Serial dependence for same-category and cross-category stimuli in social attention

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2026.1312

Abstract

Abstract:

Serial dependence refers to an attractive bias of current perceptual judgments toward the recent past. This effect plays a crucial role in maintaining perceptual continuity in dynamic, noisy environments. The serial dependence effects have been widely found not only for low-level stimulus features (such as orientation) but also for high-level social cues (such as gaze direction) in social attention. Social attention is the ability to perceive others’ focus of attention and infer their intentions through social cues such as eye gaze. Since social attention can be conveyed by different social cues, it remains unclear whether the serial dependence effect could exist across different categories of social cues. Using an “inducer stimulus” paradigm, this study investigated same-category and cross-category serial dependence effects in social attention through two experiments (each including two sub-experiments). The results revealed that the serial dependence effect existed between same-category social cues (Experiment 1a), and this effect was modulated by emotional context (Experiment 1b). Importantly, the serial dependence effect was also present between cross-category social cues (Experiment 2a), but this effect was not observed between non-social and social cues (Experiment 2b). These findings reveal that the temporal integration of social attention was based on the processing of abstract social representation, thus providing a new perspective for understanding the dynamic integration mechanisms of social attention.

Key words: serial dependence effect, social attention, eye gaze, biological motion

WANG Da, YANG Zhihao, MEI Gaoxing. (2026). Serial dependence for same-category and cross-category stimuli in social attention. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 58(7), 1312-1324.

Figures/Tables 7

Figure 1. Examples of facial stimuli used in Experiments 1-2. (A) Examples of facial stimuli in Experiments 1a, 2a, and 2b. The facial images included a total of 7 gaze direction levels, ranging from ?40% (extreme left) to +40% (extreme right), in steps of 13.3%. In Experiment 1a, the face images with gaze directions of ?40% and +40% were used as inducer stimuli, while the images with all 7 gaze directions were used as probe stimuli; the image with a gaze direction of 0% (straight gaze) was used as the reference stimulus. The reference and probe stimuli used in Experiments 2a and 2b were the same as those in Experiment 1a. (B) Examples of facial stimuli in Experiment 1b. The inducer, reference, and probe stimuli were generated in the same manner as in Experiment 1a, except that two emotional versions (happy and angry) were included.

Figure 2. Procedures of Experiment 1. (A) The procedure of Experiment 1a. After a fixation was presented for 1200-1700 ms, an inducer stimulus (with extreme leftward or extreme rightward gaze direction) surrounded by a white rectangular frame was shown for 250 ms, followed by a 300-ms mask. Following an inter-stimulus interval (ISI) of 700-750 ms, a reference stimulus with a direct gaze was presented for 200 ms, followed by another 300-ms mask. After an ISI of 300-350 ms, a probe stimulus randomly selected from the seven gaze direction levels was shown for 200 ms, followed again by a 300-ms mask. When a question mark appeared in the center of the screen, participants were instructed to press the “up” or “down” key to indicate whether the gaze direction of the reference or the probe stimulus was more leftward or more rightward (leftward or rightward perception was counterbalanced across participants). (B) The procedure of Experiment 1b. The procedure of Experiment 1b was identical to that of Experiment 1a, except that all stimuli (inducer, reference, and probe) included two emotional versions (happy and angry). Within each trial, the emotional valence (happy or angry) was consistent across the inducer, reference, and probe stimuli, and the valence was randomized across trials.

Figure 3. Results of Experiment 1. (A) Fitted curves to positive responses under the leftward (orange) and rightward (green) gaze inducer conditions in Experiment 1a. (B) Mean PSE values for the leftward and rightward gaze inducer conditions in Experiment 1a. (C) Fitted curves to positive responses under the four inducer conditions for Experiment 1b: the happy face with leftward gaze (orange), happy face with rightward gaze (light orange), angry face with leftward gaze (green) and angry face with rightward gaze (light green) conditions. (D) Mean PSE values for the four inducer conditions in Experiment 1b. (E) The ΔPSE for different emotional inducer conditions in Experiment 1b. Error bars indicate ±1 standard error. *p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001, n.s. indicates no significant difference.

Figure 4. Procedures of Experiment 2. The procedures of Experiment 2a and 2b were identical to those of Experiment 1a, except that the inducer stimuli in Experiment 2a and 2b were changed to biological motion stimuli (leftward or rightward) and arrow stimuli (leftward or rightward), respectively.

Figure 5. Results of Experiment 2. (A) Fitted curves to positive responses under the leftward (orange) and rightward (green) biological motion inducer conditions in Experiment 2a. (B) Mean PSE values for the leftward and rightward biological motion inducer conditions in Experiment 2a. (C) Fitted curves to positive responses under the leftward (orange) and rightward (green) arrow inducer conditions in Experiment 2b. (D) Mean PSE values for the leftward and rightward arrow inducer conditions in Experiment 2b. (E) The ΔPSE for the Experiment 2a and the Experiment 1a. (F) The ΔPSE for the Experiment 2a and the Experiment 2b. Error bars indicate ±1 standard error. ***p < 0.001; n.s. indicates not significant.

Figure A1. Results of the eye gaze direction assessment task. The vertical axis represents the proportion of rightward responses; the horizontal axis represents the gaze direction (from ?40% to +40%). The dark gray dashed line indicates the point of subjective equality (PSE); the light gray dashed line indicates the proportion of rightward responses for direct gaze (0%).

Figure A2. Psychometric function curves for the left- judgment group and the right-judgment group.

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