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Published December 2003 | Supplemental Material
Journal Article Open

Gaze bias both reflects and influences preference

Abstract

Emotions operate along the dimension of approach and aversion, and it is reasonable to assume that orienting behavior is intrinsically linked to emotionally involved processes such as preference decisions. Here we describe a gaze 'cascade effect' that was present when human observers were shown pairs of human faces and instructed to decide which face was more attractive. Their gaze was initially distributed evenly between the two stimuli, but then gradually shifted toward the face that they eventually chose. Gaze bias was significantly weaker in a face shape discrimination task. In a second series of experiments, manipulation of gaze duration, but not exposure duration alone, biased observers' preference decisions. We thus conclude that gaze is actively involved in preference formation. The gaze cascade effect was also present when participants compared abstract, unfamiliar shapes for attractiveness, suggesting that orienting and preference for objects in general are intrinsically linked in a positive feedback loop leading to the conscious choice.

Additional Information

© 2003 Nature Publishing Group. Received 14 August 2003; Accepted 30 September 2003; Published online: 9 November 2003. We thank K. Sakai for the Fourier descriptor algorithm, B. Khurana, B. Sheth, J. Bhattacharya and M. Changizi for their comments on earlier drafts, and N. Afsarmanesh for experimental assistance. This project was partly supported by the Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, (C) 14510164) and Genesis Research Institute.

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