Estimating attentional capture by faces and gaze

• Project/Area Number: 16K13503
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Experimental psychology
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: Kawahara Jun-ichiro 北海道大学, 文学研究科, 准教授 (30322241)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 宮崎 由樹 福山大学, 人間文化学部, 講師 (70600873)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2017)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,250,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥750,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
• Keywords: 注意捕捉 / 顔 / 視線 / 魅力 / 注意 / 顔認知

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The present study examined whether human face and gaze distractors captured attention when the faces were entirely irrelevant to the task. Participants identified a target letter among non-target letters. In 20% of the trials, a face or a control image appeared. No distractor was presented in the remaining trials. Perceptual load was manipulated by varying the type of non-target letters. Although load theory predicts no or reduced attentional capture, the reaction times for target search were delayed in trials with a face distractor compared with those with a control image. This result suggests that attentional capture by an entirely task-irrelevant distractor occurred regardless of perceptual load. Moreover, face-specific attentional capture occurred even when the distractor did not share the temporal component of abrupt onset with the search array. These results extend the notion that faces are exceptions to load theory when faces and search items share no common display features.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Attention capture without awareness in a non-spatial selection task (2017)
  • Author(s): Oriet Chris、Pandey Mamata、Kawahara Jun I
  • Journal Title: Consciousness and Cognition Volume: 48 Pages: 117-128
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2016.11.003
  • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
• [Journal Article] Effects of Head Nodding and Shaking Motions on Perceptions of Likeability and Approachability (2017)
  • Author(s): Osugi Takayuki、Kawahara Jun I.
  • Journal Title: Perception Volume: 47 Issue: 1 Pages: 16-29
  • DOI: 10.1177/0301006617733209
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Presentation] 物体の向きによる空間的注意の誘導 (2017)
  • Author(s): 山内健司・河原純一郎
  • Organizer: 日本心理学会第81回大会
• [Presentation] Effects of head nodding and shaking motions on perceptions of likeability and approachability (2016)
  • Author(s): Kawahara, J., & Osugi, T.
  • Organizer: Psychonomic Society Annual Meeting
  • Place of Presentation: Sheraton Boston (Boston, USA)
  • Year and Date: 2016-11-17
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] 顔の大きさ知覚に及ぼす衛生マスク着用効果 (2016)
  • Author(s): 宮崎由樹・伊藤資浩・神山龍一・柴田彰・河原純一郎
  • Organizer: 日本認知心理学会第14回大会
  • Place of Presentation: 広島大学(広島県東広島市)
  • Year and Date: 2016-06-19
• [Presentation] The effect of variance in group members’ attractiveness on the perceived facial attractiveness of small groups (2016)
  • Author(s): Kawahara, J., & Kitazaki, M.
  • Organizer: Vision Sciences Society Annual meeting
  • Place of Presentation: TradeWinds Island Resorts (Florida, USA)
  • Year and Date: 2016-05-13
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Effects of a sanitary mask on perceived facial size and attractiveness (2016)
  • Author(s): Miyazaki, Y., Ito, M., Kamiyama, R., Shibata, A., & Kawahara, J.
  • Organizer: International Meeting of the Psychonomic Society
  • Place of Presentation: Palacio de Congresos de Granada (Granada, Spain)
  • Year and Date: 2016-05-05
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Book] 新編 感覚・知覚心理学ハンドブック (2018)
  • Author(s): 河原純一郎
  • Publisher: 誠信書房