Familiar Recognition Research Articles

Computational models can distinguish the contribution from different mechanisms to familiarity recognition.

Familiarity is the strange feeling of knowing that something has already been seen in our past. Over the past decades, several attempts have been made to model familiarity using artificial neural networks. Recently, two learning algorithms successfully reproduced the functioning of the perirhinal cortex, a key structure involved during familiarity: Hebbian and anti-Hebbian learning. However, performance of these learning rules is very different from one to another thus raising the question of their complementarity. In this work, we designed two distinct computational models that combined Deep Learning and a Hebbian learning rule to reproduce familiarity on natural images, the Hebbian model and the anti-Hebbian model, respectively. We compared the performance of both models during different simulations to highlight the inner functioning of both learning rules. We showed that the anti-Hebbian model fits human behavioral data whereas the Hebbian model fails to fit the data under large training set sizes. Besides, we observed that only our Hebbian model is highly sensitive to homogeneity between images. Taken together, we interpreted these results considering the distinction between absolute and relative familiarity. With our framework, we proposed a novel way to distinguish the contribution of these familiarity mechanisms to the overall feeling of familiarity. By viewing them as complementary, our two models allow us to make new testable predictions that could be of interest to shed light on the familiarity phenomenon.

Designing for Mutually Beneficial Decision Making in Human-Agent Teaming

This paper presents a joint decision-making framework between human and artificial intelligent agents in an effort to create a cohesive team uninhibited by each other’s actions. Based on the well-known Recognition Primed Decision-Making Model, our framework expands upon RPD’s single decision maker to be more Human-Agent Teaming (HAT) oriented. Specifically, our framework includes three layers of shared cognition to ensure both a consistent level of transparency between members and the efficient completion of the task. The first layer provides itself as a foundation of expectations that provides familiarity recognition in a situation. The second layer categorizes the environmental features into relevant decisions informing the symbiotic nature of who should and how to enact decisions collaboratively, which is the third layer. Altogether, this mutually beneficial decision-making model emphasizes transparency so that both humans and artificial agents are equal partners in completing tasks in unique situations.

Comparing the Effects of Choline with Clozapine and Fluoxetine for Improving Cognitive Behavior in Rats

ABSTRACT Background: Cognitive behavior therapy is an important treatment for various psychiatric and psychological problems. Different psychotherapeutic treatments are used for improvement in patients. The study aimed to compare Clozapine and Fluoxetine with Choline on the progress of cognition and cognitive behavior in rats. Methods: This experimental study was conducted in the pharmacology department of Karachi University on locally bred male albino rats (n=24). These were divided into four treatment groups (Saline, Fluoxetine, Clozapine, and Choline) and measured the output at the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th weeks. Familiar and Novel object recognition test and Passive avoidance test was used to observe learning and memory as well as the mechanism of cognition. One way-ANOVA and post-hoc analysis was done between groups. The p-value <0.05 and < 0.001 were considered statistically significant and highly significant respectively. Results: The comparative mean preference index percentage between saline, choline, clozapine, and fluoxetine at week one was non–significant (p>0.05) in the Novel and Familiar Object Recognition test. However, at week three it was highest for Fluoxetine (58.15±3.35) compared to Choline, Clozapine and Saline for the novel object. However, in Familiar objects, it was found highest for Clozapine (58.88±3.05) (p <0.05). Furthermore, the mean step-through latency time of the Passive Avoidance test was significant (p<0.05) at weeks three, five and seven. It was highest for choline (92.5±1.36) than fluoxetine and clozapine. Conclusion: Fluoxetine has a significant effect (p<0.001) on memory and learning compared to Clozapine. Clozapine and choline showed statistically same results on cognitive behavior. Keywords: Cognitive Behavior; Choline; Clozapine; Fluoxetine; Effect; Compare.

Comparative study of stress responses, laterality and familiarity recognition between albino and pigmented fish

