@article{RoeslerRuboGamer2019,
  author    = {R{\"o}sler, Lara and Rubo, Marius and Gamer, Matthias},
  title     = {Artificial faces predict gaze allocation in complex dynamic scenes},
  series = {Frontiers in Psychology},
  volume    = {10},
  journal   = {Frontiers in Psychology},
  number    = {2877},
  issn      = {1664-1078},
  doi       = {10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02877},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-193024},
  year      = {2019},
  abstract  = {Both low-level physical saliency and social information, as presented by human heads or bodies, are known to drive gaze behavior in free-viewing tasks. Researchers have previously made use of a great variety of face stimuli, ranging from photographs of real humans to schematic faces, frequently without systematically differentiating between the two. In the current study, we used a Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) approach to investigate to what extent schematic artificial faces can predict gaze when they are presented alone or in competition with real human faces. Relative differences in predictive power became apparent, while GLMMs suggest substantial effects for real and artificial faces in all conditions. Artificial faces were accordingly less predictive than real human faces but still contributed significantly to gaze allocation. These results help to further our understanding of how social information guides gaze in complex naturalistic scenes.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{LischkeHerpertzBergeretal.2017,
  author    = {Lischke, Alexander and Herpertz, Sabine C. and Berger, Christoph and Domes, Gregor and Gamer, Matthias},
  title     = {Divergent effects of oxytocin on (para-)limbic reactivity to emotional and neutral scenes in females with and without borderline personality disorder},
  series = {Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience},
  volume    = {12},
  journal   = {Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience},
  number    = {11},
  doi       = {10.1093/scan/nsx107},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-173309},
  pages     = {1783-1792},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {Borderline personality disorder (BPD) patients' hypersensitivity for emotionally relevant stimuli has been suggested be due to abnormal activity and connectivity in (para-)limbic and prefrontal brain regions during stimulus processing. The neuropeptide oxytocin has been shown to modulate activity and functional connectivity in these brain regions, thereby optimizing the processing of emotional and neutral stimuli. To investigate whether oxytocin would be capable of attenuating BPD patients' hypersensitivity for such stimuli, we recorded brain activity and gaze behavior during the processing of complex scenes in 51 females with and 48 without BPD after intranasal application of either oxytocin or placebo. We found divergent effects of oxytocin on BPD and healthy control (HC) participants' (para-)limbic reactivity to emotional and neutral scenes: Oxytocin decreased amygdala and insula reactivity in BPD participants but increased it in HC participants, indicating an oxytocin-induced normalization of amygdala and insula activity during scene processing. In addition, oxytocin normalized the abnormal coupling between amygdala activity and gaze behavior across all scenes in BPD participants. Overall, these findings suggest that oxytocin may be capable of attenuating BPD patients' hypersensitivity for complex scenes, irrespective of their valence.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{FlechsenharGamer2017,
  author    = {Flechsenhar, Aleya Felicia and Gamer, Matthias},
  title     = {Top-down influence on gaze patterns in the presence of social features},
  series = {PLoS ONE},
  volume    = {12},
  journal   = {PLoS ONE},
  number    = {8},
  doi       = {10.1371/journal.pone.0183799},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-170468},
  pages     = {e0183799},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {Visual saliency maps reflecting locations that stand out from the background in terms of their low-level physical features have proven to be very useful for empirical research on attentional exploration and reliably predict gaze behavior. In the present study we tested these predictions for socially relevant stimuli occurring in naturalistic scenes using eye tracking. We hypothesized that social features (i.e. human faces or bodies) would be processed preferentially over non-social features (i.e. objects, animals) regardless of their low-level saliency. To challenge this notion, we included three tasks that deliberately addressed non-social attributes. In agreement with our hypothesis, social information, especially heads, was preferentially attended compared to highly salient image regions across all tasks. Social information was never required to solve a task but was regarded nevertheless. More so, after completing the task requirements, viewing behavior reverted back to that of free-viewing with heavy prioritization of social features. Additionally, initial eye movements reflecting potentially automatic shifts of attention, were predominantly directed towards heads irrespective of top-down task demands. On these grounds, we suggest that social stimuli may provide exclusive access to the priority map, enabling social attention to override reflexive and controlled attentional processes. Furthermore, our results challenge the generalizability of saliency-based attention models.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{RoeslerEndGamer2017,
  author    = {R{\"o}sler, Lara and End, Albert and Gamer, Matthias},
  title     = {Orienting towards social features in naturalistic scenes is reflexive},
  series = {PLoS ONE},
  volume    = {12},
  journal   = {PLoS ONE},
  number    = {7},
  doi       = {10.1371/journal.pone.0182037},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-170586},
  pages     = {e0182037},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {Saliency-based models of visual attention postulate that, when a scene is freely viewed, attention is predominantly allocated to those elements that stand out in terms of their physical properties. However, eye-tracking studies have shown that saliency models fail to predict gaze behavior accurately when social information is included in an image. Notably, gaze pattern analyses revealed that depictions of human beings are heavily prioritized independent of their low-level physical saliency. What remains unknown, however, is whether the prioritization of such social features is a reflexive or a voluntary process. To investigate the early stages of social attention in more detail, participants viewed photographs of naturalistic scenes with and without social features (i.e., human heads or bodies) for 200 ms while their eye movements were being recorded. We observed significantly more first eye movements to regions containing social features than would be expected from a chance level distribution of saccades. Additionally, a generalized linear mixed model analysis revealed that the social content of a region better predicted first saccade direction than its saliency suggesting that social features partially override the impact of low-level physical saliency on gaze patterns. Given the brief image presentation time that precluded visual exploration, our results provide compelling evidence for a reflexive component in social attention. Moreover, the present study emphasizes the importance of considering social influences for a more coherent understanding of human attentional selection.},
  language  = {en}
}