Bridging the Gap: Investigating Gaze Behavior in Static and Dynamic Interaction Settings

• Applicant: Dr. Inka Schmitz
• Subject Area: Applied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics ; General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 563696277

Gaze and gestures are important social cues that are used, for example, in conversational settings. In many interaction situations, the gaze is primarily directed towards the face, while gestures are less frequently focused. Visual attention orientation is – especially in real and thus dynamic settings – more complex than the gaze direction. Therefore, this project aims to investigate the role of overt and covert visual attention in the processing of gestures in a controlled conversation-like setting. The focus is on the question of how gestures can serve as cues, even if overt attention is rarely focussed on them. To this end, it is planned to use a self-developed experimental paradigm in which the degree of realism can be increased in the course of the project. In this paradigm, the spatial arrangement of a setting is modelled, in which two interlocutors stand opposite the participant and ‘speak’ alternately. The participant's task is to respond to visual targets that are presented alternately at the facial positions of the two dialogue partners. In addition to the targets, gesture-like symbolic and moving cues are presented, whose effect on gaze and reaction behaviour is to be investigated. In a first study, mainly static stimuli and abstract target stimuli are planned to be used. Besides differences between symbolic and moving cues, the investigation prospectively will focus on the extent to which the effect of the cues varies when the positioning of the cues is clearly mimicking an interaction situation (at the arms of stick figures) or not (abstract presentation). For a second study, it is planned to adapt the paradigm from Study 1 according to a more dynamic and realistic environment, where the main task is to respond to specific facial expressions or gaze orientations. The aim of Study 2 is to investigate the effects of symbolic and moving cues in a more realistic context. The two eye tracking studies are designed to provide important aspects of a bridge between controlled, static and dynamic, real-life interaction settings.

• DFG Programme: WBP Fellowship
• International Connection: Belgium
• Host: Professor Dr. Geert Brône