I’ve just seen a face: further search for face pareidolia in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
IntroductionSeeing faces in random patterns, such as in clouds, is known as pareidolia. Two possible mechanisms can cause pareidolia: a bottom-up mechanism that automatically detects inverted triangle or top-heavy patterns, and a top-down mechanism that actively seeks out faces. Pareidolia has been...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1508867/full |
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| author | Masaki Tomonaga |
| author_facet | Masaki Tomonaga |
| author_sort | Masaki Tomonaga |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionSeeing faces in random patterns, such as in clouds, is known as pareidolia. Two possible mechanisms can cause pareidolia: a bottom-up mechanism that automatically detects inverted triangle or top-heavy patterns, and a top-down mechanism that actively seeks out faces. Pareidolia has been reported in nonhuman animals as well. In chimpanzees, it has been suggested that the bottom-up mechanism is involved in their pareidolic perception, but the extent of the contribution of the top-down mechanism remains unclear. This study investigated the role of topdown control in face detection in chimpanzees.MethodsAfter being trained on an oddity task in which they had to select a noise pattern where a face (either human or chimpanzee) or a letter (Kanji characters) was superimposed among three patterns, they were tested with noise patterns that did not contain any target stimuli.ResultsWhen the average images of the patterns selected by the chimpanzees in these test trials were analyzed and compared with those that were not selected (i.e., difference images), a clear non-random structure was found in the difference images. In contrast, such structures were not evident in the difference images obtained by assuming that one of the three patterns was randomly selected.DiscussionThese results suggest that chimpanzees may have been attempting to find “faces” or “letters”in random patterns possibly through some form of top-down processing. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3dc6e314926c409e8d87c03c9ec0d64b |
| institution | Kabale University |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-3dc6e314926c409e8d87c03c9ec0d64b2025-01-28T06:40:56ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782025-01-011510.3389/fpsyg.2024.15088671508867I’ve just seen a face: further search for face pareidolia in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)Masaki TomonagaIntroductionSeeing faces in random patterns, such as in clouds, is known as pareidolia. Two possible mechanisms can cause pareidolia: a bottom-up mechanism that automatically detects inverted triangle or top-heavy patterns, and a top-down mechanism that actively seeks out faces. Pareidolia has been reported in nonhuman animals as well. In chimpanzees, it has been suggested that the bottom-up mechanism is involved in their pareidolic perception, but the extent of the contribution of the top-down mechanism remains unclear. This study investigated the role of topdown control in face detection in chimpanzees.MethodsAfter being trained on an oddity task in which they had to select a noise pattern where a face (either human or chimpanzee) or a letter (Kanji characters) was superimposed among three patterns, they were tested with noise patterns that did not contain any target stimuli.ResultsWhen the average images of the patterns selected by the chimpanzees in these test trials were analyzed and compared with those that were not selected (i.e., difference images), a clear non-random structure was found in the difference images. In contrast, such structures were not evident in the difference images obtained by assuming that one of the three patterns was randomly selected.DiscussionThese results suggest that chimpanzees may have been attempting to find “faces” or “letters”in random patterns possibly through some form of top-down processing.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1508867/fullface perceptionchimpanzeespareidoliatop-down controloddity discrimination |
| spellingShingle | Masaki Tomonaga I’ve just seen a face: further search for face pareidolia in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) Frontiers in Psychology face perception chimpanzees pareidolia top-down control oddity discrimination |
| title | I’ve just seen a face: further search for face pareidolia in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) |
| title_full | I’ve just seen a face: further search for face pareidolia in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) |
| title_fullStr | I’ve just seen a face: further search for face pareidolia in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) |
| title_full_unstemmed | I’ve just seen a face: further search for face pareidolia in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) |
| title_short | I’ve just seen a face: further search for face pareidolia in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) |
| title_sort | i ve just seen a face further search for face pareidolia in chimpanzees pan troglodytes |
| topic | face perception chimpanzees pareidolia top-down control oddity discrimination |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1508867/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT masakitomonaga ivejustseenafacefurthersearchforfacepareidoliainchimpanzeespantroglodytes |