Pattern recognition (psychology)

Even koalas, which possess less-developed thinking abilities, use pattern recognition to find and consume eucalyptus leaves.The development of neural networks in the outer layer of the brain in humans has allowed for better processing of visual and auditory patterns.Spatial positioning in the environment, remembering findings, and detecting hazards and resources to increase chances of survival are examples of the application of pattern recognition for humans and animals.[citation needed] This theory proposes that exposure to a series of related stimuli leads to the creation of a "typical" prototype based on their shared features.[4] The prototype supports perceptual flexibility, because unlike in template matching, it allows for variability in the recognition of novel stimuli.Even though dogs, wolves, and foxes are all typically furry, four-legged, moderately sized animals with ears and a tail, they are not all the same, and thus cannot be strictly perceived with respect to the prototype matching theory.Template and feature analysis approaches to recognition of objects (and situations) have been merged / reconciled / overtaken by multiple discrimination theory.First proposed by Irving Biederman (1987), this theory states that humans recognize objects by breaking them down into their basic 3D geometric shapes called geons (i.e., cylinders, cubes, cones, etc.).[10] Psychologist James Gibson opposed the top-down model and argued that perception is direct, and not subject to hypothesis testing as Gregory proposed.He stated that sensation is perception and there is no need for extra interpretation, as there is enough information in our environment to make sense of the world in a direct way.[14] To seriate means to understand that objects can be ordered along a dimension,[12] and to effectively do so, the child needs to be able to answer the question "What comes next?Piaget studied the development of seriation along with Szeminska in an experiment where they used rods of varying lengths to test children's skills.In the second stage where the children were 5–6 years of age, they could succeed in the seriation task with the first ten rods through the process of trial and error.Child care providers can begin exposing children to patterns at a very young age by having them make groups and count the total number of objects.This demonstrates not only the challenges of facial recognition but also how humans have specialized procedures and capacities for recognizing faces under normal upright viewing conditions.This structure is called the fusiform gyrus, and brain imaging studies have shown that it becomes highly active when a subject is viewing a face.[20] Several case studies have reported that patients with lesions or tissue damage localized to this area have tremendous difficulty recognizing faces, even their own.Although most of this research is circumstantial, a study at Stanford University provided conclusive evidence for the fusiform gyrus' role in facial recognition.Researchers agree this demonstrates a convincing causal link between this neural structure and the human ability to recognize faces.[18] Individuals with DP are behaviorally indistinguishable from those with physical damage or lesions on the fusiform gyrus, again implicating its importance to facial recognition.Despite those with DP or neurological damage, there remains a large variability in facial recognition ability in the total population.[22][24] Children with high shape recognition showed better grammar knowledge, even when controlling for the effects of intelligence and memory capacity.[26] Psychologist Daniel Levitin argues that the repetitions, melodic nature and organization of this music create meaning for the brain.[26] The results show the significant role of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) region – involved with cognitive processes such as motivation, reward, addiction, etc.Musicologist Leonard Meyer used fifty measures of Beethoven's 5th movement of the String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op.Scientists at University of Newcastle conducted a study on patients with severe acquired brain injuries (ABIs) and healthy participants, using popular music to examine music-evoked autobiographical memories (MEAMs).Examples include the Man in the Moon, faces or figures in shadows, in clouds, and in patterns with no deliberate design, such as the swirls on a baked confection, and the perception of causal relationships between events which are, in fact, unrelated.Apophenia figures prominently in conspiracy theories, gambling, misinterpretation of statistics and scientific data, and some kinds of religious and paranormal experiences.Recent researches in neurosciences and cognitive sciences suggest to understand 'false pattern recognition', in the paradigm of predictive coding.