Perception Of Ambiguous Figures Research Articles

Quantum-Inspired Neural Network Model of Optical Illusions

Ambiguous optical illusions have been a paradigmatic object of fascination, research and inspiration in arts, psychology and video games. However, accurate computational models of perception of ambiguous figures have been elusive. In this paper, we design and train a deep neural network model to simulate human perception of the Necker cube, an ambiguous drawing with several alternating possible interpretations. Defining the weights of the neural network connection using a quantum generator of truly random numbers, in agreement with the emerging concepts of quantum artificial intelligence and quantum cognition, we reveal that the actual perceptual state of the Necker cube is a qubit-like superposition of the two fundamental perceptual states predicted by classical theories. Our results finds applications in video games and virtual reality systems employed for training of astronauts and operators of unmanned aerial vehicles. They are also useful for researchers working in the fields of machine learning and vision, psychology of perception and quantum–mechanical models of human mind and decision making.

The Right Hemisphere and Ambiguity

Abstract. The Rorschach Test has evolved from an idiosyncratic projective personality test to an evidence-based performance test used widely in forensic settings. The current paper argues that Rorschach researchers should consider the role of two related neuropsychological factors in the assessment of Rorschach responding: the role of the right cerebral hemisphere in the perception of ambiguous figures and the role of individual differences (as a function of consistency of handedness) in responding to ambiguous stimuli. The right hemisphere is more fluent and flexible in the perception of ambiguous stimuli. Moreover, individuals with mixed/inconsistent hand preference have greater access to right hemisphere processing, and, accordingly, are more fluent and flexible in their perception of ambiguous stimuli. This raises the possibility of quantitative and qualitative differences in Rorschach responsivity as a function of test takers’ handedness. Implications of the presence of higher rates of schizotypy in inconsistent-handers are also discussed.

A Commentary on “Can Neuroscience Provide a New Foundation for the Rorschach Variables?” (Jimura et al., 2021)

A Commentary on “Can Neuroscience Provide a New Foundation for the Rorschach Variables?” (Jimura et al., 2021)

Alternative perspectives: Relations between belief reasoning and ambiguous figure perception in bilingual children

AbstractRepresentational theory of mind—the ability to represent others' mental states and understand that these beliefs can be different from one's own and reality—emerges in early childhood alongside other meta‐representational abilities, such as understanding that an image can be perceived in multiple ways. Limited research has suggested that individual differences in theory of mind and pictorial meta‐representation are correlated—pointing to domain‐general meta‐representation—but these links might be due to associated abilities such as inhibitory control. To assess this possibility, the present study examines the relationship between belief reasoning and ambiguous figure perception in a low‐income sample of bilingual children (aged 4.5–8.5 years), as bilingualism has been linked to meta‐representational skills and executive function. Partialing out age and inhibitory control, belief reasoning and ambiguous figure perception were significantly correlated, suggesting that performance on these tasks involves a general meta‐representational capacity apart from common executive function demands.

Entanglement, Symmetry Breaking and Collapse: Correspondences Between Quantum and Self-Organizing Dynamics

Quantum phenomena are notoriously difficult to grasp. The present paper first reviews the most important quantum concepts in a non-technical manner: superposition, uncertainty, collapse of the wave function, entanglement and non-locality. It then tries to clarify these concepts by examining their analogues in complex, self-organizing systems. These include bifurcations, attractors, emergent constraints, order parameters and non-local correlations. They are illustrated with concrete examples that include Rayleigh–Bénard convection, social self-organization and Gestalt perception of ambiguous figures. In both cases, quantum and self-organizing, the core process appears to be a symmetry breaking that irreversibly and unpredictably “collapses” an ambiguous state into one of a number of initially equivalent “eigenstates” or “attractors”. Some speculations are proposed about the non-linear amplification of quantum fluctuations of the vacuum being ultimately responsible for such symmetry breaking.

