1
|
Wood JN, Wood SMW. The Development of Object Recognition Requires Experience with the Surface Features of Objects. Animals (Basel) 2024; 14:284. [PMID: 38254453 PMCID: PMC10812816 DOI: 10.3390/ani14020284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2023] [Revised: 12/16/2023] [Accepted: 12/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
What role does visual experience play in the development of object recognition? Prior controlled-rearing studies suggest that newborn animals require slow and smooth visual experiences to develop object recognition. Here, we examined whether the development of object recognition also requires experience with the surface features of objects. We raised newborn chicks in automated controlled-rearing chambers that contained a single virtual object, then tested their ability to recognize that object from familiar and novel viewpoints. When chicks were reared with an object that had surface features, the chicks developed view-invariant object recognition. In contrast, when chicks were reared with a line drawing of an object, the chicks failed to develop object recognition. The chicks reared with line drawings performed at chance level, despite acquiring over 100 h of visual experience with the object. These results indicate that the development of object recognition requires experience with the surface features of objects.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Justin Newell Wood
- Departments of Informatics, Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, Center for Integrated Study of Animal Behavior, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47408, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
2
|
Wood SMW, Wood JN. Distorting Face Representations in Newborn Brains. Cogn Sci 2021; 45:e13021. [PMID: 34379331 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2020] [Revised: 06/08/2021] [Accepted: 06/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
What role does experience play in the development of face recognition? A growing body of evidence indicates that newborn brains need slowly changing visual experiences to develop accurate visual recognition abilities. All of the work supporting this "slowness constraint" on visual development comes from studies testing basic-level object recognition. Here, we present the results of controlled-rearing experiments that provide evidence for a slowness constraint on the development of face recognition, a prototypical subordinate-level object recognition task. We found that (1) newborn chicks can rapidly develop view-invariant face recognition and (2) the development of this ability relies on experience with slowly moving faces. When chicks were reared with quickly moving faces, they built distorted face representations that largely lacked invariance to viewpoint changes, effectively "breaking" their face recognition abilities. These results provide causal evidence that slowly changing visual experiences play a critical role in the development of face recognition, akin to basic-level object recognition. Thus, face recognition is not a hardwired property of vision but is learned rapidly as the visual system adapts to the temporal structure of the animal's visual environment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Justin N Wood
- Informatics Department, Indiana University.,Center for the Integrated Study of Animal Behavior, Indiana University.,Cognitive Science Program, Indiana University.,Department of Neuroscience, Indiana University
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Wood JN, Wood SMW. One-shot learning of view-invariant object representations in newborn chicks. Cognition 2020; 199:104192. [PMID: 32199170 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2018] [Revised: 01/13/2020] [Accepted: 01/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Can newborn brains perform one-shot learning? To address this question, we reared newborn chicks in strictly controlled environments containing a single view of a single object, then tested their object recognition performance across 24 uniformly-spaced viewpoints. We found that chicks can build view-invariant object representations from a single view of an object: a case of one-shot learning in newborn brains. Chicks can also build the same view-invariant object representation from different views of an object, showing that newborn brains converge on common object representations from different sets of sensory inputs. Finally, by rearing chicks with larger numbers of object views, we found that chicks develop enhanced recognition for familiar views. These results illuminate the earliest stages of object recognition, revealing (1) powerful one-shot learning that builds invariant object representations from the first views of an object and (2) view-based learning that enriches object representations, producing enhanced recognition for familiar views.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Justin N Wood
- Indiana University, Department of Informatics, 700 N Woodlawn Ave., Bloomington, IN 47408, United States of America.
