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Abstract:
This study explored the relationship between inhibition of
return (IOR) and reflexive shifts of attention in response to gaze
direction. Previous studies of attention to gaze direction (e.g.,
Friesen & Kingstone, 1998) have found that gaze shifts cause
reflexive shifts of attention to a gazed-at location but no IOR. In
this study, four circles surrounded a central fixation point. A
face suddenly appeared in one of four circles, with its eyes gazing
uninformatively either at one of the other three circles or
straight ahead. The offset of one of the four circles served as the
target. When a target occurred at a location other than that of the
face, subjects were faster to respond if it occurred at the cued
(gazed-at) location versus one of the uncued locations. When the
target occurred at the location of the face, subjects were much
slower to respond, regardless of where gaze was directed. Our
findings indicate that reflexive shifts of attention in response to
gaze direction can co-occur with IOR. These data suggest that
reflexive orienting to gaze direction and reflexive orienting to a
recent sudden onset, which results in IOR, are separable and
qualitatively different forms of orienting.
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