart rate deceleration responses in multi-person eye contact situations. Responses were measured in two different social contexts; i) when the participants observed eye contact between two other persons ('vicarious eye contact effect'), and ii) when the participants themselves received direct gaze either from one or two persons. The results showed that the skin conductance, facial EMG, and heart rate deceleration responses elicited by observing two other persons making eye contact did not differ from those elicited by observing one person looking at the other while the other person was not reciprocating with their gaze. As a novel finding, the results showed that receiving direct gaze from two persons elicited greater affective arousal and zygomatic EMG, but smaller heart rate deceleration responses in participants than receiving direct gaze from one person only. The findings are thoroughly discussed and it is concluded that physiological responses in multi-person interaction contexts are influenced by many social effects between the interactors and can be markedly different from those observed in two-person interactions.

The Unique Cost of Human Eye Gaze in Cognitive Control: Being Human-Specific and Body-Related?

This study investigated the eye gaze cost in cognitive control and whether it is human-specific and body-related. In Experiment 1, we explored whether there was a cost of human eye gaze in cognitive control and extended it by focusing on the role of emotion in the cost. Stroop effect was found to be larger in eye-gaze condition than vertical grating condition, and to be comparable across positive, negative, and neutral trials. In Experiment 2, we explored whether the eye gaze cost in cognitive control was limited to human eyes. No larger Stroop effect was found in feline eye-gaze condition, neither the modulating role of emotion. In Experiment 3, we explored whether the mouth could elicit a cost in Stroop effect. Stroop effect was not significantly larger in mouth condition compared to vertical grating condition, nor across positive, negative, and neutral conditions. The results suggest that: (1) There is a robust cost of eye gaze in cognitive control; (2) Such eye-gaze cost was specific to human eyes but not to animal eyes; (3) Only human eyes could have such eye-gaze costs but not human mouth. This study supported the notion that presentation of social cues, such as human eyes, could influence attentional processing, and provided preliminary evidence that the human eye plays an important role in cognitive processing.

The Eyes Have It: Psychotherapy in the Era of Masks

Nonverbal communication is integral to the success of psychotherapy and facial expression is an important component of nonverbal communication. The SARS CoV-2 pandemic has caused alterations in how psychotherapy services are provided. In this paper, potential issues that may arise from conducting psychotherapy when both the patient and therapist are wearing masks are explored. These include higher likelihood of misidentifying facial expression, especially when expression is incongruent with body language, and when the lower face is more important for correct identification of emotion. These issues may be particularly problematic for patient populations for whom emotion recognition may be a problem at baseline, or for those more prone to biases in emotional recognition. Suggestions are made for therapists to consider when seeing patients in-person when masks are necessary.

Exploring facilitator gaze patterns during difficult debriefing through eye-tracking analysis: a pilot study

Managing difficult debriefing can be challenging for simulation facilitators. Debriefers may use eye contact as a strategy to build and maintain psychological safety during debriefing. Visual dominance ratio (VDR), a measure of social power, is defined as the percentage of time making eye contact while speaking divided by the percentage of time making eye contact while listening. Little is known about eye gaze patterns during difficult debriefings.

To demonstrate the feasibility of examining eye gaze patterns (i.e. VDR) among junior and senior facilitators during difficult debriefing.

We recruited 10 trained simulation facilitators (four seniors and six juniors) and observed them debriefing two actors. The actors were scripted to play the role of learners who were engaged in the first scenario, followed by upset (emotional) and confrontational in the second and third scenarios, respectively. The participant facilitators wore an eye-tracking device to record their eye movements and fixation duration. The fixation durations and VDRs were calculated and summarized with median and interquartile range. We explore the effect of scenarios and training level on VDRs using Friedman tests and Wilcoxon rank sum tests.

All 10 participants completed all three scenarios. There were no statistically significant differences in VDRs between the junior and senior facilitators for all three scenarios (baseline:

The use of eye-tracking device to measure VDR during debriefings is feasible. We did not demonstrate a difference between junior and seniors in eye gaze patterns during difficult debriefings.