Response dependence of reversal‐related ERP components in perception of ambiguous figures

Perceptual multi-stability is characterized by alternating interpretations of an unchanging stimulus input. The reversal negativity (RN) and reversal positivity (RP) ERP components show differences in electrophysiological responses between trials on which participants experience a perceptual reversal of a multi-stable stimulus versus trials without a reversal (i.e., stable). However, it is unclear to what extent these two ERP components reflect reversal-related perceptual processing rather than task and response processes. To address this, we varied task and response requirements while measuring the RN and RP. In the standard reversal task, participants indicated whether they saw a perceptual reversal on each trial. In contrast, in the identity task participants reported perceived identity of the stimulus (e.g., face or vase) without any reference to reversals. In some blocks, reversal trials required a response whereas in other blocks stable trials required a response. We found that the RN appeared independently of task and response style. However, the early latency RP component was only present when participants responded manually. For non-response trials, a component was found during the same latency as the RP but with inverted polarity. Our results suggest that the early RP component is dependent on response-related processes rather than being a pure neural signature of perceptual processes related to endogenous perceptual reversals.

What happens in the brain of meditators when perception changes but not the stimulus?

During the observation of an ambiguous figure our perception alternates between mutually exclusive interpretations, although the stimulus itself remains unchanged. The rate of these endogenous reversals has been discussed as reflecting basic aspects of endogenous brain dynamics. Recent evidence indicates that extensive meditation practice evokes long-term functional and anatomic changes in the brain, also affecting the endogenous brain dynamics. As one of several consequences the rate of perceptual reversals during ambiguous figure perception decreases. In the present study we compared EEG-correlates of endogenous reversals of ambiguous figures between meditators and non-meditating controls in order to better understand timing and brain locations of this altered endogenous brain dynamics. A well-established EEG paradigm was used to measure the neural processes underlying endogenous perceptual reversals of ambiguous figures with high temporal precision. We compared reversal-related ERPs between experienced meditators and non-meditating controls. For both groups we found highly similar chains of reversal-related ERPs, starting early in visual areas, therewith replicating previous findings from the literature. Meditators, however, showed an additional frontal ERP signature already 160 ms after stimulus onset (Frontal Negativity). We interpret the additional, meditation-specific ERP results as evidence that extensive meditation practice provides control of frontal brain areas over early sensory processing steps. This may allow meditators to overcome phylogenetically evolved perceptual and attentional processing automatisms.

Response dependence of reversal-related ERP components in perception of Ambiguous Figures

Perceptual multi-stability is characterized by alternating interpretations of an unchanging stimulus input. The reversal negativity (RN) and reversal positivity (RP) ERP components show differences in electrophysiological responses between trials on which participants experience a perceptual reversal of a multi-stable stimulus versus trials without a reversal (i.e., stable). However, it is unclear to what extent these two ERP components reflect reversal-related perceptual processing rather than task and response processes. To address this, we varied task and response requirements while measuring the RN and RP. In the standard reversal task, participants indicated whether they saw a perceptual reversal on each trial. In contrast, in the identity task participants reported perceived identity of the stimulus (e.g., face or vase) without any reference to reversals. In some blocks, reversal trials required a response whereas in other blocks stable trials required a response. We found that the RN appeared independently of task and response style. However, the early latency RP component was only present when participants responded manually. For non-response trials, a component was found during the same latency as the RP but with inverted polarity. Our results suggest that the early RP component is dependent on response-related processes rather than being a pure neural signature of perceptual processes related to endogenous perceptual reversals.

СПЕЦИФИКА ВОСПРИЯТИЯ ДЕТЬМИ ДОШКОЛЬНОГО ВОЗРАСТА ДВОЙСТВЕННЫХ ИЗОБРАЖЕНИЙ

СПЕЦИФИКА ВОСПРИЯТИЯ ДЕТЬМИ ДОШКОЛЬНОГО ВОЗРАСТА ДВОЙСТВЕННЫХ ИЗОБРАЖЕНИЙ

Fast cyclic stimulus flashing modulates perception of bi-stable figure.