Oculocutaneous albinism is the result of a combination of homozygous recessive mutations that block the synthesis of the tyrosine and melatonin hormones. This disability is associated with physiological limitations, e.g., visual impairment expressed by lower visual acuity and movement perception, and eventually leads to acrophobia and/or photophobia, suggesting a potentially higher stress level associated with the behavioral responses of individuals with albinism to external stimuli compared to their pigmented conspecifics. However, in fish, differences in behavioral and/or physiological responses and stress levels between these phenotypes have been poorly documented. While acoustic perception of albino individuals is well known, the use of olfactory sensors for social communication, e.g., for the preference for familiar conspecifics, remains poorly understood. We performed two laboratory experiments with albino and pigmented European catfish Silurus glanis to observe: i) their behavioral and physiological responses to short-term stress induced by a combination of air exposure and novel environmental stressors and ii) their ability to use odor keys to recognize of familiar conspecifics and the influence of lateralization on this preference. In response to stress stimuli, albino fish showed higher movement activities and ventilatory frequencies and more often changed their swimming directions compared to their pigmented conspecifics. Blood plasma analysis showed significantly higher values of stress-, deprivation-, and emotional arousal-associated substances, e.g., glucose and lactate, as well as of substances released during intensive muscle activity of hyperventilation and tissue hypoxia, e.g., hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, erythrocytes, and neutrophil granulocytes. A preference test between environments with and without scented water showed the preference by both albino and pigmented catfish for environments with scent of familiar conspecifics, and both groups of fish displayed left-side lateralization associated with the observation of conspecifics and group coordination. The results tended to show higher physiological and behavioral responses of albinos to stress stimuli compared to the responses of their pigmented conspecifics, but the uses of olfactory sensors and lateralization were not differentiated between the two groups.

Supplemental Material for Novel and Familiar Object Recognition Rely on the Same Ability

Supplemental Material for Novel and Familiar Object Recognition Rely on the Same Ability

A computational model of familiarity detection for natural pictures, abstract images, and random patterns: Combination of deep learning and anti-Hebbian training

We present a neural network model for familiarity recognition of different types of images in the perirhinal cortex (the FaRe model). The model is designed as a two-stage system. At the first stage, the parameters of an image are extracted by a pretrained deep learning convolutional neural network. At the second stage, a two-layer feed forward neural network with anti-Hebbian learning is used to make the decision about the familiarity of the image. FaRe model simulations demonstrate high capacity of familiarity recognition memory for natural pictures and low capacity for both abstract images and random patterns. These findings are in agreement with psychological experiments.

Human Olfaction at the Intersection of Language, Culture, and Biology

The human sense of smell can accomplish astonishing feats, yet there remains a prevailing belief that olfactory language is deficient. Numerous studies with English speakers support this view: there are few terms for odors, odor talk is infrequent, and naming odors is difficult. However, this is not true across the world. Many languages have sizeable smell lexicons - smell is even grammaticalized. In addition, for some cultures smell talk is more frequent and odor naming easier. This linguistic variation is as yet unexplained but could be the result of ecological, cultural, or genetic factors or a combination thereof. Different ways of talking about smells may shape aspects of olfactory cognition too. Critically, this variation sheds new light on this important sensory modality.

An Evaluation of the Mixed Remodeling Image of Modern Architecture and Hanok

Modern architecture can be a uniform structure or heterogeneous object in a historical environment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the preference of hybrid architecture by defining it as a hybrid hanok considering its modern function and the emotional aspects of traditional architecture. The test target was a street with seven modern commercial buildings (STA, formerly) and was modeled as a hybrid architecture (STA-RF, later) with hanok elements in modern buildings for preference evaluation. The experimental model (Before, After) was evaluated in six categories, including traditionality, diversity, creativity, familiarity, traditional landscape of historical cities, and creative utility of modern architecture, and the data collected on a five-point scale was analyzed by SPSS pc. According to the experiment results, 1) Traditional Expression (86.0%), 2) Diversity of Design Elements (86.7%), 3) Creativity (81.6%), 4) Familiarity Recognition (67.2%), 5) Possibility of Traditional Landscape (82.5%), 6), and Creative Design of Modern Architecture and Hanok (84.6%) all had positive perceptions. Therefore, the present study confirmed that hybrid hanok (or hybrid style architecture) that combines elements of modern architecture and hanok in historical environment can be used as very friendly buildings with various potentials compared to modern architecture.

A robust neural familiar face recognition response in a dynamic (periodic) stream of unfamiliar faces

We present an objective and sensitive approach to measure human familiar face recognition (FFR) across variable facial identities. Twenty-six participants viewed sequences of natural images of different unfamiliar faces presented at a fixed rate of 6 Hz (i.e., 6 faces by second), with variable natural images of different famous face identities appearing periodically every 7th image (i.e., .86 Hz). Participants were unaware of the goal of the study and performed an orthogonal task. Following only seven minutes of visual stimulation, the FFR response was objectively identified in the EEG spectrum at .86 Hz and its harmonics (1.71 Hz, etc.) over bilateral occipito-temporal regions, being significant in every individual participant. When the exact same images appeared upside-down, the FFR response amplitude reduced by more than 80%, and was uncorrelated across individuals to the upright face response. The FFR for upright faces emerges between 160 and 200 msec following the famous face onset over bilateral occipito-temporal region and lasts until about 560 msec. The stimulation paradigm offers an unprecedented way to characterize rapid and automatic human face familiarity recognition across individuals, during development and clinical conditions, also providing original information about the time-course and neural basis of human FFR in temporally constrained stimulation conditions with natural images.

