What Zen wrote!
person can get overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of often contradictory information that comes from another person. Some adults have poor performance control when dealing with kids such that their non-verbals and verbal content are completely out of whack such that looking at them while they speak is a bit disgusting (closest word that comes to mind.)
Yes, some news reporters and tv personalities exhibit this emotional discontinuity as well, which provides a great resource in discussing this concept with kiddos.
Other factors I find with watching someone's face when they are speaking is sometimes I get really distracting feedback delay loops (ever tried listening to your voice on a half second delay through earphones while speaking?) And sometimes it is a distracting detail in their face.
But if a speaker wants my undivided attention, then it's best I not look while they speak.
Have you noticed, a similar effect can occur when one is in the speaking role of a conversation: looking directly at the conversation partner for too long a time may cause the processing of the visual input to override one's train of thought, limiting speaking ability.
My personal work-around is to make sure I use very active listening skills like nodding or verbal tiks and asking strong, insightful summative questions.
Helpful for both conversation partners!
