scholarly journals What do models of visual perception tell us about visual phenomenology?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel N. Denison ◽  
Ned Block ◽  
Jason Samaha
Keyword(s):  
Visual Perception ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Visual Experience ◽  
Phenomenal Experience ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Modeling Approaches ◽  
Explanatory Account ◽  
Model Components ◽  
And Behavior

Computational models of visual processing aim to provide a compact, explanatory account of the complex neural processes that underlie visual perception and behavior. But what, if anything, do current modeling approaches say about how conscious visual experience arises from neural processing? Here, we introduce the reader to four commonly used models for understanding visual computations, neural activity, and behavior: signal detection theory, drift diffusion, probabilistic population codes, and sampling. In an attempt to bridge these modeling approaches with experimental and philosophical work on the neural basis of conscious visual perception, we lay out possible relationships between the components of the models and the contents of phenomenal visual experience. We find no unique relation between model components and phenomenal experience in any model; rather, there are multiple logically possible mappings from models to experience. Going forward, we suggest that there are scientific opportunities to develop models that predict and explain a variety of subjective reports and philosophical opportunities to consider what aspects of phenomenal experience are promising scientific targets.

Visual perception is not visual awareness

2001 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 985-985 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie Gray Hardcastle
Keyword(s):  
Visual Perception ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Visual Experience ◽  
Visual Awareness ◽  
Subliminal Processing

O'Regan & Noë mistakenly identify visual processing with visual experience. I outline some reasons why this is a mistake, taking my data and arguments mainly from the literature on subliminal processing.

Behavioural and EEG atypicalities during rest, visual perception, and cognitive control in autistic adults

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amandine Lassalle ◽  
Michael X Cohen ◽  
Laura Dekkers ◽  
Elizabeth Milne ◽  
Rasa Gulbinaite ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Perception ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Neural Dynamics ◽  
Simple Explanation ◽  
Control Task ◽  
Neural Structure ◽  
Eeg Power ◽  
Autistic Adults

Background: People with an Autism Spectrum Condition diagnosis (ASD) are hypothesized to show atypical neural dynamics, reflecting differences in neural structure and function. However, previous results regarding neural dynamics in autistic individuals have not converged on a single pattern of differences. It is possible that the differences are cognitive-set-specific, and we therefore measured EEG in autistic individuals and matched controls during three different cognitive states: resting, visual perception, and cognitive control.Methods: Young adults with and without an ASD (N=17 in each group) matched on age (range 20 to 30 years), sex, and estimated Intelligence Quotient (IQ) were recruited. We measured their behavior and their EEG during rest, a task requiring low-level visual perception of gratings of varying spatial frequency, and the “Simon task” to elicit activity in the executive control network. We computed EEG power and Inter-Site Phase Clustering (ISPC; a measure of connectivity) in various frequency bands.Results: During rest, there were no ASD vs. controls differences in EEG power, suggesting typical oscillation power at baseline. During visual processing, without pre-baseline normalization, we found decreased broadband EEG power in ASD vs. controls, but this was not the case during the cognitive control task. Furthermore, the behavioral results of the cognitive control task suggest that autistic adults were better able to ignore irrelevant stimuli.Conclusions: Together, our results defy a simple explanation of overall differences between ASD and controls, and instead suggest a more nuanced pattern of altered neural dynamics that depend on which neural networks are engaged.

The Feeding Network of Aplysia

2017 ◽  
pp. 400-422
Author(s):  
Elizabeth C. Cropper ◽  
Jian Jing ◽  
Klaudiusz R. Weiss
Keyword(s):  
Motor Activity ◽  
Task Switching ◽  
Neural Control ◽  
Modular Organization ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Afferent Activation ◽  
And Behaviors ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Activation Phase

This review focuses on the neural control of feeding in Aplysia. Its purpose is to highlight distinctive features of the behavior and to describe their neural basis. In a number of molluscs, food is grasped by a radula that protracts, retracts, and hyperretracts. In Aplysia, however, hyperretraction can require afferent activation. Phase-dependent regulation of sensorimotor transmission occurs in this context. Aplysia also open and close the radula, generating egestive as well as ingestive responses. Thus, the feeding network multitasks. It has a modular organization, and behaviors are constructed by combinations of behavior-specific and behavior-independent neurons. When feeding is initially triggered in Aplysia, responses are poorly defined. Motor activity is not properly configured unless responses are repeatedly induced and modulatory neurotransmitters are released from inputs to the central patter generator (CPG). Persistent effects of modulation have interesting consequences for task switching.

