Pattern recognition (psychology)

In psychology and cognitive neuroscience, pattern recognition describes a cognitive process that matches information from a stimulus with information retrieved from memory. Among others, the recognized patterns can be those perceived in facial features, units of music, components of language or characters and other symbols. One theory understands patterns as a set of characteristic features extracted from the stimulus, but it does not comprehensively describe the process or the role of context and there is a multitude of other theories with different approaches. Pattern recognition does not occur instantly, although it does happen automatically and spontaneously. Pattern recognition is an innate ability of animals.

The incoming sensory information is compared directly to copies (templates) stored in the long term memory. These copies are stored in the process of our past experiences and learning.

E.g. A A A are all recognized as the letter A but not B.

Note: This does not allow for variation in letters unless there are templates for each variation.

Prototype means a concept of average characteristics of a particular subject. It can be found throughout the world. For instance a concept of small animal with feathers, beak, two wings that can fly is a prototype concept of a crow, sparrow, hen, eagle, etc. Prototype matching, unlike template matching, does not emphasize a perfect match between the incoming stimuli and the stored concept in the brain.

According to this theory, the sensory system breaks down the incoming stimuli into its features and processes the information. Some features may be more important for recognition than others. All stimuli have a set of distinctive features. Feature analysis proceeds through 4 stages.

Template and feature analysis approaches to recognition of objects (and situations) have been merged / reconciled / overtaken by multiple discrimination theory. This states that the amounts in a test stimulus of each salient feature of a template are recognized in any perceptual judgment as being at a distance in the universal unit of 50% discrimination (the objective performance 'JND': Torgerson, 1958) from the amount of that feature in the template (Booth & Freeman, 1993, Acta Psychologica).

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