The Role of Working Memory in Dual-Target Visual Search

Pseudo-mutual gazing enhances interbrain synchrony during remote joint attention tasking

INTRODUCTION

Mutual gaze enables people to share attention and increase engagement during social interactions through intentional and implicit messages. Although previous studies have explored gaze behaviors and neural mechanisms underlying in-person eye contact, the growing prevalence of remote communication has raised questions about how to establish mutual gaze remotely and how the brains of interacting individuals synchronize.

METHODS

To address these questions, we conducted a study using eye trackers to create a pseudo-mutual gaze channel that mirrors the gazes of each interacting dyad on their respective remote screens. To demonstrate fluctuations in coupling across brains, we incorporated electroencephalographic hyperscanning techniques to simultaneously record the brain activity of interacting dyads engaged in a joint attention task in player-observer, collaborative, and competitive modes.

RESULTS

Our results indicated that mutual gaze could improve the efficiency of joint attention activities among remote partners. Moreover, by employing the phase locking value, we could estimate interbrain synchrony (IBS) and observe low-frequency couplings in the frontal and temporal regions that varied based on the interaction mode. While dyadic gender composition significantly affected gaze patterns, it did not impact the IBS.

CONCLUSION

These results provide insight into the neurological mechanisms underlying remote interaction through the pseudo-mutual gaze channel and have significant implications for developing effective online communication environments.

Prospects for using visual search tasks in modern cognitive psychology

The article describes the main results of modern foreign studies with modifications of classical visual search tasks, as well as proposed classification of such modifications. The essence of visual search is to find target stimuli among the distracters, and the standard task involves finding one target stimulus, which is usually a simple object. Modifications to the standard task may include the presence of more than one target on the screen, the search for more than one type of target, and options that combine both of these modifications. Proposed modifications of the standard task allow not only to study new aspects of visual attention, but also to approach real-life tasks within laboratory studies.