Many experiments have demonstrated that the rhythms in the brain influence the initial perceptual information processing. We investigated whether the alternation rate of the perception of a Necker cube depends on the frequency and duration of a flashing Necker cube. We hypothesize that synchronization between the external rhythm of a flashing stimulus and the internal rhythm of neuronal processing should change the alternation rate of a Necker cube. Knowing how a flickering stimulus with a given frequency and duration affects the alternation rate of bistable perception, we could estimate the frequency of the internal neuronal processing. Our results show that the perception time of the dominant stimulus depends on the frequency or duration of the flashing stimuli. The duration of the stimuli, at which the duration of the perceived image was maximal, was repeated periodically at 4 ms intervals. We suppose that such results could be explained by the existence of an internal rhythm of 125 cycles/s for bistable visual perception. We can also suppose that it is not the stimulus duration but the precise timing of the moments of switching on of external stimuli to match the internal stimuli which explains our experimental results. Similarity between the effects of flashing frequency on alternation rate of stimuli perception in present and previously performed experiment on binocular rivalry support the existence of a common mechanism for binocular rivalry and monocular perception of ambiguous figures.

Adults with autism spectrum condition have atypical perception of ambiguous figures when bottom-up and top-down interactions are incongruous.

We examined the perception of an ambiguous squares stimulus evoking bistable perception in a sample of 31 individuals with autistic spectrum condition and 22 matched typical adults. The perception of the ambiguous figure was manipulated by adaptation to unambiguous figures and/or by placing the ambiguous figure into a context of unambiguous figures. This resulted in four conditions testing the independent and combined (congruent and incongruent) manipulations of adaptation (bottom-up) and spatial context (top-down) effects. The strength of perception, as measured by perception of the first reported orientation of the ambiguous stimulus, was affected comparably between groups. Nevertheless, the strength of perception, as measured by perceptual durations, was affected differently between groups: the perceptual effect was strongest for the autistic spectrum condition group when combined bottom-up and top-down conditions were congruent. In contrast, the strength of the perceptual effect in response to the same condition in the typical adults group was comparable to the adaptation, but stronger than both the context and the incongruent combined bottom-up and top-down conditions. Furthermore, the context condition was stronger than the incongruent combined bottom-up and top-down conditions for the typical adults group. Thus, our findings support the view of stimulus-specific top-down modulation in autistic spectrum condition.

Duck Eats Rabbit: Exactly Which Type of Relational Phrase Can Disambiguate the Perception of Identical Side by Side Ambiguous Figures?

Many individuals cannot at first see two ambiguous figures as different interpretations simultaneously, even with effort. Here in a large sample replication, we find that the phrase "duck eats rabbit" allows those who could not see a duck and rabbit side by side to do so. In a second experiment, we show that a relational phrase "next to" that does not disambiguate the spatial position interpretation does not similarly allow the duck to be seen next to the rabbit, supporting the proposal that top-down semantic-framing can influence perception of ambiguous figures.

Ego depletion in visual perception: Ego-depleted viewers experience less ambiguous figure reversal.

This study examined the effects of ego depletion on ambiguous figure perception. Adults (N = 315) received an ego depletion task and were subsequently tested on their inhibitory control abilities that were indexed by the Stroop task (Experiment 1) and their ability to perceive both interpretations of ambiguous figures that was indexed by reversal (Experiment 2). Ego depletion had a very small effect on reducing inhibitory control (Cohen's d = .15) (Experiment 1). Ego-depleted participants had a tendency to take longer to respond in Stroop trials. In Experiment 2, ego depletion had small to medium effects on the experience of reversal. Ego-depleted viewers tended to take longer to reverse ambiguous figures (duration to first reversal) when naïve of the ambiguity and experienced less reversal both when naïve and informed of the ambiguity. Together, findings suggest that ego depletion has small effects on inhibitory control and small to medium effects on bottom-up and top-down perceptual processes. The depletion of cognitive resources can reduce our visual perceptual experience.

Предпочтения при восприятии двойственных изображений у детей дошкольного возраста

Предпочтения при восприятии двойственных изображений у детей дошкольного возраста

Noise Improves Visual Motion Discrimination via a Stochastic Resonance-Like Phenomenon.

