Downward Gaze Tendency Moderated by Task-Specific Context in Free Viewing

Research has confirmed a Vertical Attention Bias that directs attention to the tops of objects and the bottoms of scenes. Consistent with ecological theory, our perceptual system functionally adapts to the natural regularities and affordances in the environment forming biases, and generally adopts a downward gaze vantage that focuses attention on the behaviorally relevant locations. To date, the downward vantage tendency has been investigated using static images where there is a lack of dynamic perspective and natural behavior. The current experiment investigates real-world, active gaze allocation while participants wear mobile eye tracking glasses. Participants simulated their daily routine and executed 8 of the most common behavioral tasks according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: walking inside, walking outside, socializing in person, socializing on webcam, housework, eating and drinking, phone time, and personal care activities. Each of these tasks were performed in consecutive 5 minute blocks. Participants were instructed to perform each task as they normally would, and were allowed to engage in unspecified concurrent behaviors that typically occur (e.g., watching television while eating). For each behavioral task, head and eye tilt were used to calculate gaze angle and that value was compared to the horizontal plane of the observer's eye (i.e., degrees above or below their natural eye-height). Overall, the average participant gaze angle was below the horizontal plane and was moderated by the task-specific context of each behavioral task, supporting a generic downward vantage tendency that focuses attention on personal action space and body-level affordances.