Item Recognition Research Articles

Discriminating memory disordered patients from controls using diffusion model parameters from recognition memory.

One hundred and five memory disordered (MD) patients and 57 controls were tested on item recognition memory and lexical decision tasks, and diffusion model analyses were conducted on accuracy and response time distributions for correct and error responses. The diffusion model fit the data well for the MD patients and control subjects, the results replicated earlier studies with young and older adults, and individual differences were consistent between the item recognition and lexical decision tasks. In the diffusion model analysis, MD patients had lower drift rates (with mild Alzheimer's [AD] patients lower than mild cognitive impairment [MCI] patients) as well as wider boundaries and longer nondecision times. These data and results were used in a series of studies to examine how well MD patients could be discriminated from controls using machine-learning techniques, linear discriminant analysis, logistic regression, and support vector machines (all of which produced similar results). There was about 83% accuracy in separating MD from controls, and within the MD group, AD patients had about 90% accuracy and MCI patients had about 68% accuracy (controls had about 90% accuracy). These methods might offer an adjunct to traditional clinical diagnosis. Limitations are noted including difficulties in obtaining a matched group of control subjects as well as the possibility of misdiagnosis of MD patients. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Alpha rhythm modulations in the intraparietal sulcus reflect decision signals during item recognition

Theoretical work and empirical observations suggest a contribution of regions along the intraparietal sulcus to the process of evidence accumulation during episodic memory retrieval. In the present study, we recorded magnetoencephalographic signals in a group of healthy human participants to test whether the pattern of oscillatory modulations in the lateral parietal lobe is consistent with the mnemonic accumulator hypothesis. To this aim, the dynamic properties and the spatial distribution of MEG oscillatory power modulations were investigated during an item recognition task in which the amount of evidence for old vs. new memory decisions was manipulated across three levels. A data-driven approach was employed to identify brain nodes where oscillatory activity was sensitive to both retrieval success and the amount of evidence for old decisions. The analysis identified three nodes in the left lateral parietal lobe where the event-related desynchronization (ERD) in the alpha frequency band showed both effects. Further analyses revealed that the alpha ERD in the intraparietal sulcus, but not in other parietal nodes: i. showed modulation of duration in response to the amount of evidence for both old and new decisions, ii. was behaviorally significant, and iii. more accurately tracked the subjective memory judgment rather than the objective memory status. The present findings provide support for a recent anatomical-functional model of the parietal involvement in episodic memory retrieval and suggest that the alpha ERD in the intraparietal sulcus might represent a neural signature of the evidence accumulation process during simple memory-based decisions.

Metasurface-enabled on-chip multiplexed diffractive neural networks in the visible

Replacing electrons with photons is a compelling route toward high-speed, massively parallel, and low-power artificial intelligence computing. Recently, diffractive networks composed of phase surfaces were trained to perform machine learning tasks through linear optical transformations. However, the existing architectures often comprise bulky components and, most critically, they cannot mimic the human brain for multitasking. Here, we demonstrate a multi-skilled diffractive neural network based on a metasurface device, which can perform on-chip multi-channel sensing and multitasking in the visible. The polarization multiplexing scheme of the subwavelength nanostructures is applied to construct a multi-channel classifier framework for simultaneous recognition of digital and fashionable items. The areal density of the artificial neurons can reach up to 6.25 × 106 mm−2 multiplied by the number of channels. The metasurface is integrated with the mature complementary metal-oxide semiconductor imaging sensor, providing a chip-scale architecture to process information directly at physical layers for energy-efficient and ultra-fast image processing in machine vision, autonomous driving, and precision medicine.

Design and Implementation of a Vision- and Grating-Sensor-Based Intelligent Unmanned Settlement System

In this paper, a new vision- and grating-sensor-based intelligent unmanned settlement (IUS) system is proposed for convenience stores to automatically recognize the shopping behavior of customers, record their identities, and generate invoices. First, we design a new IUS architecture, which includes a shelf module and exit module. To achieve automatic settlement for each customer, a shopping event detection method is proposed. In this method, a vision-based human pose estimation algorithm is used to detect a human form standing in front of a shelf. The hand actions of each customer are detected by a grating sensor, and an image recognition method based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) is applied to recognize the items in the hands of customers. To reduce the image annotation workload, we propose a semisupervised training method for the recognition network. Based on hand action detection and item recognition, a shopping event recognition method is designed for the system, and a facial image of the customer corresponding to each shopping behavior is captured. Finally, each detected shopping event is added to the invoice of the corresponding customer via a facial recognition method. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed IUS system, we have built a handheld item image dataset and a shopping event dataset for an unmanned convenience store. The experimental results show that the proposed system can accurately recognize shopping behaviors and generate invoices.