The stochastic resonance (SR) is a phenomenon in which adding a moderate amount of noise can improve the signal-to-noise ratio and performance of non-linear systems. SR occurs in all sensory modalities including the visual system in which noise can enhance contrast detection sensitivity and the perception of ambiguous figures embedded in static scenes. Here, we explored how adding background white pixel-noise to a random dot motion (RDM) stimulus produced changes in visual motion discrimination in healthy human adults. We found that, although the average reaction times (RTs) remained constant, an intermediate level of noise improved the subjects’ ability to discriminate motion direction in the RDM task. The psychophysical responses followed an inverted U-like function of the input noise, whereas the incorrect responses with short RTs did not exhibit such modulation by external noise. Moreover, by applying stimulus and noisy signals to different eyes, we found that the SR phenomenon occurred presumably in the primary visual cortex, where these two signals first converge. Our results suggest that a SR-like phenomenon mediates the improvement of visual motion perception in the RDM task.

A binocular context exerts a similar influence on both binocular rivalry and ambiguous figure perception

A binocular context exerts a similar influence on both binocular rivalry and ambiguous figure perception

The Relationship Between Subthreshold Autistic Traits, Ambiguous Figure Perception and Divergent Thinking.

This research investigates the paradox of creativity in autism. That is, whether people with subclinical autistic traits have cognitive styles conducive to creativity or whether they are disadvantaged by the implied cognitive and behavioural rigidity of the autism phenotype. The relationship between divergent thinking (a cognitive component of creativity), perception of ambiguous figures, and self-reported autistic traits was evaluated in 312 individuals in a non-clinical sample. High levels of autistic traits were significantly associated with lower fluency scores on the divergent thinking tasks. However autistic traits were associated with high numbers of unusual responses on the divergent thinking tasks. Generation of novel ideas is a prerequisite for creative problem solving and may be an adaptive advantage associated with autistic traits.

Temporal Processing in Bistable Perception of the Necker Cube.

Perception of ambiguous figures is unstable and alternates repeatedly between possible interpretations. Some approaches to explaining this phenomenon have, so far, assumed low-level bottom-up mechanisms like adaptation and mutual inhibition of underlying neural assemblies. In contrast, less precise top-down approaches assume high-level attentional control mechanisms generalised across sensory modalities. In the current work we focused on specific aspects of the top-down approach. In a first study we used dwell times (periods of transiently stable percepts) and the parameters of dwell time distribution functions to compare the dynamics of perceptual alternations between visual (Necker cube) and auditory ambiguity (verbal transformation effect). In a second study we compared the endogenous alternation dynamics of the Necker cube with parameters from two attention tasks with different regimes of temporal dynamics. The first attention task (d2) is characterised by endogenous self-paced dynamics, similar to the dynamics underlying perceptual alternations of ambiguous figures, and we found clear correlations between dwell time parameters (Necker cube) and processing speed (d2 task). The temporal dynamics of the second (go/no-go) attention task, in contrast, are exogenously governed by the stimulus protocol, and we found no statistically significant correlation with the Necker cube data. Our results indicate that both perceptual instability and higher-level attentional tasks are linked to endogenous brain dynamics on a global coordinating level beyond sensory modalities.

Seeing and liking: Biased perception of ambiguous figures consistent with the “inward bias” in aesthetic preferences

Aesthetic preferences are ubiquitous in visual experience. Indeed, it seems nearly impossible in many circumstances to perceive a scene without also liking or disliking it to some degree. Aesthetic factors are only occasionally studied in mainstream vision science, though, and even then they are often treated as functionally independent from other aspects of perception. In contrast, the present study explores the possibility that aesthetic preferences may interact with other types of visual processing. We were inspired, in particular, by the inward bias in aesthetic preferences: When an object with a salient "front" is placed near the border of a frame (say, in a photograph), observers tend to find the image more aesthetically pleasing if the object faces inward (toward the center) than if it faces outward (away from the center). We employed similar stimuli, except that observers viewed framed figures that were ambiguous in terms of the direction they appeared to be facing. The resulting percepts were influenced by the frames in a way that corresponded to the inward bias: When a figure was placed near a frame's border, observers tended to see whichever interpretation was facing inward. This effect occurred for both abstract geometric figures (e.g., ambiguously-oriented triangles) and meaningful line drawings (e.g., left-facing ducks or right-facing rabbits). The match between this new influence on ambiguous figure perception and the previously studied aesthetic bias suggests new ways in which aesthetic factors may relate not only to what we like, but also to what we see in the first place.

A more realistic quantum mechanical model of conscious perception during binocular rivalry

A more realistic quantum mechanical model of conscious perception during binocular rivalry