Helping children think: deliberately averting your gaze as a learning strategy
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Thinking skills
How was the study carried out?
This study aimed to investigate the links between gaze aversion and performance in problem-solving tasks. The research focused on Year 1 pupils (five-year-olds) as previous research has shown that this age group do use gaze aversion but inconsistently and infrequently. The researchers were keen to investigate whether this age group could be trained to use gaze aversion and its potential benefits as a teaching strategy for young pupils.
The researchers wanted to see whether pupils could be trained to use gaze aversion and whether this would influence their accuracy in arithmetic and verbal reasoning questions.
Twenty Year 1 pupils were selected from primary schools in Stirlingshire, and ten acted as the test group. These pupils were trained in the use of gaze aversion and were asked to look away (avert their gaze) after they had been asked a question and then to respond with an answer. The other ten pupils acted as the control group and did not receive any training in gaze aversion.
The tests took fifteen minutes per pupil and involved videoing pupils while they were asked verbal and arithmetic questions by the researcher. Half of the questions were easy and half were moderately difficult. The researchers sat less than one metre from the pupil and maintained their gaze on the pupil’s face throughout the test. The video recording was then used to analyse the frequency at which pupils looked away (averted their gaze) from the researcher.
Examples of the types of questions used in the test
| Verbal questions | |
| Easy | What is a dog?; Tell me the colour of the sea |
| Moderately difficult | What is a telescope?; Tell me the seven days of the week |
| Arithmetic Questions | |
| Easy | 1 + 1?, 2 – 1?, Count to 10 |
| Moderately difficult | 4 + 4?, 2 x 3?, Count backwards from 10 |
The researchers also investigated the change in pupils’ use of gaze aversion in Year 1 of school. Previous research has shown that children starting Year 1 used considerably less gaze aversion than those finishing Year 1. The researchers wanted to examine this process in more detail.
This part of the study involved testing 10 pupils at the start of Year 1 (October), a different group of 10 pupils six months into Year 1 (February) and a different group of 10 pupils at the end of Year 1 (June). Easy and moderately difficult arithmetic and verbal reasoning questions were used in this part of the study, and differentiated to match pupils’ age. Gaze aversion was recorded on video while pupils answered these questions.
