Distribution of fixations for upright faces averaged across start positions.

<p>(<b>a</b>) Example of AOIs for one face. AOIs could be divided into three separate feature regions: eye (red), nose (yellow), and mouth (green). ‘L’, ‘M’ (eye region only), and ‘R’ refer to the left, middle, and right, respectively, of the facial feature regions. (<b>b</b>) Relative frequencies of fixations across AOIs for the first five fixations revealed more fixations to the eye region compared with the nose and mouth regions. Error bars indicate the between-subjects standard error. (<b>c</b>) Spatial density and profile plots for the first five fixations showing more fixations to the eye region with a tendency toward the left side of the face. The face plotted beneath the spatial density plot is the average of all faces after alignment. Fixations are plotted as Gaussian densities summed across trials and participants. Fixation density is indicated using a colorscale from zero to the maximum density value observed, with zero being transparent. Profile plots to the right and below the spatial density map are summations of the spatial densities across each dimension. The vertical dotted line indicates the midline of the average face. The horizontal dotted line indicates the vertical position of the center of the eyes.