Autistic traits and anthropomorphism: the case of vehicle fascia perception

Cogn Process. 2024 Apr 16. doi: 10.1007/s10339-024-01187-z. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTIndividuals high in autistic traits can have difficulties with social interactions which may stem from difficulties with mentalizing abilities, yet findings from research investigating anthropomorphism of non-human objects in high trait individuals are inconsistent. Measuring emotions and attributes of front-facing vehicles, individuals scoring high versus low on the AQ-10 were compared for ratings of angry-happy, hostile-friendly, masculine-feminine, and submissive-dominant, as a function of vehicle size (large versus small). Our results showed that participants perceived large vehicles as more angry, hostile, masculine, and dominant than small vehicles, with no significant difference in ratings between high and low AQ-10 scorers. The current findings support previous research reporting high autistic trait individuals' intact object processing. Our novel findings also suggest high autistic trait individuals' anthropomorphizing abilities are comparable to those found in low autistic trait individuals.PMID:38625652 | DOI:10.1007/s10339-024-01187-z

Source: Cognitive Processing - April 16, 2024 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Leilani Forby Farid Pazhoohi Alan Kingstone Source Type: research