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Examining the Link Between Social Affect and Visual Exploration of Cute Stimuli in Autistic Children.

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Title: Examining the Link Between Social Affect and Visual Exploration of Cute Stimuli in Autistic Children.
Authors: Zaharia, Alexandra (AUTHOR), Kojovic, Nada (AUTHOR), Rojanawisut, Tara (AUTHOR), Sander, David (AUTHOR), Schaer, Marie (AUTHOR), Samson, Andrea C. (AUTHOR)
Source: Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders. Dec2025, Vol. 55 Issue 12, p4212-4225. 14p.
Subjects: Research funding, Data analysis, T-test (Statistics), Autism, Eye movement measurements, Severity of illness index, Multivariate analysis, Descriptive statistics, Attention, Longitudinal method, Analysis of variance, Statistics, Social skills, Asperger's syndrome, Affect (Psychology), Visual perception, Comparative studies, Regression analysis
Abstract: Baby schema refers to physical features perceived as cute, known to trigger attention, induce positive emotions, and prompt social interactions. Given the reduced visual attention to social stimuli observed in individuals on the autism spectrum, the current study examines whether the sensitivity to baby schema is also affected. We expected that the looking time towards cute-featured stimuli would vary with symptom severity levels and would be associated with social affect. Ninety-four children (31 typically developing; 63 diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder - ASD) aged 20–83 months (M = 49.63, SD = 13.59) completed an eye-tracking visual exploration task. Autistic participants were separated into two groups based on symptom severity: children with high autism severity symptoms (HS ASD; N = 23) and low-moderate autism symptoms (LMS ASD; N = 40). Animals and neutral objects were simultaneously presented on the screen along with either human babies (condition 1) or adults (condition 2). The results indicated that visual attention oriented to cute-featured stimuli varied with autism symptom severity: only LMS and TD groups spend more time looking at cute-featured stimuli (babies; animals) than neutral objects. Moreover, children with higher severity in the social affect domain spent less time on the stimuli depicting cute than non-cute stimuli. These findings suggest that autism symptom severity and social skills are linked to variations in visual attention to cute stimuli. Implications of baby schema sensitivity are discussed in relation to the development of social competencies and play, responsiveness to robot-based interventions, as well as appraised relevance in autistic children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: Examining the Link Between Social Affect and Visual Exploration of Cute Stimuli in Autistic Children.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Zaharia%2C+Alexandra%22">Zaharia, Alexandra</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Kojovic%2C+Nada%22">Kojovic, Nada</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Rojanawisut%2C+Tara%22">Rojanawisut, Tara</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Sander%2C+David%22">Sander, David</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Schaer%2C+Marie%22">Schaer, Marie</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Samson%2C+Andrea+C%2E%22">Samson, Andrea C.</searchLink> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Autism+%26+Developmental+Disorders%22">Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders</searchLink>. Dec2025, Vol. 55 Issue 12, p4212-4225. 14p.
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  Data: Baby schema refers to physical features perceived as cute, known to trigger attention, induce positive emotions, and prompt social interactions. Given the reduced visual attention to social stimuli observed in individuals on the autism spectrum, the current study examines whether the sensitivity to baby schema is also affected. We expected that the looking time towards cute-featured stimuli would vary with symptom severity levels and would be associated with social affect. Ninety-four children (31 typically developing; 63 diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder - ASD) aged 20–83 months (M = 49.63, SD = 13.59) completed an eye-tracking visual exploration task. Autistic participants were separated into two groups based on symptom severity: children with high autism severity symptoms (HS ASD; N = 23) and low-moderate autism symptoms (LMS ASD; N = 40). Animals and neutral objects were simultaneously presented on the screen along with either human babies (condition 1) or adults (condition 2). The results indicated that visual attention oriented to cute-featured stimuli varied with autism symptom severity: only LMS and TD groups spend more time looking at cute-featured stimuli (babies; animals) than neutral objects. Moreover, children with higher severity in the social affect domain spent less time on the stimuli depicting cute than non-cute stimuli. These findings suggest that autism symptom severity and social skills are linked to variations in visual attention to cute stimuli. Implications of baby schema sensitivity are discussed in relation to the development of social competencies and play, responsiveness to robot-based interventions, as well as appraised relevance in autistic children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1007/s10803-024-06504-1
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        Text: English
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      – SubjectFull: Research funding
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Data analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: T-test (Statistics)
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      – SubjectFull: Autism
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              Text: Dec2025
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