Objects that induce face pareidolia are prioritized by the visual system

Bibliographic Data

ID5268697
AuthorsNathan Caruana (0000-0002-9676-814X, Department of Cognitive Science Macquarie University Sydney New South Wales Australia, corresponding author), K Seymour (0000-0002-2988-3121, School of Psychology Western Sydney University Sydney New South Wales Australia)
Year2022
Volume113
Issue2
Pages496-507
Publication date2022-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-1269 • E-ISSN: 2044-8295
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/bjop.12546
PMID34923634
OpenAlexW4200090182
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited63

The human visual system has evolved specialized neural mechanisms to rapidly detect faces. Its broad tuning for facial features is thought to underlie the illusory perception of faces in inanimate objects, a phenomenon called face pareidolia. Recent studies on face pareidolia suggest that the mechanisms underlying face processing, at least at the early stages of visual encoding, may treat objects that resemble faces as real faces; prioritizing their detection. In our study, we used breaking continuous flash suppression (b-CFS) to examine whether the human visual system prioritizes the detection of objects that induce face pareidolia over stimuli matched for object content. Similar to previous b-CFS results using real face stimuli, we found that participants detected the objects with pareidolia faces faster than object-matched control stimuli. Given that face pareidolia has been more frequently reported amongst individuals prone to hallucinations, we also explored whether this rapid prioritization is intact in individuals with schizophrenia, and found evidence suggesting that it was. Our findings suggest that face pareidolia engages a broadly tuned mechanism that facilitates rapid face detection. This may involve the proposed fast subcortical pathway that operates outside of visual awareness

Cognitive psychology · Face (sociological concept) · Face detection · Face perception · Facial recognition system · Object (grammar) · Pattern recognition (psychology) · Perception · Visual perception · Visual processing · Artificial Intelligence · Communication · Computer Science · Face Recognition and Perception · Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies · Neuroscience · Psychology · Visual perception and processing mechanisms

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