Assessing the perception of face pareidolia in children (Homo sapiens), rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), and capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella).
Molly Flessert, Jessica Taubert, Michael J. Beran
Abstract
). This task trained subjects to choose faces over nonface images, and then presented pareidolia images with nonface images. All species selected faces most often on trials that included face images. However, only children selected pareidolia images at levels above chance. These results indicate that while children report perceiving face pareidolia, monkeys do not. These species differences could be due to human-unique experiences that result in an increased aptitude for anthropomorphizing objects with face-like patterns. It could also be due to monkeys showing a greater reliance on stimulus features rather than global, holistically organized cues that faces provide. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).