Cognition of Kawaii in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Focusing on Gaze and Baby Schema in Human and Animal Faces

Abstract

This study investigated the cognition of kawaii (cute in English) in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), focusing on gaze allocation and baby schema. Individuals with ASD are believed to have a different cognition of kawaii from those who underwent typical development (TD). Previous studies have shown that kawaii causes sociality, with ASD individuals experiencing difficulties in social communication. In the present study, 16 ASD individuals and 24 TD control participants looked at manipulated images of baby schema (manipulated eye size and cheek swelling) and then rated them according to their cuteness, measuring eye gaze with an eye tracker. The results showed that baby schema has no effect in the cuteness cognition of the ASD group, who exhibited shorter eye fixation time in the image than the TD group. In addition, the ASD group looked closely at the eyes of the images they rated as “cute,” suggesting that cute images lead to certain changes in the gaze of ASD individuals.