Face masks inhibit facial cues for approachability and trustworthiness: an eyetracking study

Wearing face masks during the Covid-19 pandemic has undeniable benefits from our health perspective. However, the interpersonal costs on social interactions may have been underappreciated. Because masks obscure critical facial regions signaling approach/avoidance intent and social trust, this implies that facial inference of approachability and trustworthiness may be severely discounted. Here, in our eyetracking experiment, we show that people judged masked faces as less approachable and trustworthy. Further analyses showed that the attention directed towards the eye region relative to the mouth region mediated the effect on approachability, but not on trustworthiness. This is because for masked faces, with the mouth region obscured, visual attention is then automatically diverted away from the mouth and towards the eye region, which is an undiagnostic cue for judging a target's approachability. Together, these findings support that mask-wearing inhibits the critical facial cues needed for social judgements.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-03705-8.

Small Pupils Lead to Lower Judgements of a Person’s Characteristics for Exaggerated, but Not for Realistic Pupils

Our eyes convey information about a person. The pupils may provide information regarding our emotional states when presented along with different emotional expressions. We examined the effects of pupil size and vergence on inferring other people’s characteristics in neutral expression eyes. Pupil sizes were manipulated by overlaying black disks onto the pupils of the original eye images. The disk area was then changed to create small, medium, and large pupils. Vergence was simulated by shifting the medium-sized disks nasally in one eye. Pupil sizes were exaggerated for Experiment 1 and followed values from the literature for Experiment 2. The first Purkinje image from the eye photos in Experiment 2 was kept to preserve image realism. The characteristics measured were sex, age, attractiveness, trustworthiness, intelligence, valence, and arousal. Participants completed one of two online experiments and rated eight eye pictures with differently sized pupils and with vergence eyes. Both experiments were identical except for the stimuli designs. Results from Experiment 1 revealed rating differences between pupil sizes for all characteristics except sex, age, and arousal. Specifically, eyes with extremely small pupil sizes and artificial vergence received the lowest ratings compared to medium and large pupil sizes. Results from Experiment 2 only indicated weak effects of pupil size and vergence, particularly for intelligence ratings. We conclude that the pupils can influence how characteristics of another person are perceived and may be regarded as important social signals in subconscious social interaction processes. However, the effects may be rather small for neutral expressions.

The Quality of Everyday Eye Contact in Williams Syndrome: Insights From Cross-Syndrome Comparisons

Past research shows that individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) have heightened and prolonged eye contact. Using parent report measures, we examined not only the presence of eye contact but also its qualitative features. Study 1 included individuals with WS (n = 22, ages 6.0-36.3). Study 2 included children with different neurodevelopmental (ND) conditions (WS, autism spectrum condition, fragile X syndrome, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and children with neurotypical development (NT; n = 262, ages 4.0-17.11). Unusual eye contact features, including staring, were found in approximately half of the WS samples. However, other features such as brief glances were frequently found in WS and in all ND conditions, but not NT. Future research in ND conditions should focus on qualitative as well as quantitative features of eye contact.

A Pilot Study Exploring Social Validity Ratings of Social Profiles for College Students

Nuhu and Rapp identified three profiles undergraduates displayed during social interactions. We evaluated the social validity of these three profiles in two studies. In Study 1 we presented video exemplars of speakers representing each profile to undergraduate participants and asked them to rate the speaker in respect to various statements. Results showed that one profile was rated significantly different than the other two profiles on all but one statement. In Study 2 we further evaluated the role of eye contact in the profile that participants rated differently in Study 1. Results from Study 2 showed that a speaker engaging in low eye contact was rated lower than a speaker engaging in either a validated or high level of eye contact. Likewise, participants with self-reported high social competency provided more negative ratings of a speaker who displayed low eye contact than participants with self-reported Moderate and Low social competency.

Early lifetime experience of urban living predicts social attention in real world crowds

More than half of the world's population is currently living in cities, with more and more people moving to densely populated areas. The experience of growing up and living in crowded environments might influence the way we explore our social environment, mainly how we attend to others. Yet, we know little about how urbanicity affects this vital function of our social life. In two studies, we use mobile eye-tracking to measure participants' social attention, while walking through a shopping mall. Results show that social density of participants' native place impacts how frequently they look at passing strangers. People who experienced more city living from birth to early adolescence, attend more to strangers' faces than their rural counterparts. Our findings demonstrate that the early experience of urban upbringing configures social attention in adulthood. The urbanicity-related bias towards social gazing might reflect a more efficient processing of social information in urban natives.

