Superstitious perceptions reveal properties of internal representations.
Everyone has seen a human face in a cloud, a pebble, or blots on a wall. Evidence of superstitious perceptions has been documented since classical antiquity, but has received little scientific attention. In the study reported here, we used superstitious perceptions in a new principled method to reveal the properties of unobservable object representations in memory. We stimulated the visual system with unstructured white noise. Observers firmly believed that they perceived the letter S in Experiment 1 and a smile on a face in Experiment 2. Using reverse correlation and computational analyses, we rendered the memory representations underlying these superstitious perceptions.
Gosselin
Frédéric
F
Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada. frederic.gosselin@umontreal.ca
Schyns
Philippe G
PG
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D004644:Emotions; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D005364:Field Dependence-Independence; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D013483:Superstitions