A universal of human social cognition: Children from 17 communities process gaze in similar ways

• DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/z3ahv_v1
• Publication Date: 2025-04-01T20:04:12Z
• Authors: Manuel Bohn; Julia Christin Prein; Agnes Ayikoru; Florian Markus Be...; Ardain Dzabatou; Michael C. Frank; Annette M E Hende...; Joan Isabella; Josefine Kalbitz; Patricia Kanngiesser; Dilara Keşşafoğlu; Bahar Koymen; Maira Manrique-He...; Shirley Magazi; Lizbeth Mújica-Ma...; Julia Ohlendorf; Damilola Olaoba; Wesley Pieters; Sarah Pope-Caldwell; Katie Slocombe; Robert Zane Sparks; Jahnavi Sunderarajan; Wilson Filipe da ...; Zhen Zhang; Yufei Zong; Roman Stengelin; Daniel Haun

Theoretical accounts assume that key features of human social cognition are universal. Here we focus on gaze-following, the bedrock of social interactions and coordinated activities, to test this claim. In this comprehensive cross-cultural study spanning five continents and 17 distinct cultural communities, we examined the development of gaze-following in early childhood. We identified key processing signatures through a computational model that assumes that participants follow an individual’s gaze by estimating a vector emanating from the eye-center through the pupil. Using a single reliable touchscreen-based task, we found these signatures in all communities, suggesting that children worldwide processed gaze in highly similar ways. Absolute differences in performance between groups are accounted for by a cross-culturally consistent relationship between children’s exposure to touchscreens and their performance in the task. These results provide strong evidence for a universal process underlying a foundational socio-cognitive ability in humans that can be reliably inferred even in the presence of cultural variation in overt behavior.