A Psychophysical Study of “Cuteness”

Brooks, Virginia; Hochberg, Julian

doi:10.2466/pms.1960.11.2.205

Cited by 37 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Alley (1981) and Brooks and Hochberg (1960), among others, have shown that incorporation of more youthful features into human faces leads them to be seen both as increasingly cute and more in need of protection. Gould (1979) has observed that as Mickey Mouse's personality was changed over several decades from that of a somewhat nasty character to that of his current lovable self, he was drawn with a progressively more youthful body and face.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Body proportions as information for age and cuteness: Animals in illustrated children’s books

Pittenger

1990

Perception & Psychophysics

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Growth systematically changes the body proportions of both humans and animals so that the ratio of head height to body height decreases with age. Prior studies have demonstrated that body proportions provide effective information for age perception. To test the proposal that illustrators incorporate this information into their drawings, measurements were made of the head and body heights of 100 pairs of animals appearing in children's picture books. In 93 pairs, the animal intended to be perceived as older had a smaller head-to-body ratio than did the younger animal. Ratings collected for 25 of these pairs showed that both perceived age and cuteness are significantly correlated with body proportions. The magnitudes of the correlations were only modest, suggesting that other aspects of the drawings influenced perceived age and cuteness. In addition, observers reported that body proportions are only one of a variety of factors influencing age and cuteness perception. As has been found in other studies, perceived age and cuteness were negatively correlated. 124How can events be portrayed in static pictures? One potential answer to this question is suggested by J. J. Gibson's approach to picture perception (1971). He argued that pictures and real objects can lead to the same perceptions because they contain the same information. Applied to perception of events portrayed in static pictures, this theory would hold that aspects of the patterns of change that serve as information for real events can be incorporated into pictures of events.The studies reported here concern the depiction of age in drawings of animals in children's books. Specifically, they test the proposal that illustrators portray an animal's age by incorporating the changes in body proportions characteristic of actual growth into the drawings.From the perspective of the ecological approach to perception (Gibson, 1979), this proposal contains two assumptions about growth and its perception. The first is that there exist regularities in the visible patterns of growth. That is, there is visual information for the perception of growth. Second, detection of this information supports perception of growth and age. Prior research justifies these assumptions about the perception of human growth.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since previous research (Alley, 1983a;Brooks & Hochberg, 1960) has shown that perceived cuteness is influenced by age information and is inversely correlated with perceived age, cuteness ratings were also collected.…”

Section: Study 2 Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Body proportions as information for age and cuteness: Animals in illustrated children’s books

Pittenger

1990

Perception & Psychophysics

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“…Infants whose facial characteristics closely correspond to the Kindchenschema are commonly described as cuter than infants whose facial characteristics deviate from the Kindchenschema (e.g., Alley, 1981;Brooks and Hochbeg, 1960;Glocker et al, 2009a;Hildebrandt and Fitzgerald, 1979;Hückstedt, 1965;McKelvie, 1993;Sternglanz et al, 1977).…”

Section: Accepted M Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Menstrual cycle phase affects discrimination of infant cuteness

Lobmaier

Probst

Perrett

et al. 2015

Hormones and Behavior

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“…The majority of baby schema features are in the head and the face and most prior research has focused on these infant characteristics (6,7,9,(11)(12)(13). Using anthropometric (26) and morphing techniques, we manipulated photographs of 17 infants [originals courtesy Katherine Karraker, West Virginia University; (11)] to produce high (round face, high forehead, big eyes, small nose and mouth), low (narrow face, low forehead, small eyes, big nose and mouth), and unmanipulated baby schema portraits of each infant (Fig.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a species whose young depend on care, such bias could be evolutionary adaptive and enhance offspring survival (3)(4)(5). The behavioral effects of the baby schema have been experimentally confirmed (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14), with implications for infant-caretaker interactions (15,16). In ethological terms, baby schema is classified as a ''releaser'' (or ''key stimulus'' in the context of social communication), which is defined as a set of specific stimulus features sufficient to selectively elicit a particular pattern of behavior (2,17).…”

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confidence: 99%

Baby schema modulates the brain reward system in nulliparous women

Glocker

Langleben

Ruparel

et al. 2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

270

240

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Ethologist Konrad Lorenz defined the baby schema (''Kindchenschema'') as a set of infantile physical features, such as round face and big eyes, that is perceived as cute and motivates caretaking behavior in the human, with the evolutionary function of enhancing offspring survival. The neural basis of this fundamental altruistic instinct is not well understood. Prior studies reported a pattern of brain response to pictures of children, but did not dissociate the brain response to baby schema from the response to children. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and controlled manipulation of the baby schema in infant faces, we found that baby schema activates the nucleus accumbens, a key structure of the mesocorticolimbic system mediating reward processing and appetitive motivation, in nulliparous women. Our findings suggest that engagement of the mesocorticolimbic system is the neurophysiologic mechanism by which baby schema promotes human caregiving, regardless of kinship.caregiving ͉ functional MRI ͉ social cognition ͉ infant ͉ accumbens

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A Psychophysical Study of “Cuteness”

Cited by 37 publications

References 2 publications

Body proportions as information for age and cuteness: Animals in illustrated children’s books

Body proportions as information for age and cuteness: Animals in illustrated children’s books

Menstrual cycle phase affects discrimination of infant cuteness

Baby schema modulates the brain reward system in nulliparous women

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