Hi @lemouth. I'm so glad you are on the mend.
I appreciate your visit and am amused by your comment. I went back to the demonstration sheet and outlined what I imagined when I first saw the cloud. Look at the first image in each series (1, 2, 3) under the cloud. Does that help? What's funny is, once I see it, I can't 'unsee' it 😄
After reading your comment about the size of the studies I went back and did some more reading (looking for larger studies). There really doesn't seem to be much we can dependably conclude from any of the readings. It seems to me that people find what they are looking for (mostly) in these studies. I found a bunch that address pareidolia in people with Parkinson's and Lewy Body dementia. These people are inclined toward experiencing hallucinations generally. There was one study (500 people) that found differences in gender and age. It seems time of day (according to this study) also influences the likelihood of experiencing pareidolia.
I think the inclination to see shapes and images that aren't there is merely a curiosity, unless an underlying pathology exists.
Fun concept, though, isn't it?
So glad you are feeling better.
Cheers, indeed.
I definitely understand how you extracted the components from the main image. Unfortunately, as long as I only look at the original image, my brain refuses to see those components :D
Hmmm.... 500 people is still what I would classify as a small sample (7%-8% as a statistical error). That's some issue I have with many studies related to "softer science" (in contrast with basic or fundamental science; please don't be offended by the term): error propagation to the results. Doing so correctly would in fact often allow us to conclude to anything as well as to its contrary :)
I agree with this :)
Have a nice week!