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Resolving ambiguous behavioral intentions by means of involuntary prioritization of gaze processing

Jellema, Tjeerd; Hudson, Matthew

Authors

Matthew Hudson



Abstract

Anticipation of others' actions is of paramount importance in social interactions. Cues such as gaze direction and facial expressions can be informative, but can also produce ambiguity with respect to others' intentions. We investigated the combined effect of an actor's gaze and expression on judgments made by observers about the end-point of the actor's head rotation toward the observer. Expressions of approach gave rise to an unambiguous intention to move toward the observer, while expressions of avoidance gave rise to an ambiguous behavioral intention (as the expression and motion cues were in conflict). In the ambiguous condition, observers overestimated how far the actor's head had rotated when the actor's gaze was directed ahead of head rotation (compared to congruent or lagging behind). In the unambiguous condition the estimations were not influenced by the gaze manipulation. These results show that social cue integration does not follow simple additive rules, and suggests that the involuntary allocation of attention to another's gaze depends on the perceived ambiguity of the agent's behavioral intentions.

Citation

Jellema, T., & Hudson, M. (2011). Resolving ambiguous behavioral intentions by means of involuntary prioritization of gaze processing. Emotion, 11(3), 681-686. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023264

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jun 1, 2011
Deposit Date Nov 13, 2014
Journal Emotion
Print ISSN 1528-3542
Publisher American Psychological Association
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 11
Issue 3
Pages 681-686
DOI https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023264
Keywords Action; Anticipation; Representational momentum; Emotional expression; Approach avoidance; Fuzzy Logic Model of Perception
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/462519
Contract Date Nov 13, 2014