Why do we look away in conversation when we're trying to think?
The short answer
It's easier for your brain. By looking away from your conversation partner's face, you are reducing the cognitive load of processing external stimuli so that you can shift your attention to internal stimuli like problem solving, creative thinking, or retrieving memories.
The long answer
Looking at another person's face is a very intensive exercise for your brain. When you maintain direct eye contact, you are constantly monitoring the other person's facial expression changes and subtle body language to make inferences on their emotional state. In short, you are absorbing a ton of complex external stimuli that needs to be processed instantaneously.
If you don't take a moment for breaking eye contact, your brain's ability to focus can be significantly hampered. This difficulty is especially noticeable when trying to formulate a complex thought or retrieve specific data.
A 2016 study conducted by Kajimura and Nomura demonstrated this effect. The researchers set up a word association game with participants who were asked to immediately respond with a verb that they associated with a provided noun. For example, if the word "book" was given, the participants would reply with "read" or "study."
Crucially, participants were asked to play the game while maintaining eye contact with a face on a computer screen. The findings showed that participants who broke eye contact when faced with a challenging noun were able to respond more quickly than those who maintained their gaze.
Breaking eye contact, "looking at nothing", and increased blinking are all associated with your brain trying to process internal stimuli. As the artist Paul Gauguin once said, "I shut my eyes in order to see."
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Sources
Kajimura, S., &; Nomura, M. (2016). When we cannot speak: Eye contact disrupts resources available to cognitive control processes during verb generation. Cognition, 157, 352–357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2016.10.002
Salvi, C., &; Bowden, E. M. (2016). Looking for Creativity: Where Do We Look When We Look for New Ideas? Frontiers in Psychology, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00161
