Eye-Gaze FoCuS Database

Eye-Gaze FoCuS is a multi-part stimuli database that is optimized for investigating sensitivity to eye gaze. The paper describing the creation and validation of the stimuli is currently under review. The database includes two sets of stimuli and a table of information about video clips that can be extracted but are not included because of copyright laws. Gaze Perception Stimuli These stimuli were inspired by those developed by Riby and colleagues for investigating sensitivity to eye gaze cues in children and adolescents with autism and Williams syndrome (Riby et al., 2013). We designed these stimuli so that they could be used in a 4-alternative forced-choice task. There are 245 images depicting actors gazing at objects in complex scenes. Each image depicts a single actor looking at one of many possible common objects in a scene. In addition to the target gazed-at object, there is always a plausible non-target object (i.e., nearby the target object but not gazed at), and several implausible objects (i.e., farther away from the target object and not gazed at) in each image. Gaze Following Stimuli These stimuli were inspired by experimental paradigms that have typically been used in eye-tracking paradigms with young children and infants (see Bedford et al., 2012). There are 82 videos. In each video there is a gazed-at target object, a plausible non-target object that was spatially close to the target object but not the target of the gaze, and two implausible non-target objects that were not spatially close to the target object. The timing of events in each stimulus was carefully controlled. Each video begins with the actor looking straight into the camera for 2 seconds as if making eye contact with the participant in an episode of joint attention. Next, the actor shifts her gaze toward the target object (~500 msec). The actor then holds her gaze on the target object for 4 seconds. Finally, the actor shifts her gaze back toward the camera (~500 msec) and holds her gaze straight ahead at the camera for another 2 seconds. The entire gaze following video lasts approximately 9 seconds. Importantly, the actor never turns her head during the gaze shifts. Social Visual Attention Movie Clips This database specifies timestamps for scenes from commercially-available movies that feature social interactions between adolescents and adults. All of these stimuli are available for research purposes. We also provide documentation containing the gazed-at and other objects and summary validation data for each image. For the social visual attention movie clips, we include descriptive and validation data.