A robust and efficient automated product recognition system based on scenario design methodology and computer vision techniques

Automated product recognition systems should minimise the online product verification time while keeping product recognition robust to human interventions, including misplaced products, rotated products and empty shelves. A predefined template of each product is generated offline, and scale and location invariant binary local features are employed for recognition. Three types of Sampling Bounding Mask (SBM) are defined and combined with RGB/LUV colour histograms, and matched with a planar level of a shelf by using the Earth Mover’s Distance, thereby reducing the computation time by 50%. Eight comprehensive product views are used to define five product scenarios on a shelf. The SBMs can be used to accurately distinguish the scenarios in a region at a level of shelf. By identifying four scenarios where a shopkeeper does not need to take any action to immediately reallocate misplaced products on shelves, the computation time is reduced by 80%. Six invariant keypoints and feature computation methods are compared for the recognition of product shelf items in different scenarios. The proposed approach speeds up the process by 200% to 300% for product matching. By integrating SBM view detection, the accuracy of product recognition in the front-view with rotations ranges from 90% to 95% using six different feature descriptors.

Managing Increased Cognitive Load in a Guided Search.

In the Sternberg item recognition task and its variants, an individual’s mean reaction time increases with the number of items to be retained in the memory set. An increase in reaction time has also been seen when a secondary task was added. The usual interpretation for this increased reaction time is that adding cognitive load makes tasks more difficult. In a series of three experiments, we manipulated cognitive load through increases in the memory set or through a second task. In each experiment, high cognitive load was associated with higher mean response times but a reduced slope, based on the target position in a series of probes. Thus, in a Sternberg task with multiple word targets and multiple word probes, participants searched more efficiently per probe under high load than under low load. This pattern was replicated with the addition of a working memory task requiring participants to calculate a cumulative price based on the price per target word item. By considering both initial response times and reaction time slopes in large memory sets, this study provides a challenge to the traditional interpretation of cognitive load effects on search performance.

Beached and Floating Litter Surveys by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Operational Analogies and Differences

The abundance of litter pollution in the marine environment has been increasing globally. Remote sensing techniques are valuable tools to advance knowledge on litter abundance, distribution and dynamics. Images collected by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV, aka drones) are highly efficient to map and monitor local beached (BL) and floating (FL) marine litter items. In this work, the operational insights to carry out both BL and FL surveys using UAVs are detailly described. In particular, flight planning and deployment, along with image products processing and analysis, are reported and compared. Furthermore, analogies and differences between UAV-based BL and FL mapping are discussed, with focus on the challenges related to BL and FL item detection and recognition. Given the efficiency of UAV to map BL and FL, this remote sensing technique can replace traditional methods for litter monitoring, further improving the knowledge of marine litter dynamics in the marine environment. This communication aims at helping researchers in planning and performing optimized drone-based BL and FL surveys.

Enhanced declarative memory in long-term mindfulness practitioners.

Mindfulness meditation (MM) practice is considered to benefit physical and mental health. In particular, several studies have shown a beneficial effect of MM practice on memory performance. However, it is still not clear how long-term training affects long-term declarative memory. In this study we aimed to examine whether long-term MM training impacts declarative memory formation for diverse memoranda types, as well as the role of trait mindfulness, and the possible mediating role of anxiety. We examined long-term memory performance in 23 experienced MM practitioners and 22 meditation-naïve age-matched individuals, by administering a variety of declarative memory tests, ranging from item recognition to narrative and autobiographical memory recollection and future projection. The participants also filled the Five Facet MindfulnessQuestionnaire (FFMQ) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Compared to the control group, long-term MM practitioners exhibited heightened memory performance for the picture recognition test and experienced enhanced vividness during autobiographic memory retrieval and future simulations. We also report a significant trait mindfulness and memory performance correlation, stemming exclusively from the Mm group. Our findings extend previous reports of the beneficial effect of a short-term MM training on memory performance, by showing the beneficial effect of long-term training on declarative memory. We also provide initial evidence that trait mindfulness is positively correlated with declarative memory performance, as a function of MM practice, and discuss these findings in light of the role of self-mode and cognitive diffusion, as well as attention and emotion.

