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Updated: May 30, 2026

Holistic Facial Composite Creation and Subsequent Video Line-up Eyewitness Identification Paradigm
Published on: December 24, 2015
Finding a face in a face-like object
Hiroko Ichikawa1, So Kanazawa, Masami K Yamaguchi
1Research and Development Initiative, Chuo University, 742-1 Higashinakano, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 192-0393, Japan. ichihiro@tamacc.chuo-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
Humans have the tendency to perceive a face even in a non-living object. Previous studies report that people perceive facial features and even interpret a personality in a car front. Following these findings, we investigated whether the perception of a face in a face-like object is mediated by human face processing, which involves both featural and configural processing. In our experiment, participants were presented with 30 face-like objects and were asked about the existence of facial features, the intensity of typicality/distinctiveness, and the intensity of facial expression. Using multiple regression analysis, which predicts the perception of a face in a face-like object, we found that the existence of eyes was a significant predictor of variance in perceiving a face in a face-like object.
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