Are You Listening to Me? The Negative Link Between Extraversion and Perceived Listening

Extraverts are often characterized as highly social individuals who are highly invested in their interpersonal interactions. We propose that extraverts' interaction partners hold a different view-that extraverts are highly social, but not highly invested. Across six studies (five preregistered; N = 2,456), we find that interaction partners consistently judge more extraverted individuals to be worse listeners than less extraverted individuals. Furthermore, interaction partners assume that extraversion is positively associated with a greater ability to modify one's self-presentation. This behavioral malleability (i.e., the "acting" component of self-monitoring) may account for the unfavorable lay belief that extraverts are not listening.

Attention to live eye contact in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

A number of studies have reported diminished attention to the eyes in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These studies predominantly used static images of faces as stimuli. Recent studies, however, have shown enhanced response to eye contact in typically developing (TD) individuals when they observe a person in a live interaction. We investigated physiological orienting to perceived eye contact in adolescents with ASD and TD adolescents when they observed a person in live interaction or viewed a photograph of the same person's face. We measured heart rate (HR) deceleration as an index of attentional orienting. Adolescents with ASD, as well as TD adolescents, showed significant HR deceleration for the direct gaze compared to an averted gaze in the live condition, but not in the photographic condition. The results suggest an intact response to perceived eye contact in individuals with ASD during a live face-to-face interaction. LAY SUMMARY: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a different eye gaze pattern when observing photographic faces. However, little is known about how individuals with ASD process a real person's face. We measured heart rate (HR) and found that adolescents with ASD showed the typical decline in HR when they made eye contact with a real person, which suggests that both groups of individuals directed their attention to eye contact in a live face-to-face interaction.

How can psychotherapists improve their practice with service users from minoritised ethnicities? An application of the Declarative-Procedural-Reflective (DPR) model of clinical skill development

Many white psychotherapists may lack the skills required to work effectively with service users from minoritised ethnicities. This article proposes that the nature of this skills deficit can be understood through applying the Declarative-Procedural-Reflective (DPR) model of therapist skill development. The DPR model has been used in a range of psychotherapeutic contexts, and it provides a systematic account of how therapists from all modalities develop and can improve their skills. Adapting this model to white therapists’ skills in working with service users from minoritised ethnicities allows the identification of specific areas of skills deficit, and therefore clear recommendations as to how to address those deficits. The application of the DPR model to this context suggests that there are clear areas of skills deficit in terms of knowledge base, the practical skills of carrying out therapy, and the ability of therapists to reflect on their work with service users from minoritised ethnicities. I conclude by making a number of suggestions as to how those deficits could be addressed, both by individual therapists and at a systemic level.

Key learning aims

(1)

Cultural differences in social communication and interaction: A gap in autism research

Social communication and interaction deficits are a diagnostic criteria of autism and integral to practitioner and researcher conceptualization. Culture is an influential factor in expectations for, and demonstration of, social communication and interaction skills, but there is limited research published in autism journals on this topic. This paucity of autism research examining cultural factors related to social communication and interaction may contribute to known identification disparities for racial and ethnic populations minoritized by systemic factors and research bias. We call for increased commitment from researchers to recruit racially and ethnically minoritized participants, prioritize investigating cultural expectations and perceptions of social communication and interaction, and evaluate measures related to social communication for cultural and linguistic responsivity. LAY SUMMARY: A diagnosis of autism requires the presence of deficits in social communication and interaction. Examples of these behaviors and skills include holding a back-and-forth conversation, the use of nonverbal communicative behaviors (e.g., gestures), and developing and maintaining social relationships. Culture influences the expectations for, and presentation of, these behaviors. However, research on this topic is lacking. Conducting more research related to culture and social communication could help reduce the disparities in autism identification across racially and ethnically minoritized populations.

Is there a 'zone of eye contact' within the borders of the face?

