The study involved a researcher engaging in four-minute conversations with 46 participants where both parties wore Tobii eye tracking glasses. "For approximately half the conversations the researcher looked at the eyes most of the time, and for the other half gazed predominantly at the mouth," Dr Rogers said. After the conversations, the participants rated how much they enjoyed the conversations. "The mouth group perceived the same amount of eye contact and enjoyed the conversations just as much as the eye group," Dr Rogers said. He said the results suggest that when specifically focused on trying to determine the gaze of one's partner, people demonstrate limited capacity to do it accurately. "People are not very sensitive to the specific gaze focus of their partner to their face; instead they perceive direct gaze towards their face as eye contact," Dr Rogers said. - www.sciencedaily.com