Abstract:

As perceptual load theory of attention posits, the effectiveness of selective attention in excluding perception of irrelevant distractors depends on the perceptual load associated with the relevant task. If the perceptual load of the relevant task is sufficiently high so as to require all available attentional capacity, thus the processing of task-irrelevant distractors is prevented. However, facial processing is special, irrelevant face can be processed regardless of the level of perceptual load. And facial expression and gaze direction may be affected by perceptual load. Some studies showed that negative emotions was less affected by the perceptual load, compared with positive and neutral emotions; Perception of direct gaze does not require focus of attention. In the future, we can extend to investigate the effects of some categories such as race, sex, and age in different levels of perceptual load.

Key words: face perfection, perceptual load, attention resources, facial expression, gaze orientation