Eye-tracking literacy effects in face and graphism recognition in a non-weird population: the Karaja of central Brazil

Marcus Maia,
Aniela Improta França
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Resumo

This eye-tracking study investigates the Karajá, a Brazilian indigenous ethnic group, to examine how literacy may influence implicitly developed cognitive processes. We compared unschooled illiterate and literate participants regarding their eye gaze patterns across three categories: (i) faces of Karajá, other indigenous groups, and non-indigenous individuals; (ii) graphemes; and (iii) graphisms created by Karajá, other indigenous, and Western artists. Our findings reveal that literacy significantly impacts face processing. Literate participants, overcoming the natural left-right invariance, displayed a more symmetric visual inspection of faces, a pattern not observed in their inspection of graphisms. In contrast, illiterate participants primarily focused their gaze on the right side of faces, with significantly higher fixation counts and average fixation times on this side. Additionally, literacy appeared to indirectly reinforce the own-race bias: literate Karajá participants correctly identified faces from their ethnic group in 85% of trials, compared to a 65% success rate among illiterate participants. Overall, these results contribute to a less dogmatic understanding of the interplay between cognitive and cultural factors in non-WEIRD populations. By emphasizing the role of cultural and literacy-related influences, the study provides a framework in which cognitive processes can be understood as a harmonious modulation of nature and nurture effects. Furthermore, the findings challenge prevailing assumptions in the field, particularly regarding the dichotomy between bottom-up algorithms and top-down heuristics. They highlight the potential of non-WEIRD populations as a valuable and underexplored resource for addressing foundational questions in the nature/nurture debate, offering fresh perspectives for future research.

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