Gender and individual differences in cueing effects: Visuospatial attention and object likability

Abstract

An arrow marker appearing in a field of view shifts the observer’s attention in its indicated direction. On the other hand, the gaze of another individual not only shifts the observer’s attention but also increases the likability of objects in the direction of their gaze. These effects occur even when the arrow markers or gaze cues are presented for very short periods so that the observer is unaware of them. To expand on the findings of previous studies, we conducted two experiments. In the first we examined the changes in likability and attentional shift induced by supraliminal and subliminal arrow markers, using 40 male and 40 female participants. We found, contrary to previous findings, that supraliminal arrow markers not only shifted the observers’ attention but slightly increased object likability. On the other hand, subliminal arrow markers only shifted the observers’ attention. The attentional shift was stronger for female than for male participants in the case of supraliminal, but not of subliminal, markers. The second experiment verified the changes in likability induced by supraliminal arrow markers and compared the effects with those of supraliminal gaze cues among 40 female participants. We found that the liking effect was observed for both arrow markers and gaze cues. However, both effects were small, and no significant difference was found between them. Overall, these results show that gender and individual differences have considerable impacts on cueing effects.