Looking at other people allows us to collect information about them, but it can also reveal our attentional state when we would rather conceal it. We report that individuals spontaneously employ sustained covert monitoring, rather than direct looking, when evaluating the actions of a live stranger. In contrast, individuals look directly at the actions of a stranger on video. We argue that the ability to secretly monitor live others without executing a look towards them is an important process that compensates for the risk of looking directly during certain social situations. Covert monitoring allows people to avoid visually communicating to others that they are the focus of one's attention. This represents a previously undocumented function of covert attention outside of the laboratory. It suggests that the relationship between covert attention and looking is dynamic and likely to be foundational to the successful navigation of real-world social situations.

查看其他人可以使我们收集有关他们的信息，但是当我们宁愿隐藏它们时，它也可以显示我们的注意力状态。我们报告个人自发在评估一个活着的陌生人的行为时，采用持续的秘密监视，而不是直接监视。相反，个人直接观看视频中陌生人的行为。我们认为，秘密监视生活中的他人而不执行对他人的目光的能力是一个重要的过程，可以弥补在某些社交情况下直接寻找他人的风险。秘密监视使人们可以避免在视觉上与他人进行交流，使他们成为关注的焦点。这代表了实验室外部秘密记录功能的一个先前未记录的功能。它表明，秘密注意力和外表之间的关系是动态的，并且可能是成功导航现实社会状况的基础。