Keywords

Neurodivergence; Anthropomorphism

Abstract

Anthropomorphism is broadly defined as the attribution of human characteristics to nonhuman entities. Those with higher levels of neurodivergent traits, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), may struggle to maintain eye contact with and interpret the emotions of others. Anthropomorphic interaction patterns between both those with and without ASD differ between various entities such as cars, cartoon characters, animals, and humans. Results of this study have implications across domains including human factors, cognitive science, and human-animal interaction. This study employed the use of unique stimuli in combination with various scales to measure personality traits and anthropomorphic tendencies. Participants were asked to indicate whether an extraneous object was present in a series of images. In total, 72 images were shown: humans, cartoon characters, cars, and animals. These images displayed one of two emotions: neutral or angry. A total of 125 participants, N = 125, with an average age of 20.43, M = 20.43, successfully completed this survey. Question response time was recorded. The guiding research question was as follows: do individuals with higher neurodivergent traits exhibit attentional differences compared to neurotypical individuals when asked to observe the eye area of commonly anthropomorphized entities? Researchers looked to see if these differences appeared as a result of the emotion shown in the image. Analyses revealed no significant differences between those with high or low neurodivergent traits. Without the measures of neurodivergence, analyses showed that entity and emotion had a significant impact on question accuracy. Results also showed a significant impact of entity on question response time. A questionnaire measuring the tendency to engage in and enjoy the act of thinking was used. For this questionnaire, data was coded with a median split. Analyses showed that whether participants scored higher, equal to, or below the median had a significant impact on their reaction time.

Thesis Completion Year

2026

Thesis Completion Semester

Spring

Thesis Chair

Sims, Valerie

College

College of Sciences

Department

Psychology

Thesis Discipline

Psychology

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus Access

None

Campus Location

Orlando (Main) Campus

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