Age-related neural dedifferentiation for individual stimuli: an across-participant pattern similarity analysis

ABSTRACT Age-related neural dedifferentiation – reductions in the regional specificity and precision of neural representations – is proposed to compromise the ability of older adults to form sufficiently distinct neural representations to support episodic memory encoding. The computational model that spurred investigations of age-related neural dedifferentiation initially characterized this phenomenon as a reduction in the specificity of neural patterns for individual items or stimuli. Most investigations have focused on reductions in neural differentiation for patterns of neural activity associated with category-level information, such as reduced neural selectivity between categories of visual stimuli (e.g., scenes, objects, and faces). Here, I report a novel across-participant pattern similarity analysis method to measure neural distinctiveness for individual stimuli that were presented to participants on a single occasion. Measures of item-level pattern similarity during encoding showed a graded positive subsequent memory effect in younger, with no significant subsequent memory effect in older adults. These results suggest that age-related reductions in the distinctiveness of neural patterns for individual stimuli during age differences in memory encoding. Moreover, a measure of category-level similarity demonstrated a significant subsequent memory effect associated with item recognition (regardless of an object source memory detail), whereas the effect in older was associated with source memory. These results converge with predictions of computational models of dedifferentiation showing age-related reductions in the distinctiveness of neural patterns across multiple levels of representation.

Does source memory exist for unrecognized items?

In episodic memory research, there is a debate concerning whether decision-making in item recognition and source memory is better explained by models that assume all-or-none retrieval processes or continuous underlying strengths. One aspect in which these classes of models tend to differ is their predictions regarding the ability to retrieve contextual details (or source details) of an experienced event, given that the event itself is not recognized. All-or-none or high-threshold models predict that when items are unrecognized, source retrieval is not possible and only guess responses can be elicited. In contrast, models assuming continuous strengths predict that it is possible to retrieve the source of unrecognized items, albeit with low accuracy. Empirically, there have been numerous studies reporting either chance accuracy or above-chance accuracy for source memory in the absence of recognition. Crucially, studies presenting recognition and source judgements for the same item in immediate succession (simultaneous design) have revealed chance-level accuracy, while studies presenting a block of recognition judgements followed by a block of source judgements (blocked design) have revealed slightly above-chance accuracy. Across three sets of experiments involving multiple design manipulations, the present investigation demonstrated: (a) that source memory for unrecognized items is indeed higher in blocked designs; (b) that evidence for the effect in blocked designs is likely artifactual due to item memory changing between blocks; and (c) that the effect does exist in simultaneous designs, but is highly subtle and is more easily detected when uncertainty in the participant-level data is low or is accounted for in a hierarchical Bayesian model. It is suggested that findings of a null effect in the prior literature may be attributable to design elements that hinder source memory as a whole, and to high degrees of uncertainty in the participant-level source data when conditioned on unrecognized items. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

A Study on the Relationship Between Red Memorial Landscape Perception, Collective Memory, and Identity—Take the Martyrs Monument as An Example

Landscape Perception, Memory and Identity are hot topics in landscape research and emotional research in new cultural geography. Although the relationship between the three is supported by a small number of empirical cases, there is a lack of corresponding quantitative research. In this context, the article introduces the commonly used testing methods of intermediary effects in psychology and economics to geography, takes red landscape perception as an independent variable, collective memory as an intermediary variable, and identification as a dependent variable. SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 24.0 are used to analyze the relationship between “landscape perception-collective memory-identity”. The results of the research are as follows: 1) On the whole, residents have a higher perception of the red cultural landscape, but the recognition of image appearance items varies.2) Landscape perception variables can predict collective memory variables. 3) Collective memory positively affects residents’ sense of identity. 4) Landscape perception can not only directly act on identity, but also have a positive effect on residents’ sense of identity through collective memory of residents, and part of the mediating effect played by collective memory has been verified.

Latent anxiety in clinical depression is associated with worse recognition of emotional stimuli

