See An Accident? Watch Others Follow Your Stare
Admit it. When you see someone stumble and fall, you can't help looking. People seeing you looking will look, too. It's called "gaze following," and although it's been demonstrated in dozens of species, researchers have theorized that it may develop in a unique way in humans, because it plays a critical role in learning and socialization. Researchers, who have studied this in monkeys, believe it has deep evolutionary roots, according to newswise.com. "Even though it seems like it's a very simple thing, this is a foundational social and cognitive skill that humans have. And there has been little research on how this skill develops in other species," says Alexandra Rosati, Assistant Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology and the first author of the study. "This is the largest study ever looking at gaze-following in monkeys. We followed how this skill developed through their whole lifespan and examined the psychological mechani