An electronic model, based on parallel processing concept and able to identify a series of patterns without requiring sophisticated technology, is presented. A receptive part transduces the pattern images into electrical signals and a processing part identifies them. The basic element of the processing part is a “pattern detecting” unit which produces a maximal response for one specific pattern presented on the receptive matrix. A set of 11 “pattern detecting” units allows the model to recognize simple patterns under various conditions and through a neural-like organization, to identify them regardless of their position or size.