Background: Major Depressive Disorder, characterized by cognitive affective biases, is a considerable public health challenge. Past work has shown that higher depressive symptoms are associated with augmented memory of negative stimuli. In contrast, anxiety symptoms have been associated with overgeneralization of emotional memories. Given the high comorbidity of depression and anxiety, it is critical to understand how cognitive affective biases are differentially associated with clinical symptoms.Method: We used continuous measures of depression (Beck Depression Inventory [BDI-II]) and anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory [BAI]) to evaluate an adult sample (N = 79; 18–41 years old, 58 female). Emotional memory discrimination and recognition memory were tested using an emotional discrimination task. We applied exploratory factor analysis to questions from the BAI and BDI-II to uncover latent constructs consisting of negative affect, anhedonia, somatic anxiety, and cognitive anxiety.Results: We report evidence that anxious symptoms were associated with impaired recognition of negative items after accounting for age and sex. Our exploratory factor analysis revealed that impaired negative item recognition is largely associated with somatic and cognitive anxiety factors.Limitations: Interpretations in a mixed pathology sample, especially given collinearity among factors, may be difficult.Conclusions: We provide evidence that somatic and cognitive anxiety are related to impaired recognition memory for negative stimuli. Future clinical investigations should uncover the neurobiological basis supporting the link between recognition of negative stimuli and somatic/cognitive symptoms of anxiety.

Directed forgetting in associative memory: Dissociating item and associative impairment.

We report three item-method directed forgetting (DF) studies to evaluate whether DF impairs primarily item memory, or whether it also impairs associative memory. The current studies used a modified associative recognition paradigm that allowed disentangling item impairment from associative impairment in DF. Participants studied scene-object pairings, followed by DF cues (item-method), and at test were presented with a previously studied scene along with three objects, one of which was studied with that scene (target), whereas the remaining two objects were studied with different scenes (lures). Experiment 1 used an associative encoding orienting task, and DF impairment was observed only when the forget targets were paired with forget lures within the test display; however, DF was eliminated when the forget targets were paired with remember lures, possibly due to a recall-to-reject strategy. Experiment 2 used an object-focused orienting task that downplayed the encoding of associative information. The results revealed the opposite of Experiment 1, with significant DF when the forget targets were paired with remember lures, and no DF when the lures and the target came from the same memory instruction. Experiment 3 used the same orienting task as Experiment 1, but testing used a sequential procedure, where item recognition was assessed first, followed by associative recognition test. Conditionalizing associative recognition on item recognition outcomes confirmed that DF impairment of associative memory can be obtained despite retained memory for forget-cued objects. Overall, the results provide strong support for the impairment of associative memory by DF. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of unitization on associative and item recognition: The “benefits-only” account

Effects of unitization on associative and item recognition: The “benefits-only” account

Can Wearable Devices and Machine Learning Techniques Be Used for Recognizing and Segmenting Modified Physical Performance Test Items?

Assessment of physical performance is essential to predict the frailty level of older adults. The modified Physical Performance Test (mPPT) clinically assesses the performance of nine activities: standing balance, chair rising up & down, lifting a book, putting on and taking off a jacket, picking up a coin, turning 360°, walking, going upstairs, and going downstairs. The activity performing duration is the primary evaluation standard. In this study, wearable devices are leveraged to recognize and predict mPPT items' duration automatically. This potentially allows frequent follow up of physical performance, and facilitates more appropriate interventions. Five devices, including accelerometers and gyroscopes, were attached to the waist, wrists and ankles of eight younger adults. The system was experimented within three aspects: machine learning models, sensor placement, and sampling frequencies, to which the non-causal six-stages temporal convolutional network using 6.25 Hz signals from the left wrist and right ankle obtained the optimal performance. The duration prediction error ranged from 0.63±0.29 s (turning 360°) to 8.21±16.41 s (walking). The results suggest the potential for the proposed system in the automatic recognition and segmentation of mPPT items. Future work includes improving the recognition performance of lifting a book and implementing the frailty score prediction.

Multi-Target Prohibited Item Recognition Algorithm for X-Ray Security Scene

Multi-Target Prohibited Item Recognition Algorithm for X-Ray Security Scene

NQPC-3 A short-time intensive rehabilitation for brain tumor patients with Karnofsky Performance Status of 60-30

OBJECTIVE: Brain tumor patients with KPS of 60 to 30 after the initial treatment are not able to spend independent life at home. The goal of this study is to return these patients to their home with minimal family support by delivering intensive rehabilitation to them. Seventy-five brain patients were evaluated every 10 days from the beginning to the end of rehabilitation treatment, according to clinical scales of Functional Independence Measure (FIM) of 1–7 points depending on the degree of independence. The rehabilitation effect was judged by the degree of improvement of 11 out of 13 motor FIM items, excluding stair climbing and bathing movements. When more than half number of the 11 motor FIM items requiring physical assistance (4 points or less) improved up to non-assistance (5 points or more), it was judged as a significant effect. In addition, when all 11 items present with 6 points (independence possible) or more and all 5 of FIM recognition items are 5 points or more (understand the domestic rules), it was judged that the patients acquired independent living ability. RESULTS: 1. Of the 75 patients, 54 (72%) showed a significant effect, and 38 of them (50.7% of the total) aquired independence at home. The acquisition-rate of independent living ability by tumor was 44.7% for 38 malignant gliomas, 53.8% for 13 metastatic tumors, 50% for 14 meningiomas, and 71.4% for 7 vascular tumors, and there was no significant difference between them. 2. The median time to reach the maximum rehabilitation effect was 35 days. CONCLUSION: Intensive rehabilitation for brain tumor patients with KPS of 60 to 30 is effective and should be incorporated into the palliative treatments in the brain tumor treatment guidelines.