| | - Samantha M W Wood
- Indiana University, Department of Informatics, 700 N Woodlawn Ave., Bloomington, IN 47408, United States of America.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Martinho-Truswell A, McGregor B, Kacelnik A. Ducklings imprint on chromatic heterogeneity. Anim Cogn 2019; 22:769-775. [PMID: 31183592 PMCID: PMC6687680 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-019-01273-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2018] [Revised: 05/21/2019] [Accepted: 05/30/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Avian filial imprinting is a rapid form of learning occurring just after hatching in precocial bird species. The acquired imprint on either or both parents goes on to affect the young bird's survival and social behaviour later in life (Bateson in Biol Rev 41:177-217, 1966). The imprinting mechanism is specialized but flexible, and causes the hatchling to develop high-fidelity recognition and attraction to any moving stimulus of suitable size seen during a predefined sensitive period. It has been observed (Martinho and Kacelnik in Science 353:286-288, 2016; Versace et al. in Anim Cogn 20:521-529, 2017) that in addition to visual and acoustic sensory inputs, imprinting may incorporate informational rules or abstract concepts. Here we report a study of mallard ducklings (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus) undergoing imprinting on the chromatic heterogeneity of stimuli, with a focus on how this may be transferred to novel objects. Ducklings were exposed to a series of chromatically heterogeneous or homogeneous stimuli and tested for preference between two novel stimuli, one heterogeneous and the other homogeneous. Exposure to heterogeneity significantly enhanced preference for novel heterogeneous stimuli, relative to ducklings exposed to homogeneous stimuli or unexposed controls. These findings support the view that imprinting does not rely solely on exemplars, or snapshot-like representations of visual input, but that instead young precocial animals form complex multidimensional representations of the target object, involving abstract properties, either at the time of learning, or later, through generalization from the learnt exemplars.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Antone Martinho-Truswell
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK.
- St Paul's College, University of Sydney, 9 City Road, Camperdown, NSW, 2050, Australia.
| | - Bethan McGregor
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK
| | - Alex Kacelnik
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Prasad A, Wood SMW, Wood JN. Using automated controlled rearing to explore the origins of object permanence. Dev Sci 2019; 22:e12796. [PMID: 30589167 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2018] [Revised: 11/07/2018] [Accepted: 11/12/2018] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
What are the origins of object permanence? Despite widespread interest in this question, methodological barriers have prevented detailed analysis of how experience shapes the development of object permanence in newborn organisms. Here, we introduce an automated controlled-rearing method for studying the emergence of object permanence in strictly controlled virtual environments. We used newborn chicks as an animal model and recorded their behavior continuously (24/7) from the onset of vision. Across four experiments, we found that object permanence can develop rapidly, within the first few days of life. This ability developed even when chicks were reared in impoverished visual environments containing no object occlusion events. Object permanence failed to develop, however, when chicks were reared in environments containing temporally non-smooth objects (objects moving on discontinuous spatiotemporal paths). These results suggest that experience with temporally smooth objects facilitates the development of object permanence, confirming a key prediction of temporal learning models in computational neuroscience.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aditya Prasad
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Samantha M W Wood
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Justin N Wood
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Newport C, Wallis G, Siebeck UE. Object recognition in fish: accurate discrimination across novel views of an unfamiliar object category (human faces). Anim Behav 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
|
7
|
Versace E, Martinho-Truswell A, Kacelnik A, Vallortigara G. Priors in Animal and Artificial Intelligence: Where Does Learning Begin? Trends Cogn Sci 2018; 22:963-965. [PMID: 30097305 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2018.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2018] [Revised: 07/10/2018] [Accepted: 07/10/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
A major goal for the next generation of artificial intelligence (AI) is to build machines that are able to reason and cope with novel tasks, environments, and situations in a manner that approaches the abilities of animals. Evidence from precocial species suggests that driving learning through suitable priors can help to successfully face this challenge.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elisabetta Versace
- Queen Mary University of London, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK.
