School of Psychology, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia.
The MARCS Institute, Western Sydney University, Westmead, NSW, Australia.
Sci Rep. 2022 May 11;12(1):7717. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-11927-w.
Direct eye contact is preferentially processed over averted gaze and has been shown to gain privileged access to conscious awareness during interocular suppression. This advantage might be driven by local features associated with direct gaze, such as the amount of visible sclera. Alternatively, a holistic representation of gaze direction, which depends on the integration of head and eye information, might drive the effects. Resolving this question is interesting because it speaks to whether the processing of higher-level social information in the visual system, such as facial characteristics that rely on holistic processing, is dependent on conscious awareness. The Wollaston Illusion is a visual illusion that allows researchers to manipulate perceived gaze direction while keeping local eye features constant. Here we used this illusion to elucidate the driving factor facilitating the direct gaze advantage during interocular suppression. Using continuous flash suppression, we rendered Wollaston faces with direct and averted gaze (initially) invisible. These faces conveyed different gaze directions but contained identical eye regions. Our results showed clear evidence for a direct gaze advantage with Wollaston faces, indicating that holistic representations of gaze direction may drive the direct gaze advantage during interocular suppression.
直接眼神交流优先于回避目光，并且已经证明在眼间抑制期间，它可以优先进入意识知觉。这种优势可能是由与直接注视相关的局部特征驱动的，例如可见巩膜的量。或者，注视方向的整体表示形式可能取决于头部和眼睛信息的整合，从而驱动这些影响。解决这个问题很有趣，因为它涉及到视觉系统中高级社会信息（如依赖整体处理的面部特征）的处理是否依赖于意识知觉。沃拉斯顿错觉是一种视觉错觉，它允许研究人员在保持局部眼睛特征不变的情况下操纵感知的注视方向。在这里，我们使用这种错觉来阐明在眼间抑制期间促进直接注视优势的驱动因素。我们使用连续闪光抑制使具有直接和回避注视的沃拉斯顿面孔（最初）不可见。这些面孔传达了不同的注视方向，但包含相同的眼部区域。我们的结果清楚地表明，沃拉斯顿面孔存在直接注视优势，这表明注视方向的整体表示形式可能在眼间抑制期间驱动直接注视优势。