Hidden objective test

AbstractBackgroundAlzheimer’s disease patients frequently complaint that they lose things and be unable to find them again because of deficit in visuospatial memory. In this study we aimed to develop a novel visuospatial memory tests called the Hidden Objective Test (HOT) based on the ideas of patients’ complaint. Virtual reality (VR) is an optimal tool for developing this visuospatial memory tests in that real‐life settings implementation.MethodWe designed a pleasant and cozy living room. The photorealistic virtual environment interface with 360‐degree panoramas was rendered through HMD. The VR system enables the users to turn their head, to walk around, to open and close the furniture doors using controllers, and to track their movement in the VR living room. When the participant starts the test, the VR living room is shown and instructions for the prospective memory test are given. Nine items appeared on the white panel in order, and one by one, the item moved to the each furniture space and were hided. Memory test composed of 1) Item Free‐recall test, 2) Place Free‐recall test, 3) Item Recognition test, 4) Place‐item matching test, and 5) Prospective memory test.Participants were selected from those who visited the Memory Disorder Clinic at Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, Korea, between November 1st, 2019 and January 30th, 2020. This study group comprised 16 AD, 15 AMCI, and 15 NC participants.ResultThe performance of memory test was NC>AMCI (p<0.001), AMCI>AD (p<0.05), and NC > AD (p<0.001) in the Item Free‐recall test; NC>AMCI (p<0.01) and NC > AD (p<0.001) in the Place Free‐recall test; NC>AMCI (p<0.05), AMCI>AD (p<0.01), and NC > AD (p<0.001) in the Item Recognition test; NC>AMCI (p<0.001) and NC > AD (p<0.001) in the Place‐item matching test; NC > AD (p<0.05) in the Prospective memory test. Interestingly, the average movement path showed that NC participants went straight toward the target point whereas AD patients wandered to the target point when searching for hidden objects.ConclusionThe Hidden Objective Test (HOT) developed in this study, which incorporated virtual reality to experience real‐life events, showed potential to be used as a new memory screening test.

A simulation of older adults' associative memory deficit using structural process interference in young adults.

Associative memory deficit underlies a part of older adults' deficient episodic memory due to the reduced ability to bind units of information. In this article we further assess the mechanism underlying this deficit, by assessing the degree to which we can model it in young adults under conditions of divided attention. We shall describe two experiments in this paper; these experiments investigate item and associative recognition in young adults under full- or divided-attention conditions. The secondary tasks employed were N-back like (NBL), which serves as a working memory updating task, and parity judgement and visuospatial (VS) tasks, which serve as non-working memory tasks. The results of both experiments show that only the NBL specifically affected associative recognition, while the other tasks affected item and associative memory to the same degree, indicating a general resource competition. These results presented a convergence of evidence for the associative deficit in older adults by modelling it in young adults.

Emotional modulation of episodic memory in children and adolescents with Williams-Beuren syndrome

ABSTRACT Children and adolescents with Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS) have been described as having specific memory abilities and emotional reactivity. Although it is well established in the literature that emotion can enhance memory, no such studies have been undertaken in individuals with WBS. In three experiments, the present study tested whether the negative or positive emotional valence of stimuli can influence verbal, visual and visuo-spatial memory by specifically evaluating two memory components: item and associative memory. Sixteen 8- to 18-year-old individuals with WBS performed the first two experiments and, among them, twelve participated in the third. They were compared to equivalent groups of typically developing control children. Participants completed intentional-encoding tasks followed by immediate item recognition, associative recall or item recall tasks. Event-related potential measures during encoding and recognition of pictures were also added in the third experiment. Results demonstrated, for the first time, effects of emotions on visual item memory and visuo-spatial associative memory in individuals with WBS, that were similar to those observed in typically developing children. By combining behavioral and neural measures, our study provides new knowledge of the interaction between emotion and memory in WBS individuals, which seems to be unaffected by their atypical development.