| | | | - Alex Kacelnik
- University of Oxford, Department of Zoology, New Radcliffe House, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
| | - Giorgio Vallortigara
- University of Trento, Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, Piazza Manifattura 1, Rovereto, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Wood JN, Wood SMW. The Development of Invariant Object Recognition Requires Visual Experience With Temporally Smooth Objects. Cogn Sci 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Justin N. Wood
- Department of Psychology University of Southern California
| | | |
Collapse
|
9
|
Smith LB, Slone LK. A Developmental Approach to Machine Learning? Front Psychol 2017; 8:2124. [PMID: 29259573 PMCID: PMC5723343 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2017] [Accepted: 11/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual learning depends on both the algorithms and the training material. This essay considers the natural statistics of infant- and toddler-egocentric vision. These natural training sets for human visual object recognition are very different from the training data fed into machine vision systems. Rather than equal experiences with all kinds of things, toddlers experience extremely skewed distributions with many repeated occurrences of a very few things. And though highly variable when considered as a whole, individual views of things are experienced in a specific order - with slow, smooth visual changes moment-to-moment, and developmentally ordered transitions in scene content. We propose that the skewed, ordered, biased visual experiences of infants and toddlers are the training data that allow human learners to develop a way to recognize everything, both the pervasively present entities and the rarely encountered ones. The joint consideration of real-world statistics for learning by researchers of human and machine learning seems likely to bring advances in both disciplines.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Linda B. Smith
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, United States
| | | |
Collapse
|
10
|
Wood JN. Spontaneous Preference for Slowly Moving Objects in Visually Naïve Animals. Open Mind (Camb) 2017. [DOI: 10.1162/opmi_a_00012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
To perceive the world successfully, newborns need certain types of visual experiences. The development of object recognition, for example, requires visual experience with slowly moving objects. To date, however, it is unknown whether newborns actively seek out the best visual experiences for developing object recognition. To address this question, I used an automated controlled-rearing method to examine whether visually naïve animals (newborn chicks) seek out slowly moving objects. Despite receiving equal exposure to slowly and to quickly rotating objects, the majority of the chicks developed a preference for slowly rotating objects. This preference was robust, producing large effect sizes across objects, experiments, and successive test days. These results indicate that newborn brains rapidly develop mechanisms for orienting young animals toward optimal visual experiences, thus facilitating the development of object recognition. This study also demonstrates that automation can be a valuable tool for studying the origins and development of visual preferences.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Justin N. Wood
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Wood JN, Wood SM. Measuring the speed of newborn object recognition in controlled visual worlds. Dev Sci 2016; 20. [DOI: 10.1111/desc.12470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2016] [Accepted: 06/02/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Justin N. Wood
- Department of Psychology University of Southern California USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
12
|
Martinho A, Kacelnik A. Ducklings imprint on the relational concept of "same or different". Science 2016; 353:286-8. [PMID: 27418508 DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf4247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2016] [Accepted: 05/17/2016] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
The ability to identify and retain logical relations between stimuli and apply them to novel stimuli is known as relational concept learning. This has been demonstrated in a few animal species after extensive reinforcement training, and it reveals the brain's ability to deal with abstract properties. Here we describe relational concept learning in newborn ducklings without reinforced training. Newly hatched domesticated mallards that were briefly exposed to a pair of objects that were either the same or different in shape or color later preferred to follow pairs of new objects exhibiting the imprinted relation. Thus, even in a seemingly rigid and very rapid form of learning such as filial imprinting, the brain operates with abstract conceptual reasoning, a faculty often assumed to be reserved to highly intelligent organisms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Antone Martinho
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
| | - Alex Kacelnik
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Wood JN. A smoothness constraint on the development of object recognition. Cognition 2016; 153:140-5. [PMID: 27208825 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2016.04.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2015] [Revised: 03/22/2016] [Accepted: 04/23/2016] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Understanding how the brain learns to recognize objects is one of the ultimate goals in the cognitive sciences. To date, however, we have not yet characterized the environmental factors that cause object recognition to emerge in the newborn brain. Here, I present the results of a high-throughput controlled-rearing experiment that examined whether the development of object recognition requires experience with temporally smooth visual objects. When newborn chicks (Gallus gallus) were raised with virtual objects that moved smoothly over time, the chicks developed accurate color recognition, shape recognition, and color-shape binding abilities. In contrast, when newborn chicks were raised with virtual objects that moved non-smoothly over time, the chicks' object recognition abilities were severely impaired. These results provide evidence for a "smoothness constraint" on newborn object recognition. Experience with temporally smooth objects facilitates the development of object recognition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Justin N Wood
- University of Southern California, Department of Psychology, 3620 South McClintock Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90089, United States.