Eye contact is a salient feature of everyday interactions, yet it is not obvious what the physical conditions are under which we feel that we have eye contact with another person. Here we measure the range of locations that gaze can fall on a person's face to elicit a sense of eye contact. Participants made judgements about eye contact while viewing rendered images of faces with finely-varying gaze direction at a close interpersonal distance (50 cm). The 'zone of eye contact' tends to peak between the two eyes and is often surprisingly narrower than the observer's actual eye region. Indeed, the zone tends to extend further across the face in height than in width. This shares an interesting parallel with the 'cyclopean eye' of visual perspective - our sense of looking out from a single point in space despite the physical separation of our two eyes. The distribution of eye-contact strength across the face can be modelled at the individual-subject level as a 2D Gaussian function. Perception of eye contact is more precise than the sense of having one's face looked at, which captures a wider range of gaze locations in both the horizontal and vertical dimensions, at least at the close viewing distance used in the present study. These features of eye-contact perception are very similar cross-culturally, tested here in Australian and Japanese university students. However, the shape and position of the zone of eye contact does vary depending on recent sensory experience: adaptation to faces with averted gaze causes a pronounced shift and widening of the zone across the face, and judgements about eye contact also show a positive serial dependence. Together, these results provide insight into the conditions under which eye contact is felt, with respect to face morphology, culture, and sensory context.

On the stress potential of videoconferencing: definition and root causes of Zoom fatigue

As a consequence of lockdowns due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the resulting restricted social mobility, several billion people worldwide have recently had to replace physical face-to-face communication with computer-mediated interaction. Notably, the adoption rates of videoconferencing increased significantly in 2020, predominantly because videoconferencing resembles face-to-face interaction. Tools such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Cisco Webex are used by hundreds of millions of people today. Videoconferencing may bring benefits (e.g., saving of travel costs, preservation of environment). However, prolonged and inappropriate use of videoconferencing may also have an enormous stress potential. A new phenomenon and term emerged, Zoom fatigue, a synonym for videoconference fatigue. This paper develops a definition for Zoom fatigue and presents a conceptual framework that explores the major root causes of videoconferencing fatigue and stress. The development of the framework draws upon media naturalness theory and its underlying theorizing is based on research published across various scientific fields, including the disciplines of both behavioral science and neuroscience. Based on this theoretical foundation, hypotheses are outlined. Moreover, implications for research and practice are discussed.

Human face and gaze perception is highly context specific and involves bottom-up and top-down neural processing

This review summarizes human perception and processing of face and gaze signals. Face and gaze signals are important means of non-verbal social communication. The review highlights that: (1) some evidence is available suggesting that the perception and processing of facial information starts in the prenatal period; (2) the perception and processing of face identity, expression and gaze direction is highly context specific, the effect of race and culture being a case in point. Culture affects by means of experiential shaping and social categorization the way in which information on face and gaze is collected and perceived; (3) face and gaze processing occurs in the so-called 'social brain'. Accumulating evidence suggests that the processing of facial identity, facial emotional expression and gaze involves two parallel and interacting pathways: a fast and crude subcortical route and a slower cortical pathway. The flow of information is bi-directional and includes bottom-up and top-down processing. The cortical networks particularly include the fusiform gyrus, superior temporal sulcus (STS), intraparietal sulcus, temporoparietal junction and medial prefrontal cortex.

Mobile, Socially Assistive Robots Incorporating Approach Behaviour: Requirements for Successful Dialogue with Dementia Patients in a Nursing Home

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of using a mobile socially assistive robot (SAR) that incorporates approach behaviour (APB) for seniors. The participants were 15 residents in a nursing home. The effectiveness of dialogue with participants was compared for two types of SARs: stationary and mobile. Interactions were also examined to determine the factors that led to the success or failure of the dialogue based on the trajectory of the mobile SARs and observations of the participants’ behaviour with the mobile SARs. The results showed that nine of 15 participants (60 %) engaged in dialogue with mobile SARs, which was twice as effective as stationary SARs. Conversely, some participants could not engage in dialogue when using a mobile SAR. In addition, these participants’ The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores were low. These participants’ successful dialogues were influenced by the angle at which the mobile SAR approached the participant and the length of time the mobile SAR and the participant were face to face. In this study, it was shown that the introduction of mobile SARs in a nursing home could facilitate communication between SARs and residents and further contribute to the quality of life of residents.

Perception of the Potential for Interaction in Social Scenes

In urban environments, humans often encounter other people that may engage one in interaction. How do humans perceive such invitations to interact at a glance? We briefly presented participants with pictures of actors carrying out one of 11 behaviors (e.g., waving or looking at a phone) at four camera-actor distances. Participants were asked to describe what they might do in such a situation, how they decided, and what stood out most in the photograph. In addition, participants rated how likely they deemed interaction to take place. Participants formulated clear responses about how they might act. We show convincingly that what participants would do depended on the depicted behavior, but not the camera-actor distance. The likeliness to interact ratings depended both on the depicted behavior and the camera-actor distance. We conclude that humans perceive the "gist" of photographs and that various aspects of the actor, action, and context depicted in photographs are subjectively available at a glance. Our conclusions are discussed in the context of scene perception, social robotics, and intercultural differences.

