In the current study, we aim to replicate Sharon and colleagues’ (2020) study on tVNS. The current conflicting evidence in the area of tVNS and pupil dilation research makes results unreliable and...Show moreIn the current study, we aim to replicate Sharon and colleagues’ (2020) study on tVNS. The current conflicting evidence in the area of tVNS and pupil dilation research makes results unreliable and findings inapplicable in practice. As such we attempt to confirm the finding that transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) of the auricular branch of the vagus nerve induces pupil dilation. In an experiment utilizing an eye tracker, we found that there’s no statistically significant difference between control and intervention conditions at 3-6 seconds after stimulation onset. We discuss the implications of our failure to replicate the results of Sharon et al. and possible underlying mechanisms which led to the findings. Finding the current evidence lacking, we suggest further experimentation and replication in the area, as well as proposing that underlying mechanisms of locus coerleus (LC) activation and pupil dilation be the subject of further research in the area.Show less
Mimicry facilitates social bonding and increases the feelings of affiliation and liking. However, not every individual perceives mimicry in the same way. Previous research showed that there are...Show moreMimicry facilitates social bonding and increases the feelings of affiliation and liking. However, not every individual perceives mimicry in the same way. Previous research showed that there are consistent differences among various groups. Nevertheless, previous studies failed to establish whether gender can also play a role in evaluating explicit mimicry. Unlike the previous studies, the focus of this research is implicit mimicry. Since mimicry does not always occur on explicit level, investigating mimicry that occurs on implicit level, such as pupil dilation mimicry, might lead to a different result. In this study, the aim is to investigate whether gender has an influence on the evaluation of avatars which mimic or does not mimic the participants pupil dilation. For the purposes of this study, avatar is defined as an artificial intelligence figure representing a real person. To test the effect of gender on mimicry, 19 females and 10 males interacted with 6 avatars. 3 of them mimicked the participant’s pupil dilation while the other 3 avatars did not. Afterwards, participants evaluated how much they liked the avatar and how much they would like to meet the speaker in real life. Overall, female participants evaluated both mimicking and non-mimicking avatars more negatively than the male participants. However, female participants reported a higher desire for the future interaction with non-mimicking avatars in comparison to males. The study did not yield a significant result. However, the difference between genders in mimicry evaluation was still observed.Show less
Behavioral mimicry and pupil dilation have both been seen to have positive effects on liking and trust between people in social interactions. For people with social anxiety, however, this effect...Show moreBehavioral mimicry and pupil dilation have both been seen to have positive effects on liking and trust between people in social interactions. For people with social anxiety, however, this effect may be impaired due to their self-focused attention and fear of other’s judgments. We investigate the effects of pupil dilation mimicry on evaluation of and trust in virtual avatars in high and low socially anxious individuals. Participants interacted with six avatars who each told a story, during which the avatar’s pupil size was manipulated to dilate randomly or to mimic the participant’s pupil dilations. After each story, the participants answered questionnaires regarding liking and played an investment game to measure trust. Contrary to our predictions, the results yielded no between-group differences in the evaluation of- or trust in the avatars. The implications of this and the limitations to our study are discussed, and we offer recommendations for future research.Show less
Mimicry is the replication of another person’s behaviour and/or physiological state in short temporal succession of the original behaviour. It can be differentiated into autonomic mimicry and motor...Show moreMimicry is the replication of another person’s behaviour and/or physiological state in short temporal succession of the original behaviour. It can be differentiated into autonomic mimicry and motor mimicry, with the former denoting mimicry of autonomic nervous system activity such as heart rate, with visible behaviours such as blushing or pupil dilation, whereas motor mimicry is any mimicry of motor movements. Together, these two types of autonomic mimicry result in emotional mimicry, also called emotional contagion. The primary aspect of emotional mimicry is reciprocal evaluation, as people with positive affiliation towards each other exhibit it the most. However, socially anxious people have deficiencies in motor mimicry and do not prefer a mimicking partner. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether highly socially anxious people would evaluate virtual characters exhibiting autonomic mimicry less positively than low socially anxious individuals. Within the study, 29 people with different levels of social anxiety were exposed to autonomic mimicry through pupil dilation by three virtual characters telling three different stories, whilst three others told stories without mimicking the participants, but still exhibiting occasional pupil dilation. Comfortability around the characters was measured through the desire for future interaction scale, and liking through an avatar evaluation questionnaire. Two repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVA) and two mixed ANOVA were conducted and yielded no significant differences in evaluation between the mimicry conditions, nor any significant mediation of these differences by the social anxiety group, suggesting that differences in peoples’ evaluations of mimicry are primarily reserved to motor mimicry.Show less
The human eye, due to its unique morphology, is central for social interactions. Eye contact and mutual eye gaze are important to infer other’s emotions and to share experiences. In particular,...Show moreThe human eye, due to its unique morphology, is central for social interactions. Eye contact and mutual eye gaze are important to infer other’s emotions and to share experiences. In particular, pupillary changes, dilation and constriction, provide implicit cues to infer internal states of an interacting partner: when one experiences pleasant feelings, pupils dilate. Individuals with larger pupils are evaluated as more friendly, attractive, and trustworthy than those with smaller pupils. During human interactions changes in pupil diameter synchronize, a phenomenon called pupil mimicry. In particular, dilation mimicry correlates with increased perceived trustworthiness. Aim of the hereby research is to further investigate the relationship between pupil mimicry and trust. To do so, we conducted an experiment in which participants listened to a series of virtual characters narrating neutral stories while changes in there pupil diameter were recorded via an eye-tracker, allowing us to assess the presence of pupil mimicry by participants. A questionnaire after each interaction, in addition to an investment game were exploited to measure level of trust. A simple linear regression analysis was conducted to investigate whether pupil mimicry is a predictor for trust, selecting cases by neutral stories. Despite our predictions -based on previous studies-, results proved our hypothesis wrong showing non-significant results for three neutral stories. Results were significant concerning two stories but showing the opposite trend than the expected one. Within the discussion session, limitations of the study which might explain such results will be exposed.Show less
Mimicry of behavior is a well-known phenomenon, thought to be important for social interaction. Some studies suggest that socially anxious individuals differ from the normal population in their...Show moreMimicry of behavior is a well-known phenomenon, thought to be important for social interaction. Some studies suggest that socially anxious individuals differ from the normal population in their mimicking behavior. This difference might be a sign of a mechanism involved in social anxiety. Previous research suggests a difference between autonomic and motor mimicry. Autonomic mimicry is related to the autonomic nervous system which is largely free of conscious influence, while motor mimicry is related to the motor areas and the mirror neuron system. In this paper the focus therefore lies on autonomic pupil dilation mimicry, ruling out conscious influence on mimicry behavior. This study aims to replicate previous findings that found a difference for socially anxious peoples mimicking behavior. The direction of the difference in mimicking behavior will be addressed in the exploratory part of this study in the case of significant results. Performed was a simple regression analysis between the independent anxiety score variable obtained using the LSAS-SR and the dependent mimicry score. The results were ambiguous to a certain extent. The first analysis, including a wider range of data, was significant. It suggests an influence of social anxiety on pupil dilation mimicry, with a higher anxiety score leading to decrease in mimicry, suggesting a possible mechanism related to mimicry differences in social anxiety. However the effect size was not very high. Subsequent analysis excluding very noisy data and cases with low signal coverage led to insignificant results, suggesting normal perception and response to pupil dilation mimicry for people with social anxiety.Show less
