Abstract
Self-range is defined as a range of gaze direction of a looker within which the perceiver feels like he/she is being looked at. In our past study, by using actual-size pictures displayed on a CRT screen, we found that the viewing-distance does not affect the decision. This means that the gaze perception does not depend on geometric calculations. In this study, to further pursue this point, we measured gaze perception larger faces while varying the face size and the viewing distance. The stimuli were full-color pictures of four young persons with gaze shifted in 11 steps between 15 degs to the right and to the left of the center. Three stimulus sizes (10-, 5-, 2.5-times of the actual size) and two viewing distances (570 cm, 285 cm) were used. The experiment was conducted by sessions, and the stimulus size was fixed within a session. The size was varied within participant, and the distance was varied between participants. Participants were asked to judge whether the stimulus person was looking at them. It was found that the estimated self-range within which % being-looked-at is higher than 50 % was fairly constant over the size and distance. The averaged values for all conditions fell within 2.5 to 3 degs either to the right or to the left from the center, and they were consistent with our past results with actual-size pictures. The present results indicate that perceivers' judgments whether they are being looked at are little affected by the size and distance. That is, perceivers do not convey geometric calculation using the deviation angle, the viewing distance, and the face size. Rather, their judgments seem to depend solely on figural cues, especially the pupil position within eyes.
KM & YN were supported by a grant from JSPS.