Learning About the World by Learning About Images

2021 ◽  
pp. 096372142199033
Author(s):  
Katherine R. Storrs ◽  
Roland W. Fleming
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Deep Learning ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Visual Experience ◽  
Natural Images ◽  
Sensory Coding ◽  
The World ◽  
Unsupervised Deep Learning ◽  
Statistical Regularities ◽  
Sensory Encoding

One of the deepest insights in neuroscience is that sensory encoding should take advantage of statistical regularities. Humans’ visual experience contains many redundancies: Scenes mostly stay the same from moment to moment, and nearby image locations usually have similar colors. A visual system that knows which regularities shape natural images can exploit them to encode scenes compactly or guess what will happen next. Although these principles have been appreciated for more than 60 years, until recently it has been possible to convert them into explicit models only for the earliest stages of visual processing. But recent advances in unsupervised deep learning have changed that. Neural networks can be taught to compress images or make predictions in space or time. In the process, they learn the statistical regularities that structure images, which in turn often reflect physical objects and processes in the outside world. The astonishing accomplishments of unsupervised deep learning reaffirm the importance of learning statistical regularities for sensory coding and provide a coherent framework for how knowledge of the outside world gets into visual cortex.

scholarly journals The weirdest people in the world?

2010 ◽  
Vol 33 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 61-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Henrich ◽  
Steven J. Heine ◽  
Ara Norenzayan
Keyword(s):  
Visual Perception ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Moral Reasoning ◽  
Spatial Reasoning ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Behavioral Sciences ◽  
The World ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Behavioral Phenomenon

AbstractBehavioral scientists routinely publish broad claims about human psychology and behavior in the world's top journals based on samples drawn entirely from Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) societies. Researchers – often implicitly – assume that either there is little variation across human populations, or that these “standard subjects” are as representative of the species as any other population. Are these assumptions justified? Here, our review of the comparative database from across the behavioral sciences suggests both that there is substantial variability in experimental results across populations and that WEIRD subjects are particularly unusual compared with the rest of the species – frequent outliers. The domains reviewed include visual perception, fairness, cooperation, spatial reasoning, categorization and inferential induction, moral reasoning, reasoning styles, self-concepts and related motivations, and the heritability of IQ. The findings suggest that members of WEIRD societies, including young children, are among the least representative populations one could find for generalizing about humans. Many of these findings involve domains that are associated with fundamental aspects of psychology, motivation, and behavior – hence, there are no obviousa priorigrounds for claiming that a particular behavioral phenomenon is universal based on sampling from a single subpopulation. Overall, these empirical patterns suggests that we need to be less cavalier in addressing questions ofhumannature on the basis of data drawn from this particularly thin, and rather unusual, slice of humanity. We close by proposing ways to structurally re-organize the behavioral sciences to best tackle these challenges.

scholarly journals Camouflage, communication and thermoregulation: lessons from colour changing organisms

2008 ◽  
Vol 364 (1516) ◽  
pp. 463-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devi Stuart-Fox ◽  
Adnan Moussalli
Keyword(s):  
Visual Perception ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Colour Change ◽  
Visual Environment ◽  
Multiple Predators ◽  
Physiological Colour Change ◽  
Colour Patterns ◽  
Insight Into

Organisms capable of rapid physiological colour change have become model taxa in the study of camouflage because they are able to respond dynamically to the changes in their visual environment. Here, we briefly review the ways in which studies of colour changing organisms have contributed to our understanding of camouflage and highlight some unique opportunities they present. First, from a proximate perspective, comparison of visual cues triggering camouflage responses and the visual perception mechanisms involved can provide insight into general visual processing rules. Second, colour changing animals can potentially tailor their camouflage response not only to different backgrounds but also to multiple predators with different visual capabilities. We present new data showing that such facultative crypsis may be widespread in at least one group, the dwarf chameleons. From an ultimate perspective, we argue that colour changing organisms are ideally suited to experimental and comparative studies of evolutionary interactions between the three primary functions of animal colour patterns: camouflage; communication; and thermoregulation.

scholarly journals The Neurophysiology of Backward Visual Masking: Information Analysis

1999 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 300-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edmund T. Rolls ◽  
Martin J. Tovée ◽  
Stefano Panzeri
Keyword(s):  
Visual Processing ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Visual Masking ◽  
Neuronal Response ◽  
Short Soas ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Backward Masking ◽  
Neuronal Responses

Backward masking can potentially provide evidence of the time needed for visual processing, a fundamental constraint that must be incorporated into computational models of vision. Although backward masking has been extensively used psychophysically, there is little direct evidence for the effects of visual masking on neuronal responses. To investigate the effects of a backward masking paradigm on the responses of neurons in the temporal visual cortex, we have shown that the response of the neurons is interrupted by the mask. Under conditions when humans can just identify the stimulus, with stimulus onset asynchronies (SOA) of 20 msec, neurons in macaques respond to their best stimulus for approximately 30 msec. We now quantify the information that is available from the responses of single neurons under backward masking conditions when two to six faces were shown. We show that the information available is greatly decreased as the mask is brought closer to the stimulus. The decrease is more marked than the decrease in firing rate because it is the selective part of the firing that is especially attenuated by the mask, not the spontaneous firing, and also because the neuronal response is more variable at short SOAs. However, even at the shortest SOA of 20 msec, the information available is on average 0.1 bits. This compares to 0.3 bits with only the 16-msec target stimulus shown and a typical value for such neurons of 0.4 to 0.5 bits with a 500-msec stimulus. The results thus show that considerable information is available from neuronal responses even under backward masking conditions that allow the neurons to have their main response in 30 msec. This provides evidence for how rapid the processing of visual information is in a cortical area and provides a fundamental constraint for understanding how cortical information processing operates.

