Baby schema in human and animal faces induces cuteness perception and gaze allocation in children

Abstract

The baby schema concept was originally proposed as a set of infantile traits with high appeal for humans, subsequently shown to elicit caretaking behavior and to affect cuteness perception and attentional processes. However, it is unclear whether the response to the baby schema may be extended to the human-animal bond context. Moreover, questions remain as to whether the cute response is constant and persistent or whether it changes with development. In the present study we parametrically manipulated the baby schema in images of humans, dogs, and cats. We analyzed responses of 3-6 year-old children, using both explicit (i.e., cuteness ratings) and implicit (i.e., eye gaze patterns) measures. By means of eye-tracking, we assessed children's preferential attention to images varying only for the degree of baby schema and explored participants' fixation patterns during a cuteness task. For comparative purposes, cuteness ratings were also obtained in a sample of adults. Overall our results show that the response to an infantile facial configuration emerges early during development. In children, the baby schema affects both cuteness perception and gaze allocation to infantile stimuli and to specific facial features, an effect not simply limited to human faces. In line with previous research, results confirm human positive appraisal toward animals and inform both educational and therapeutic interventions involving pets, helping to minimize risk factors (e.g., dog bites).

Keywords: children; cuteness; eye-tracking; gaze pattern; pet animals; preferential looking.

FIGURE 1

Facial landmark (example: portrait of an adult dog). Head length (AB, fixed, 600 pixels), face width (CD), forehead length (AO), eye width (EF, as the average calculated from the right, E₁F₁ and left E₂F₂ eye width), nose length (OH), nose width (IJ), mouth width (KL). Photo: Thinkstock/Getty Images (modified).

FIGURE 2

Examples of stimuli presented to participants. Young and adult faces of humans, dogs, and cats. On the left the high infantile version, on the right the low infantile version of the same subject. Photos: Thinkstock/Getty Images (modified).

FIGURE 3

Example of AOIs for one face (human infant). AOIs include three separate feature regions: eye (red), nose (green), and mouth (black).

FIGURE 4

Children’s preferential looking. Viewing time (ms) directed to high and low versions of images depicting adult and young faces. ANOVA followed by Tukey post hoc test, *p < 0.05. All data are shown as mean + SEM.

FIGURE 5

Cuteness ratings. Average cuteness ratings given to images of adult and young faces of three species (human, dog, and cat). ANOVA followed by Tukey post hoc test, Adult dog > cat > human; Young dog = cat > human, **p < 0.01; Young images > Adult images, *p < 0.05. All data are shown as mean + SEM.

FIGURE 6

Species-specific gaze distribution among areas of interest. Proportion of viewing time directed at eyes, nose, and mouth regions (AOIs) of different species (human, dog, and cat faces). ANOVA followed by Tukey post hoc test, **p < 0.01 vs. dog and cat; *p < 0.05 vs. dog and cat. All data are shown as mean + SEM.