A visual search advantage for illusory faces in objects

Face detection is a priority of both the human and primate visual system. However, occasionally we misperceive faces in inanimate objects –– "face pareidolia". A key feature these 'false positives' that face perception occurs absence features typical real faces. Human are known to be located faster than search. Here used search paradigm test whether illusory share this advantage. Search times were for matched amongst (Experiment 1) diverse 2) distractors, however more efficient with or without an face. Importantly, result indicates processed quickly enough by brain confer advantage, suggesting engagement broadly-tuned mechanism facilitates rapid cluttered environments.