Characterizing developmental prosopagnosia beyond face perception: Impaired recollection but intact familiarity recognition

Converging lines of research suggests that many developmental prosopagnosics (DPs) have impairments beyond face perception, but currently no framework exists to characterize these impaired mechanisms. One potential extra-perceptual deficit is that DPs encode/retrieve faces in a distinct manner from controls that does not sufficiently support individuation. To test this possibility, 30 DPs and 30 matched controls performed an old/new face recognition task while providing confidence ratings, to which a model-based ROC analysis was applied. DPs had significantly reduced recollection compared to controls, driven by fewer ‘high-confidence target’ responses, but intact familiarity. Recollection and face perception ability uniquely predicted objective and subjective prosopagnosia symptoms, together explaining 51% and 56% of the variance, respectively. These results suggest that a specific deficit in face recollection in DP may represent a core aspect of the difficulty in confidently identifying an individual by their face.

Prediction of Inter-Personal Trust and Team Familiarity From Speech: A Double Transfer Learning Approach

Speech classification is one of the most convenient objective measures of internal state exhibited during a problem-solving task that requires verbal communication. This study investigates the hypothesis of speech acoustic characteristics being indicative of trust between team members and team members’ familiarity with each other. Speech recordings from 27 dyadic teams (26 males and 28 females) were made during a distributed threat perception task, determining safe points along a route through the town to be visited by a VIP. Before the threat detection mission, 26 team members knew each other, and the remaining 28 had no prior knowledge of their partners. Two levels (Low Trust and High Trust) of two trust constructs, TTP (Trust, Trustworthiness, Propensity to trust), and RIS (Reliance Intentions Scale), were estimated based on numerical responses to pre- and post-mission surveys. Speech recordings of individual speakers were divided into 1-second intervals and converted into RGB images of amplitude spectrograms. The images were classified using a pre-trained convolutional neural network ResNet-18 fine-tuned to recognize either the trust level or familiarity. In the baseline classification scenario, the speech was classified using a single transfer learning into Low/High-trust categories separately for RIS and TTP constructs before and after the mission yielding an average classification accuracy of 82%-86%. Single transfer learning classification into Know/Unknown-partners categories led to 85% accuracy. Application of double transfer learning, i.e., first tuning the ResNet-18 on Know/Unknown labels and then on Low/High-trust, increased the trust classification accuracy up to 89%. When tuning the ResNet-18 on Low/High-trust and then on Known/Unknown labels, the accuracy of partner familiarity recognition was also increased up to 89%. These results support the hypothesis of speech acoustics being indicative of trust and familiarity between team members and show that by adding prior related knowledge to the model, more efficient learning can be achieved without increasing the training data size.

Detection of single-trial EEG of the neural correlates of familiar faces recognition using machine-learning algorithms

Detection of single-trial EEG of the neural correlates of familiar faces recognition using machine-learning algorithms

Hemodynamic response to familiar faces in children with ADHD

BackgroundSchool-age children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have difficulties in interpersonal relationships, in addition to impaired facial expression perception and recognition. For successful social interactions, the ability to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar faces is critical. However, there are no published reports on the recognition of familiar and unfamiliar faces by children with ADHD.MethodsWe evaluated the neural correlates of familiar and unfamiliar facial recognition in children with ADHD compared to typically developing (TD) children. We used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure hemodynamic responses on the bilateral temporal regions while participants looked at photographs of familiar and unfamiliar faces. Nine boys with ADHD and 14 age-matched TD boys participated in the study. fNIRS data were Z-scored prior to analysis.ResultsDuring familiar face processing, TD children only showed significant activity in the late phase, while ADHD children showed significant activity in both the early and late phases. Additionally, the boys with ADHD did not show right hemispheric lateralization to familiar faces.ConclusionsThis study is the first to assess brain activity during familiar face processing in boys with ADHD using fNIRS. These findings of atypical patterns of brain activity in boys with ADHD may be related to social cognitive impairments from ADHD.

