pareidoliaseeing faces in things
What the word
seeing faces in things
pareidolia
apophenia (pattern-seeking)
simulacrum (false image)
anthropomorphism (seeing human)
illusion (perceptual)
Synonym
pareidolia
visual illusion
apophenia (broader) simulacrum (literary) face-in-clouds (colloquial)
Thesaurus
pareidolia
Core concept
apophenia (related) patternicity anthropomorphism (variant) face perception (instance)
Visual instances
face in clouds man in the moon Jesus on toast face on Mars ghost in photo figure in wallpaper animal in rock
Auditory parallels
auditory pareidolia hearing voices in noise backward masking (music) words in static hidden message (perceived) electronic voice phenomenon
Everyday objects
electrical socket face car grille grin tree knot face plug socket curtain folds tile pattern coffee foam
Psychology
illusions Gestalt ambiguous figure top-down processing priming confirmation bias pattern recognition
Related terms
misperception simulacrum Rorschach test (method) face pareidolia (subtype) hypervigilance (cause) pareidolic (adjective)
Cultural
optical illusion apophenia meme simulacra pareidolia art ghost hunting (context)
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