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The Man in the Moon, Purely Science

UC Nexus Presents "Inter'faces' of Art, Psychology and Neuroscience"

Written By Victoria Lamanna '15, PR Intern

Contact - cleogrande@utica.edu

Utica, NY (11/06/2014) - On Friday, Nov. 7, Utica College’s Cultural Events series will present the Nexus seminar “Inter’faces’ of Art, Psychology and Neuroscience: Acimboldo, Pereidolia, Stezaker and the Inferotemporal Lobe of the Brain” presented by Steven Specht, professor of psychology at UC. 

Pareidolia is the common psychological phenomenon in which individuals see something meaningful in meaningless objects, such as shapes in clouds. Neuroscientists have identified neurons in visual processing that respond specifically to faces, such as seeing the man in the moon, or Jesus in toast.

Specht’s presentation will focus on several artists throughout history who appear to have unwittingly taken advantage of the power of pareidolia when creating their works of art.

Specht teaches courses in research design and statistics, psychobiology and psychology and the visual arts. He is a trained psychobiologist and an award-winning collage artist. Specht earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the State University of New York at Oswego, and his master’s and doctorate degrees in psychobiology from Binghamton University.                                                                       

Attendees of the Nexus seminar have the opportunity to hear the researchers discuss their findings and viewpoints, including the capstone from their research, a clinical practice guideline.

This seminar is free and open to the public, and will take place in Willard Conference Room in DePerno Hall at 2:30 p.m. Refreshments will be served at 2:15 p.m. For more information, visit www.utica.edu/nexus.

About Utica College – Utica College, founded in 1946, is a comprehensive private institution offering bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. The College, located in upstate central New York, approximately 90 miles west of Albany and 50 miles east of Syracuse, currently enrolls over 4,000 students in 36 undergraduate majors, 27 minors, 21 graduate programs and a number of pre-professional and special programs.