What is in a name (or face)? Anthropomorphic feature preference and associations with callous-unemotional traits in early childhood.

Anthropomorphism (i.e., assigning human characteristics to nonhuman objects) is a normative behavior that supports adaptive socioemotional development by facilitating play. Anthropomorphic features (e.g., faces, names) are salient, but sensitivity to such features may vary by age or sex or be linked to emerging psychopathology, including callous-unemotional (CU) traits. The present study examined whether anthropomorphic features increased children's preference for novel objects and tested whether age, sex, or CU traits moderated these preferences. A total of 162 children (50% female; 31.90% non-White; age, M = 52.60, SD = 10.50 months) completed a computer task, choosing between two objects with a face, a name, both a face and name, or neither. Children were more likely to pick novel objects with a face or name, but the presence of both features did not increase preference rate. In addition, the effect of name on object preference was stronger for boys than girls, and children with high CU traits were less likely to pick objects with a face than children with low CU traits. Findings demonstrate that young children are sensitive to anthropomorphic features, including names. Results point to future intervention targets for young children with high CU traits that focus on increasing the salience of anthropomorphic features. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).