Chen Ziwei, Wen Mengxin, Liu Xun, Fu Di
Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, UK; Surrey Institute for People-Centred AI, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, UK.
Iperception. 2025 Jul 23;16(4):20416695251352129. doi: 10.1177/20416695251352129. eCollection 2025 Jul-Aug.
In real life, people perceive nonexistent faces from face-like objects, called face pareidolia. Face-like objects, similar to averted gazes, can direct the observer's attention. However, the similarities and differences in attentional shifts induced by these two types of stimuli remain underexplored. Through a gaze cueing task, this study compares the cueing effects of face-like objects and averted gaze faces, revealing both commonalities and distinct underlying mechanisms. Our findings demonstrate that while both types of stimuli can elicit attentional shifts, the mechanisms differ: averted gaze faces rely on processing local features like gaze direction, whereas face-like objects leverage their global configuration to enhance attentional shifts by triggered eye-like features. These findings advance the understanding of the processing mechanisms underlying the perception of face-like objects, and how the brain represents facial attributes even when physical facial stimuli are absent. This study provides a valuable theoretical foundation for future investigations into the broader applications of face-like stimuli in human perception and attention.
在现实生活中，人们会从类似面孔的物体中感知到不存在的面孔，这被称为面孔空想性错觉。类似面孔的物体，类似于回避的目光，可以引导观察者的注意力。然而，这两种类型的刺激所引发的注意力转移中的异同仍未得到充分探索。通过一项目光提示任务，本研究比较了类似面孔的物体和回避目光面孔的提示效果，揭示了它们的共性和不同的潜在机制。我们的研究结果表明，虽然这两种类型的刺激都能引发注意力转移，但其机制有所不同：回避目光的面孔依赖于处理诸如目光方向等局部特征，而类似面孔的物体则利用其整体构型，通过触发类似眼睛的特征来增强注意力转移。这些发现推进了我们对面孔类物体感知背后处理机制的理解，以及即使在没有实际面部刺激的情况下大脑如何表征面部属性。这项研究为未来关于面孔类刺激在人类感知和注意力方面更广泛应用的研究提供了有价值的理论基础。
