Look into my eyes: Gaze direction and person memory Malia F. Mason Dartmouth College, NH, USA Bruce M. Hood University of Bristol, UK C. Neil Macrae Dartmouth College, NH, USA The current research considered the effects of gaze direction on a fundamental aspect of social cogition: personmemory.Itwasanticipatedthataperson'sdirectionofgazei.e.,directoraverted)wouldimpact his or her subsequent memorability, such that recognition would be enhanced for targets previously displayingdirectgaze.InExperiment1,participantswerepresentedwithfacesdisplayingeitherdirector averted gaze in a person-classification i.e., conceptual) task. Then, in a surprise memory test, they were requiredtoreportwhetherapresentedfacehadbeenseenbefore.Asexpected,arecognitionadvantage was observed for targets displaying direct gaze during the initial classification task. This finding was replicatedandextendedinasecondexperimentinwhichparticipantsinitiallyreportedthespatiallocation i.e., perceptual task) of each face. We consider the implications of these findings for basic aspects of social-cognitive functioning and person perception. Detecting and interpreting gaze-related informa- tion is an exquisitely adapted human skill. That people possess such a talent is probably just as well.Whengazedirectioncansignalthepotential intentions of conspecifics, it is useful to have an information-processing system that is capable of understandingthenon-verballanguageoftheeyes Baron-Cohen, 1995). People naturally look at objects in the environment that are of interest or importance Emery, 2000). Knowing whether you aretherecipientofanotherperson'sgazebecause you are a possible mate, adversary, or interaction partner is critical as it enables one to generate an appropriatebehaviouralresponsee.g.,smile,run, or contribute the next conversational utterance). Possessing a system that is finely tuned to gaze monitoring enables you to exploit visual cues, which in turn simplifies navigation through com- plex social environments. As the available evidence attests, people are highly adept at using gaze direction as a cue to decoding the intentions of others i.e., mind- reading, see Baron-Cohen, 1994, 1995). The pre- cursors of this ability appear in early infancy. Almostfrombirth,infantsshowafascinationwith theeyesoverotherregionsofthefaceMorton& Johnson, 1991) and, by the age of 4 months, can discriminate direct from averted gaze Vecera & Johnson, 1995). By the time they are between the ages of 9 and 18 months, young children begin to readtheeyesintermsofgoaldirection,attending immediatelytotheeyeswhentheintentionsofan adultactor'sgoalsareambiguousPhillips,Baron- Cohen, & Rutter, 1992). Continuing into adult- hood,thissensitivitytoeyegazeservesavarietyof useful functions e.g., reflexive visual orienting, see Driver, Davis, Ricciadelli, Kidd, Maxwell, & Baron-Cohen, 1999; Friesen & Kingstone, 1998). MEMORY, 2004, 12 5), 637±643 # 2004 Psychology Press Ltd http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/pp/09658211.html DOI:10.1080/09658210344000152 Correspondence should be addressed to Malia F. Mason, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Moore Hall, Hanover, NH 03755, USA. Email: Malia.F.Mason@dartmouth.edu The authors would like to thank Sue Gathercole and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on this work.