Me looking at you, looking at me: The stare-in-the-crowd effect and autism spectrum disorder

INTRODUCTION

The stare-in-the-crowd (SITC) effect describes the ability to detect self-directed gaze in a crowd. Given the importance of gaze detection in initiating and maintaining social interactions, there is a need to better characterize the SITC effect.

METHODS

Autistic and neurotypical young adults were presented with four SITC conditions. Eye tracking outcomes and arousal were compared by diagnosis and condition using repeated measures analysis of variance. Hierarchical regression was used to explore behavioral measures.

RESULTS

Significant interaction of diagnosis and condition was found for eye tracking outcomes. Overall, autistic participants exhibited less looking than neurotypical participants. Interest area dwell time, fixation count, and second fixation duration were significantly higher for conditions with shifting gaze, as well as conditions with more self-directed gaze across participants. Two hierarchical regression models of gaze behaviors with advanced theory of mind as a predictor were significant.

DISCUSSION

Autistic individuals respond to various gaze conditions in similar patterns to neurotypical individuals, but to a lesser extent. These findings offer important targets for social interventions.

Beholden: The Emotional Effects of Having Eye Contact While Breaking Social Norms

This study looks into the role that eye contact plays in helping people to control themselves in social settings and to avoid breaking social norms. Based on previous research, it is likely that eye contact increases prosocial behavior via heightened self-awareness and increased interpersonal synchrony. In our study, we propose that eye contact can also support constructive social behavior by causing people to experience heightened embarrassment when they are breaking social norms. We tested this in a lab experiment (N = 60) in which participants read insults at the experimenter (i.e., they exhibited norm breaking behavior). In the experimental condition, participants maintained eye contact with the experimenter. In the control condition, the experimenter did not maintain eye contact. We measured embarrassment with a self-report measure, heart rate to capture arousal, and two observational indicators of embarrassment (hesitation and laughter). In line with our hypotheses, having eye contact during norm breaking behavior as compared to no eye contact led to a stronger increase in self-reported embarrassment, a higher heart rate as well as more hesitation and more laughter. We conclude that eye contact does indeed lead to more embarrassment, while breaking social norms. This implies that eye contact gives people the power to punish norm breaking in others by inducing an aversive emotional experience.

Validation of the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised with Follow-up in a Population Sample of 30-Month-Old Children in Iceland: A Prospective Approach

The Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised with Follow-up was validated on a population sample in Reykjavik, Iceland. The participants (N = 1585) were screened in well-child care at age 30 months and followed up for at least 2 years to identify autism cases. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were 0.62, 0.99, 0.72, and 0.99, respectively. True-positive children were diagnosed 10 months earlier than false-negative children. Autism symptom severity and the proportions of children with verbal and performance IQs/DQs < 70 were similar between groups. Although the sensitivity was suboptimal, the screening contributed to lowering the age at diagnosis for many children. Adding autism-specific screening to the well-child care program should be considered.

Descriptive assessment of conversational skills: Towards benchmarks for young adults with social deficits

Descriptive assessments are necessary to identify social norms and establish a foundation for experimental analysis. Much of the social skills intervention literature involves goals that have been selected through interviews and direct observation of behavior without a reference to desired outcomes. The purpose of the current study was to extend research on descriptive assessments of conversations by including additional measures and examining conversational behavior across contexts. We conducted a descriptive assessment of social skills exhibited by 16 neurotypical young adults. Participants had 10-min conversations in groups and 1-on-1 with friends and novel individuals. We then assessed variability within and across participants on a wide array of relevant measures. Throughout the conversations, participants shared the conversation time equally, spent most of the conversation time making on-topic comments, and gazed at their conversation partner more frequently while listening than while speaking. These descriptive data extend current research, inform future experimental analyses, and may guide clinical decisions.

