TY - JOUR
T1 - Gaze aversion
T2 - A response to cognitive or social difficulty?
AU - Doherty-Sneddon, Gwyneth
AU - Phelps, Fiona
PY - 2005/6/1
Y1 - 2005/6/1
N2 - When asked questions, adults and children often avert their gaze at certain points within the interaction, especially when questions are difficult (Doherty-Sneddon, Bruce, Bonner, Longbotham, & Doyle, 2002; Glenberg, Schroeder, & Robertson, 1998). Gaze aversion may be a way of managing the cognitive load associated with the processing of visual environmental information, or it may serve to alleviate a negative social-emotional experience, such as the self-consciousness associated with, for example, a fear of failure. In the present study, thirty-six 8-year-olds were questioned either face to face or across a live video link. Questions varied in type (arithmetic, verbal reasoning, and autobiographical and episodic memory) and in difficulty. Children averted their gaze more during face-to-face questioning than during video-mediated questioning; however, question difficulty had a very strong influence on aversion in both interview conditions. It is concluded that although social factors play a role in children’s gaze aversion during pedagogical question–answer sequences, the primary function of averting gaze is to manage the cognitive load involved in the processing of environmental information.
AB - When asked questions, adults and children often avert their gaze at certain points within the interaction, especially when questions are difficult (Doherty-Sneddon, Bruce, Bonner, Longbotham, & Doyle, 2002; Glenberg, Schroeder, & Robertson, 1998). Gaze aversion may be a way of managing the cognitive load associated with the processing of visual environmental information, or it may serve to alleviate a negative social-emotional experience, such as the self-consciousness associated with, for example, a fear of failure. In the present study, thirty-six 8-year-olds were questioned either face to face or across a live video link. Questions varied in type (arithmetic, verbal reasoning, and autobiographical and episodic memory) and in difficulty. Children averted their gaze more during face-to-face questioning than during video-mediated questioning; however, question difficulty had a very strong influence on aversion in both interview conditions. It is concluded that although social factors play a role in children’s gaze aversion during pedagogical question–answer sequences, the primary function of averting gaze is to manage the cognitive load involved in the processing of environmental information.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/27744579302
U2 - 10.3758/BF03195338
DO - 10.3758/BF03195338
M3 - Article
SN - 0090-502X
VL - 33
SP - 727
EP - 733
JO - Memory and Cognition
JF - Memory and Cognition
IS - 4
ER -