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Abstract:
The interpretation of another persons eye gaze is a key element of social cognition. Previous research has established that this ability develops early in life and is influenced by the persons head orientation, as well as local features of the persons eyes. Here we show that the presence of objects in the attended space also has an impact on gaze interpretation. Adults identified the fixation points of photographed faces with a mouse cursor. Their responses were systematically biased toward the locations of nearby objects. This capture of perceived gaze direction probably reflects the attribution of intentionality and has methodological implications for research on gaze perception.