“The Clothes (and the Face) Make the Starman”: Facial and Clothing Features Shape Self-Other Matching Processes between Human Observers and a Cartoon Character

38 Pages Posted: 6 Jan 2022

See all articles by Timothy Welsh

Timothy Welsh

University of Toronto - Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education

Aarohi Pathak

University of Toronto

Shikha Patel

University of Toronto

Kim Jovanov

University of Toronto

Abstract

Anthropomorphization is the process by which human characteristics are attributed to nonhuman objects and animals. The anthropomorphization of nonhuman animals may be facilitated by a self-other body-part matching mechanism wherein the body of the nonhuman animal is conceptually mapped to the human observer’s representation of their body. The present study was designed to determine if specific features could facilitate body-part matching between the cartoon of a nonhuman animal and human observers. Participants responded to targets presented on the cartoon of a starfish. In No Structure conditions, dots and curved lines were distributed evenly within the starfish. In Face conditions, two dots and one curved line represented eyes and a mouth of a “face”. In Clothes conditions, dots and lines represented a shirt and pants. Body-part matching emerged when the image had a face or clothes, but did not emerge in No Structure conditions. These studies provide unique evidence that the anthropomorphization of a nonhuman cartoon may be facilitated by human-like internal features on the image.

Keywords: Self-other matching, Body schema, Anthropomorphization, face processing, Body representation

Suggested Citation

Welsh, Timothy and Pathak, Aarohi and Patel, Shikha and Jovanov, Kim, “The Clothes (and the Face) Make the Starman”: Facial and Clothing Features Shape Self-Other Matching Processes between Human Observers and a Cartoon Character. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4002319 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4002319

Timothy Welsh (Contact Author)

University of Toronto - Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education ( email )

Aarohi Pathak

University of Toronto ( email )

105 St George Street
Toronto, M5S 3G8
Canada

Shikha Patel

University of Toronto ( email )

105 St George Street
Toronto, M5S 3G8
Canada

Kim Jovanov

University of Toronto ( email )

105 St George Street
Toronto, M5S 3G8
Canada

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