Electrical brain activity and facial electromyography responses to irony in dysphoric and non-dysphoric participants

We studied irony comprehension and emotional reactions to irony in dysphoric and control participants. Electroencephalography (EEG) and facial electromyography (EMG) were measured when spoken conversations were presented with pictures that provided either congruent (non-ironic) or incongruent (ironic) contexts. In a separate session, participants evaluated the congruency and valence of the stimuli. While both groups rated ironic stimuli funnier than non-ironic stimuli, the control group rated all the stimuli funnier than the dysphoric group. N400-like activity, P600, and EMG activity indicating smiling were larger after the ironic stimuli than the non-ironic stimuli for both groups. Further, in the dysphoric group the irony modulation was evident in the electrode cluster over the right hemisphere, while no such difference in lateralization was observed in the control group. The results suggest a depression-related alteration in the P600 response associated to irony comprehension, but no alterations were found in emotional reactivity specifically related to irony.

Making eye contact with a robot: Psychophysiological responses to eye contact with a human and with a humanoid robot

Previous research has shown that eye contact, in human-human interaction, elicits increased affective and attention related psychophysiological responses. In the present study, we investigated whether eye contact with a humanoid robot would elicit these responses. Participants were facing a humanoid robot (NAO) or a human partner, both physically present and looking at or away from the participant. The results showed that both in human-robot and human-human condition, eye contact versus averted gaze elicited greater skin conductance responses indexing autonomic arousal, greater facial zygomatic muscle responses (and smaller corrugator responses) associated with positive affect, and greater heart deceleration responses indexing attention allocation. With regard to the skin conductance and zygomatic responses, the human model's gaze direction had a greater effect on the responses as compared to the robot's gaze direction. In conclusion, eye contact elicits automatic affective and attentional reactions both when shared with a humanoid robot and with another human.

Variations in subjective definitions of everyday situations as intergroup contact

Intergroup contact encompasses a wide range of contact situations. Yet, how 'contact' is conceptualized by those involved has rarely been examined. We argue that understanding the range of subjective definitions of contact is important for intergroup contact measurement and wider impact work. In Study 1, 17 participants completed a 3-day diary and a semi-structured interview about their experiences of contact with other nationalities. We examined the threshold at which encounters are subjectively defined as intergroup contact. Results showed that subjective definitions of intergroup contact were disparate and diverse, particularly when contact was fleeting or online. In Study 2, we asked a British sample (N = 498) to rate the extent to which 67 different contact scenarios with non-British people represented 'intergroup contact'. Findings show that contact situations which diverge from positive, verbal, face-to-face encounters, such as negative contact or online contact, were less likely to be understood as contact, with strong variation in ratings. The extent to which situations were seen as contact was positively correlated with the amount of self-reported intergroup contact. Together, these findings demonstrate the need to recognize and account for the variability in subjective definitions of contact, which ultimately shape self-reports of intergroup contact.

Prevalence and Correlates of Bullying Victimization in Four Low-Resource Countries

Bullying is one of the most common forms of aggression experienced by school-aged youth, yet research is sparse in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) where cultural and contextual factors may influence victimization dynamics. We aimed to examine correlates of victimization and the prevalence of specific victimizing behaviors among youth in four LMIC. Data were included from 3,536 youth collected as part of the ongoing Young Lives Study cohorts in Ethiopia, India (Andhra Pradesh), Peru, and Vietnam who reported frequency of past-year exposure to nine bullying behaviors at age 15. We calculated both total victimization scores and subtype victimization scores (physical, verbal, relational, and property) by summing the frequencies of experiencing each behavior and used hurdle modeling to examine, separately by country, associations between three demographic correlates (sex, urban/rural setting, and school enrollment) and both total and subtype victimization scores, adjusting for clustered sampling. Mean past-year victimization scores were 11.1 in Ethiopia, 13.4 in India, 14.9 in Peru, and 12.0 in Vietnam, indicating that the average youth in Ethiopia reported two victimization experiences in the past year, up to nearly six in Peru. With the exception of Peru, direct victimization was higher among boys compared with girls, whereas relational victimization was not associated with sex. Physical bullying was less common than other forms of bullying in Ethiopia, Peru, and Vietnam but had a similar frequency as other forms in India. The different patterns in victimization experiences across the samples suggest that culture and/or context may influence victimization dynamics and highlights the need to better understand patterns and variation of bullying victimization in LMIC.