scholarly journals Familiarity affects the same event-related brain potential components in note readers and non-note readers

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 205920431877823 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Becker
Keyword(s):  
Visual Perception ◽  
Neural Plasticity ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Music Perception ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Familiarity Effect ◽  
Professional Musicians ◽  
Brain Potential ◽  
Cognitive Domains

Musical expertise can lead to neural plasticity in specific cognitive domains (e.g., in auditory music perception). However, not much is known about whether the visual perception of simple musical symbols (e.g., notes) already differs between musicians and non-musicians. This was the aim of the present study. Therefore, the Familiarity Effect (FE) – an effect which occurs quite early during visual processing and which is based on prior knowledge or expertise – was investigated. The FE describes the phenomenon that it is easier to find an unfamiliar element (e.g., a mirrored eighth note) in familiar elements (e.g., normally oriented eighth notes) than to find a familiar element in a background of unfamiliar elements. It was examined whether the strength of the FE for eighth notes differs between note readers and non-note readers. Furthermore, it was investigated at which component of the event-related brain potential (ERP) the FE occurs. Stimuli that consisted of either eighth notes or vertically mirrored eighth notes were presented to the participants (28 note readers, 19 non-note readers). A target element was embedded in half of the trials. Reaction times, sensitivity, and three ERP components (the N1, N2p, and P3) were recorded. For both the note readers and the non-note readers, strong FEs were found in the behavioral data. However, no differences in the strength of the FE between groups were found. Furthermore, for both groups, the FE was found for the same ERP components (target-absent trials – N1 latency; target-present trials – N2p latency, N2p amplitude, P3 amplitude). It is concluded that the early visual perception of eighth note symbols does not differ between note readers and non-note readers. However, future research is needed to verify this for more complex musical stimuli and for professional musicians.

Politeness and Etiquette Modeling

2011 ◽  
pp. 387-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Miller ◽  
Tammy Ott ◽  
Peggy Wu ◽  
Vanessa Vakili
Keyword(s):  
Computational Models ◽  
Decision Aids ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Universal Theory ◽  
Subjective Perceptions ◽  
Patterns Of Behavior ◽  
Perception Model ◽  
Effective Decision ◽  
Coarse Model ◽  
And Behavior

If culture is expressed in the patterns of behavior, values and expectations of a group, then a central element in the practical modeling and understanding of culture is the expression of politeness and its roles in governing and influencing behavior. The authors have been developing computational models of “politeness” and its role in power and familiarity relationships, urgency, indebtedness, etc. Such a model, insofar as it extends to human-machine interactions, will enable better and more effective decision aids. This model, based on a universal theory of human politeness, links aspects of social context (power and familiarity relationships, imposition, character), which have culture-specific values, to produce expectations about the use of polite, redressive behaviors (also culturally defined). The authors have linked this “politeness perception” model to a coarse model of decision making and behavior in order to predict influences of politeness on behavior and attitudes. This chapter describes the algorithm along with results from multiple validation experiments: two addressing the model’s ability to predict perceived politeness and two predicting the impact of perceived politeness on compliance behaviors in response to directives. The authors conclude that their model tracks well with subjective perceptions of American cultural politeness and that its predictions broadly anticipate and explain situations in which perceived politeness in a directive yields improved affect, trust, perceived competence, subjective workload, and compliance, though somewhat decreased reaction time. The model proves better at accounting for the effects of social distance than for power differences.

Blindsight and the Role of the Phenomenal Qualities of Visual Perceptions

1998 ◽  
pp. 205-209
Author(s):  
Ralph Schumacher
Keyword(s):  
Visual Perception ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Visual Experience ◽  
Sufficient Condition ◽  
Broad Concept ◽  
Essential Properties

The aim of this paper is to defend a broad concept of visual perception, according to which it is a sufficient condition for visual perception that subjects receive visual information in a way which enables them to give reliably correct answers about the objects presented to them. According to this view, blindsight, non-epistemic seeing, and conscious visual experience count as proper types of visual perception. This leads to two consequences concerning the role of the phenomenal qualities of visual experiences. First, phenomenal qualities are not necessary in order to see something, because in the case of blindsight, subjects can see objects without experiences phenomenal qualities. Second, they cannot be intentional properties, since they are not essential properties of visual experiences, and because the content of visual experiences cannot be constituted by contingent properties.

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