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Wood JN, Wood SMW. The development of newborn object recognition in fast and slow visual worlds. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 283:20160166. [PMID: 27097925 PMCID: PMC4855384 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.0166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2016] [Accepted: 03/29/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Object recognition is central to perception and cognition. Yet relatively little is known about the environmental factors that cause invariant object recognition to emerge in the newborn brain. Is this ability a hardwired property of vision? Or does the development of invariant object recognition require experience with a particular kind of visual environment? Here, we used a high-throughput controlled-rearing method to examine whether newborn chicks (Gallus gallus) require visual experience with slowly changing objects to develop invariant object recognition abilities. When newborn chicks were raised with a slowly rotating virtual object, the chicks built invariant object representations that generalized across novel viewpoints and rotation speeds. In contrast, when newborn chicks were raised with a virtual object that rotated more quickly, the chicks built viewpoint-specific object representations that failed to generalize to novel viewpoints and rotation speeds. Moreover, there was a direct relationship between the speed of the object and the amount of invariance in the chick's object representation. Thus, visual experience with slowly changing objects plays a critical role in the development of invariant object recognition. These results indicate that invariant object recognition is not a hardwired property of vision, but is learned rapidly when newborns encounter a slowly changing visual world.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Justin N Wood
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Samantha M W Wood
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Wood JN, Prasad A, Goldman JG, Wood SMW. Enhanced learning of natural visual sequences in newborn chicks. Anim Cogn 2016; 19:835-45. [PMID: 27079969 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-016-0982-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2015] [Revised: 02/06/2016] [Accepted: 03/31/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
To what extent are newborn brains designed to operate over natural visual input? To address this question, we used a high-throughput controlled-rearing method to examine whether newborn chicks (Gallus gallus) show enhanced learning of natural visual sequences at the onset of vision. We took the same set of images and grouped them into either natural sequences (i.e., sequences showing different viewpoints of the same real-world object) or unnatural sequences (i.e., sequences showing different images of different real-world objects). When raised in virtual worlds containing natural sequences, newborn chicks developed the ability to recognize familiar images of objects. Conversely, when raised in virtual worlds containing unnatural sequences, newborn chicks' object recognition abilities were severely impaired. In fact, the majority of the chicks raised with the unnatural sequences failed to recognize familiar images of objects despite acquiring over 100 h of visual experience with those images. Thus, newborn chicks show enhanced learning of natural visual sequences at the onset of vision. These results indicate that newborn brains are designed to operate over natural visual input.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Justin N Wood
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Building SGM, Room 501, 3620 South McClintock Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.
| | - Aditya Prasad
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Building SGM, Room 501, 3620 South McClintock Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
| | - Jason G Goldman
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Building SGM, Room 501, 3620 South McClintock Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
| | - Samantha M W Wood
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Building SGM, Room 501, 3620 South McClintock Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Wood SMW, Wood JN. A chicken model for studying the emergence of invariant object recognition. Front Neural Circuits 2015; 9:7. [PMID: 25767436 PMCID: PMC4341568 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2015.00007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2014] [Accepted: 02/03/2015] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
“Invariant object recognition” refers to the ability to recognize objects across variation in their appearance on the retina. This ability is central to visual perception, yet its developmental origins are poorly understood. Traditionally, nonhuman primates, rats, and pigeons have been the most commonly used animal models for studying invariant object recognition. Although these animals have many advantages as model systems, they are not well suited for studying the emergence of invariant object recognition in the newborn brain. Here, we argue that newly hatched chicks (Gallus gallus) are an ideal model system for studying the emergence of invariant object recognition. Using an automated controlled-rearing approach, we show that chicks can build a viewpoint-invariant representation of the first object they see in their life. This invariant representation can be built from highly impoverished visual input (three images of an object separated by 15° azimuth rotations) and cannot be accounted for by low-level retina-like or V1-like neuronal representations. These results indicate that newborn neural circuits begin building invariant object representations at the onset of vision and argue for an increased focus on chicks as an animal model for studying invariant object recognition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Samantha M W Wood
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Justin N Wood
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|