The Evolution of Simplifying Heuristics in Visual Cognition: Categorization, Specialization, and Visual Illusions.

IF 5 2区医学 Q1 NEUROSCIENCES

Annual Review of Vision Science Pub Date : 2024-05-20 DOI:10.1146/annurev-vision-100923-015932

Elizabeth A Tibbetts, Olivia K Harris, Nathan I Morehouse, Eleanor M Caves

{"title":"The Evolution of Simplifying Heuristics in Visual Cognition: Categorization, Specialization, and Visual Illusions.","authors":"Elizabeth A Tibbetts, Olivia K Harris, Nathan I Morehouse, Eleanor M Caves","doi":"10.1146/annurev-vision-100923-015932","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Animals live in visually complex environments. As a result, visual systems have evolved mechanisms that simplify visual processing and allow animals to focus on the information that is most relevant to adaptive decision making. This review explores two key mechanisms that animals use to efficiently process visual information: categorization and specialization. Categorization occurs when an animal's perceptual system sorts continuously varying stimuli into a set of discrete categories. Specialization occurs when particular classes of stimuli are processed using distinct cognitive operations that are not used for other classes of stimuli. We also describe a nonadaptive consequence of simplifying heuristics: visual illusions, where visual perception consistently misleads the viewer about the state of the external world or objects within it. We take an explicitly comparative approach by exploring similarities and differences in visual cognition across human and nonhuman taxa. Considering areas of convergence and divergence across taxa provides insight into the evolution and function of visual systems and associated perceptual strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":48658,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Vision Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annual Review of Vision Science","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-vision-100923-015932","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NEUROSCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Animals live in visually complex environments. As a result, visual systems have evolved mechanisms that simplify visual processing and allow animals to focus on the information that is most relevant to adaptive decision making. This review explores two key mechanisms that animals use to efficiently process visual information: categorization and specialization. Categorization occurs when an animal's perceptual system sorts continuously varying stimuli into a set of discrete categories. Specialization occurs when particular classes of stimuli are processed using distinct cognitive operations that are not used for other classes of stimuli. We also describe a nonadaptive consequence of simplifying heuristics: visual illusions, where visual perception consistently misleads the viewer about the state of the external world or objects within it. We take an explicitly comparative approach by exploring similarities and differences in visual cognition across human and nonhuman taxa. Considering areas of convergence and divergence across taxa provides insight into the evolution and function of visual systems and associated perceptual strategies.

查看原文本刊更多论文

视觉认知中简化启发法的演变：分类、专业化和视觉幻觉

动物生活在视觉复杂的环境中。因此，视觉系统进化出了简化视觉处理的机制，使动物能够专注于与适应性决策最相关的信息。本综述将探讨动物用来高效处理视觉信息的两个关键机制：分类和特化。当动物的感知系统将连续变化的刺激物分为一系列离散的类别时，就会发生分类。当使用不同的认知操作来处理特定类别的刺激时，就会出现特化现象，而其他类别的刺激则不会使用这种认知操作。我们还描述了简化启发法的一种非适应性后果：视觉错觉，即视觉感知持续误导观众对外部世界或其中物体的状态。我们采用明确的比较方法，探索人类和非人类类群在视觉认知方面的异同。考虑到不同类群之间的趋同和差异，我们可以深入了解视觉系统的进化和功能以及相关的感知策略。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Annual Review of Vision Science Medicine-Ophthalmology

CiteScore

11.10

自引率

1.70%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Annual Review of Vision Science reviews progress in the visual sciences, a cross-cutting set of disciplines which intersect psychology, neuroscience, computer science, cell biology and genetics, and clinical medicine. The journal covers a broad range of topics and techniques, including optics, retina, central visual processing, visual perception, eye movements, visual development, vision models, computer vision, and the mechanisms of visual disease, dysfunction, and sight restoration. The study of vision is central to progress in many areas of science, and this new journal will explore and expose the connections that link it to biology, behavior, computation, engineering, and medicine.