Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 29, 2026
14:38
Creating Objects and Object Categories for Studying Perception and Perceptual Learning
Published on: November 2, 2012
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Engineering Pareidolia: Mental Imagery, Perceptual Scaffolding, and Visual Creativity.
1ARGOS (Art, Researchs and Gestures Observed Scientificaly) Neurosciences and Arts, 229 Rue Saint-Honoré, 75001 Paris, France.
Brain Sciences
|March 27, 2026
Summary
Pareidolia, the perception of faces in random patterns, can be intentionally designed. This concept paper explores engineered pareidolia as a tool for understanding visual creativity and the brain.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Art History
Background:
- Pareidolia is typically viewed as a viewer-based illusion.
- This paper introduces the concept of engineered pareidolia.
- Engineered pareidolia offers a novel approach to studying visual creativity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose engineered pareidolia as externally scaffolded mental imagery.
- To differentiate engineered pareidolia from related cognitive concepts.
- To explore the link between engineered pareidolia and creativity research.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of artworks by Arcimboldo, Dürer, and Leonardo da Vinci.
- Definition of features distinguishing engineered pareidolia.
- Proposal of behavioral and neurophysiological research paradigms.
Main Results:
- Identified distinct "design regimes" for engineered pareidolia.
- Linked pareidolia design and detection to creative perception metrics.
- Distinguished benign pareidolia from hallucination and discussed clinical relevance.
Conclusions:
- Engineered pareidolia serves as a bridge between imagination, perception, and creativity.
- This framework allows for empirical investigation of visual creativity.
- Quantifiable aspects of pareidolia may have clinical implications, such as in dementia with Lewy bodies.
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