Increasing Dopamine and Acetylcholine Levels during Encoding Does Not Modulate Remember or Know Responses during Memory Retrieval in Healthy Aging—a Randomized Controlled Feasibility Study

The retrieval of information from long-term memory can be associated with information regarding sources or context (recollection) or without further context (familiarity). The retrieval type depends on how information has been encoded previously, and this encoding process is supposed to be modulated by the neurotransmitters dopamine and acetylcholine. For example, acetylcholine levels in the hippocampus increase when one is confronted with novel information allowing for better encoding and, presumably, for retrieval of more detailed memories (recollection). On the other hand, a dopaminergic deficit such as in Parkinson’s disease has been shown to induce deficits in familiarity rather than in recollection-based retrieval. It is, however, unclear whether this finding arises from alterations in encoding, retrieval, or both. Moreover, other research has challenged this clear-cut dichotomy and linked dopamine to both familiarity and recollection, and acetylcholine to unspecific enhancement of memory for novel information. Thirty-nine healthy seniors (age range 62–77) participated in a remember/know task in which scenes that were presented with different repetition rates had to be encoded and retrieved on the following day. Neurotransmitter levels were modulated during encoding by administrating either levodopa (100 mg, N = 13) or galantamine (8 mg, N = 13) to one of two experimental groups. A third group received a placebo (N = 13). Across all groups, recognition memory increased as a function of stimulus repetition, and this effect was specifically pronounced for remember relative to know answers. Importantly, the drugs had no effect on recollection, familiarity, or overall recognition memory. The findings argue against a simple dichotomy of dopaminergic and cholinergic contributions to either recollection- or familiarity-based memory retrieval.

Familiarity Factors of Street Features in Pedestrian Wayfindings

From an origin point to a destination point, good wayfinding process requires familiar recognition on the street environment. However, the unclear reasons of identifying street features to determine a route to the destination influences a pedestrian to select the wrong turn, walk in longer distance, and lost his direction. This paper aims to identify the factors that influence pedestrian familiarity, familiar or unfamiliar, in people wayfinding. Two hundred questionnaires were collected in Teluk Intan, Perak, Malaysia. Quotations from 30 interviews were used to triangulate the findings. Factor analysis available in IBM SPSS version 21 was used in exploring the familiarity factors for wayfinding. The finding suggests three factors influenced pedestrian to familiar with the street environment, which the factors are characteristic, attraction, and interest of street features. While, the duplication design of street features, error in defining the position of street features and form similarity of street features influence pedestrian to become unfamiliar with the street environment. This paper implies that the physical form of street features gives impact to pedestrian familiarity. Consideration of the three factors that influence pedestrian to familiar with the environment can improve how pedestrian experience in street network especially wayfinding.

Image Re-presentation in Don DeLillo’s Point Omega


 While technological advancement and artistic creations have amazingly diversified the (re-)presentation of images, infinite image proliferation becomes an irresistible trend. To resist the subsuming power of the image-laden society, the renewed perceptions and interpretations of the image presentation are explored both in artistic presentation and in literary writing. Point Omega is a convergence of such an attempt. The paper explores how the time-featured image in Point Omega activates new idea, sensuous responses, and self-perception. Point Omega represents Douglas Gordon’s 24 Hour Psycho which is an adaptation of Hitchcock’s Psycho. By reframing the running speed to two frames a second, Gordon drastically challenges the familiar recognition and interpretation. Writing about Gordon’s work, DeLillo stresses the emergence of various perceptions, imaginations, and association in the video-watching process. No longer resting on the cultural critique on the media society as what has been done in his earlier works, DeLillo marks time as the prominent variable for the emergence of the new and the unknown.
 
 Moreover, DeLillo’s image representation highlights the physical condition which is both an essential feature of Gordon’s video installation and the hinge for DeLillo’s distinct writing. For one thing, the emergence of the new and the unthought lies in the interweaving between the spectator’s awareness and imagination of the physicality and his responses to the reframed image. For another, the physicality of the time-reframed image resonates with the desert underscored in the main story. In the story, DeLillo contends about the relation between the time-featured space and the transient self. The desert mirroring the time-featured image renders the distinctive conditions for different self-perception. Hence, the image representation in Point Omega proffers the condition for the unexpected and unthought, reconfigures the selfhood, and, significantly, enacts the alternative writing which trespasses from the filmic to the fictional, from the visual to the verbal.

