Pareidolia Is a Form of Incorrect Perception

Pareidolia happens when you see a face in a lock or a horse in a cloud, which is a normal experience. This term describes a psychological phenomenon where a person perceives a recognizable shape (usually an image) within a vague and random stimulus. The individual provides organization and meaning to an ambiguous or poorly structured stimulus. Examples of pareidolia are those faces you see in the profile of a mountain or on the flames emerging from a chimney. This isn’t pathological at all, the inability to form them is. Thus, they constitute a magnificent example of an anomalous mental experience….