Interestingly, they engaged in the task at a slower, more deliberate pace after viewing the photos. The students who had looked at cute baby animal photos significantly improved their performance on the second round. After playing one round of the game, half of the students looked at a series of seven images of cute kittens and puppies, while the other half viewed pictures of adult dogs and cats. The students were asked to use tweezers to remove tiny plastic body parts from holes in the body of a “patient” without touching the sides of the holes. In the first experiment, a group of 48 college students were asked to play a game similar to the American board game Operation, an activity that requires a high degree of concentration.

They found that cute images of baby animals may also have an impact on attention and perception.Ī team of scientists led by researcher Hiroshi Nittono conducted three experiments with 132 university students. Nurturing instincts aren’t the only responses stimulated by the baby schema, say researchers at the Hiroshima University’s Graduate School of Integrated Arts and Sciences in Japan. The baby schema-big eyes and large heads-is the reason why we think kittens and puppies are cuter than cats and dogs.

Along with human babies, baby animals exhibit this schema, too, which helps explain why we think kittens and puppies are cuter than cats and dogs. Research has long shown that humans are predisposed to respond positively to cute, baby-like features: big eyes large heads and high, protruding foreheads-known as the “baby schema.” This mental codification activates a number of innate processes in us, including nurturing behavior and smiling. According to a paper published in the peer-reviewed science journal PLOS One, looking at pictures of cute baby animals doesn’t just make you feel happy, it can increase your attention to detail and improve your concentration and productivity.

It turns out that you just may be doing yourself-and your boss-a favor. After a couple of hours of focusing at your computer, you more often than not might find yourself googling things like “puppies in baskets” or “baby goats” before you know what’s happened.ĭon’t be too hard on yourself. ©Brad JosephsĪ lot of us are working from home right now and if you happen to be someone who’s not used to the freelance life, it may be harder than you imagined. Looking at pictures of cute baby animals-such as these brown bear cubs-doesn’t only elicit a feeling of happiness: it can increase your attention to detail.

Baby and adult animals images