Image Re-presentation in Don DeLillo’s Point Omega

While technological advancement and artistic creations have amazingly diversified the (re-)presentation of images, infinite image proliferation becomes an irresistible trend. To resist the subsuming power of the image-laden society, the renewed perceptions and interpretations of the image presentation are explored both in artistic presentation and in literary writing. Point Omega is a convergence of such an attempt. The paper explores how the time-featured image in Point Omega activates new idea, sensuous responses, and self-perception. Point Omega represents Douglas Gordon’s 24 Hour Psycho which is an adaptation of Hitchcock’s Psycho . By reframing the running speed to two frames a second, Gordon drastically challenges the familiar recognition and interpretation. Writing about Gordon’s work, DeLillo stresses the emergence of various perceptions, imaginations, and association in the video-watching process. No longer resting on the cultural critique on the media society as what has been done in his earlier works, DeLillo marks time as the prominent variable for the emergence of the new and the unknown. Moreover, DeLillo’s image representation highlights the physical condition which is both an essential feature of Gordon’s video installation and the hinge for DeLillo’s distinct writing. For one thing, the emergence of the new and the unthought lies in the interweaving between the spectator’s awareness and imagination of the physicality and his responses to the reframed image. For another, the physicality of the time-reframed image resonates with the desert underscored in the main story. In the story, DeLillo contends about the relation between the time-featured space and the transient self. The desert mirroring the time-featured image renders the distinctive conditions for different self-perception. Hence, the image representation in Point Omega proffers the condition for the unexpected and unthought, reconfigures the selfhood, and, significantly, enacts the alternative writing which trespasses from the filmic to the fictional, from the visual to the verbal.

The role of sparsely distributed representations in familiarity recognition of verbal and olfactory materials.

We present the generalized signal detection theory (GSDT), where familiarity is described by a sparse binomial distribution of binary node activity rather than by normal distribution of familiarity. Items are presented in a distributed representation, where each node receives either noise only, or signal and noise. An old response (i.e., a "yes" response) is made if at least one node receives signal plus noise that is larger than the activation threshold, and item variability is determined by the distribution of activated nodes as the threshold is varied. A distinct representation leads to better performance and a lower ratio of new to old item variability, than a more distributed and less distinct representations. Here we apply the GSDT to empirical data on verbal and olfactory memory and suggest that verbal memory relies on a distinct neural item representation, whereas olfactory memory has a fuzzy neural representation leading to poorer memory and inducing a larger ratio of new to old item variability.

Are both notes of the common cuckoo’s call necessary for familiarity recognition?

Common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) are best known for their simple two-note calls (“cu-coo”), which are uttered only by males during the breeding season. A previous playback study revealed that territorial males were more tolerant toward playbacks of the calls of familiar, neighbouring individuals than toward unfamiliar, stranger simulated intruders, exhibiting the classical “dear-enemy” phenomenon. Here we experimentally assessed whether the acoustic cues for familiarity recognition are encoded in the first and/or second note of these simple calls. To do so, we played mixed sound files to radio-tagged cuckoos, where the first part of the two-note calls was taken from strangers and the second part from neighbours, or vice versa. As controls, we used behavioural data from two-note neighbour and two-note stranger call playbacks. Cuckoos responded consistently to the two types of mixed sound files. When either the first or second note of the call was taken from a stranger and the other note from a neighbour, they responded to these sound files similarly to two-note playbacks of strangers: they approached the speaker of the playbacks more closely and the calling response-latency to playbacks was longer than to familiar controls. These findings point to the importance of both notes in familiarity recognition. We conclude that familiarity recognition in male common cuckoos needs the complete structure of the two-note cuckoo call, which is characteristic for this species.

The Role of Recollection and Familiarity in Nondemented Parkinson's Patients

ABSTRACTThe aim of the current study was to examine if recollection and familiarity decline in nondemented Parkinson's patients. To do so we compared a sample of older people with Parkinson's disease (n = 32) to a control sample of healthy older people (n = 32) on an associative recognition task in which we manipulated the repetition of the pairs during the study phase (half of the pairs were presented once and half twice) to obtain corrected estimates of recollection, familiarity, and false recognition based on the logic of the process-dissociation procedure. The results clearly show that recollection is impaired but familiarity is preserved in nondemented Parkinson's patients. The results show that memory for pairs in Parkinson's patients relies largely on the familiarity of each item and not on a precise recollection of associative information, supporting the idea that recollection-based monitoring processes are impaired in these patients.