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Study Reveals 90% See Faces in Abstract Images

4/5/2026

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Story summary
  • A study published in the Royal Society Open Science examined face pareidolia and found 90% of participants saw faces in abstract images.
  • The study found 96.7% saw faces in everyday objects and 53.4% in visual noise.
  • Participants perceived these faces as young, male, and happy.
  • Vertically symmetrical patterns produced face recognition in 65.8% versus 23.6% for random patterns.
  • Researchers say the brain's efficiency in detecting faces can produce false positives.