Research shows that women who have just given birth are more likely to see familiar faces in everyday objects
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- Facial pareidolia is when people see faces in random objects or light patterns
Whether it’s a cloud formation, a piece of tree bark or even a slice of toast, we all think we’ve seen familiar faces in the most unlikely places.
The phenomenon, called facial pareidolia, is when people recognize recognizable images in random objects or light patterns.
Research now shows that women who have just given birth are most likely to experience this event.
Researchers surveyed 401 women in three groups who were pregnant, had given birth in the past 12 months, or were neither.
All were shown a series of images, including ‘obvious’ faces in vegetables or in rock formations, and ‘difficult’ faces in leaves and fire.
The phenomenon, called face pareidolia, occurs when people recognize recognizable images in random objects or light patterns (photo: the apparent face of Jesus on a piece of toast)
Research now shows that women who have just given birth are most likely to experience this event
Researchers surveyed 401 women in three groups who were pregnant, had given birth in the past 12 months, or were neither. They were all shown a series of images, including ‘obvious’ faces in vegetables or in rock formations, and ‘difficult’ faces in leaves and fire.
The women who had recently given birth saw faces more often in both categories than the women in the other groups.
It suggests that women are more sensitive to seeing faces during early parenthood, possibly promoting social bonding, the researchers said.
Writing in the journal Biology Letters, researchers from the University of Queensland in Australia say their findings are “the first demonstration that our sensitivity to faces is not stable across our adult lives.”
They said experiencing facial pareidolia has previously been linked to dementia, Parkinson’s and increased feelings of loneliness.
‘Quantifying the factors that predict changes in this sensitivity will be essential to… decide whether facial pareidolia is just a fun side effect of hypersensitivity to faces… or a diagnostic tool that could be used to monitor the progression of the to monitor illness and identify mental problems.’ decline in health,” she added.
A previous study found that faces seen in inanimate objects were more likely to be perceived as male.
In a large experiment involving nearly 4,000 adults, researchers found that there was a strong bias in interpreting faces as male rather than female, at a ratio of about 4:1.
This could be because male is the ‘default’ gender for a face, unless other visual details such as long eyelashes, shaped eyebrows and long hair are visible, the scientists said.