Gaze direction modulates the disengagement of attention from facial expression in 10-month-olds.
This study investigated whether the disengagement of attention from facial expression is modulated by gaze direction in infants. To this end, we measured the saccadic reaction time required for the 10-month-olds to disengage their attention from angry and happy expressions combined with either straight or averted gaze. The 10-month-olds' disengagement of their attention from happy faces was modulated by gaze direction. This finding indicates that gaze direction strongly influences infants' allocation of attention to facial expressions.
Doi
Hirokazu
H
Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan.
Tagawa
Masato
M
Shinohara
Kazuyuki
K
D000786:Anger / Q000502:physiology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology