Following and Leading Social Gaze

When we see someone suddenly move their eyes, our attention is spontaneously drawn to where they are looking. This establishes a state of ‘joint attention’, which serves a variety of social functions. In the talk, I will give an overview some work on gaze cueing of attention that investigates both the attentional and affective processes engaged during a joint attention episode. I will also introduce some recent work that investigates shared attention from the perspective of the gaze leader. I will show that leading others’ eyes also engages attentional and affective processes, but also evokes an implicit sense of agency.