A cognitive architecture account of the visual local advantage phenomenon in autism spectrum disorders

Abstract

Ideally, a cognitive architecture is a neurally plausible model that unifies mental representations and cognitive processes. Here, I apply such a model to re-evaluate the local advantage phenomenon in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), that is, the better than typical performance on visual tasks in which local stimulus features are to be discerned. The model takes (a) perceptual organization as a predominantly stimulus-driven process yielding hierarchical stimulus organizations, and (b) attention as predominantly scrutinizing the hierarchical structure of established percepts in a task-driven top-down fashion. This accounts for a dominance of wholes over parts and implies that perceived global structures mask incompatible local features. The model also substantiates that impairments in neuronal synchronization - as found in ASD - reduce the emergence of global structures and, thereby, their masking effect on incompatible features. I argue that this explains the local advantage phenomenon and I discuss implications and suggestions for future research.

Human visual perceptual organization beats thinking on speed

“…A task-driven attention process (at the right) may scrutinize such a hierarchical organizationstarting at higher levels where relatively global structures are represented, and if required by task and allowed by time, descending to lower levels where relatively local features are represented. (Reproduced from van der Helm, 2016) In PATVISH, these subprocesses interact like a fountain under increasing water pressure: As the feedforward extraction progresses along ascending connections, each passed level in the visual hierarchy forms the starting point of integrative recurrent processing along descending connections. This yields a gradual buildup from percepts of parts at lower levels in the visual hierarchy to percepts of wholes near its top end (for similar pictures, see Lee & Mumford, 2003;VanRullen & Thorpe, 2002).…”

“…A critical question then is: are ASD individuals better also in detecting compatible features? Enhanced local processing implies they are, whereas by PATVISH, reduced global processing implies they are not (van der Helm, 2016).…”

“…(After Kastens & Ishikawa, 2006) input and percepts, so, it is relevant to explore how it might interact with top-down processes. In the next sections, I first sketch an earlier-presented model of perceptual organization, called PATVISH (Perception and ATtention in the VISual Hierarchy; for details, see van der Helm, 2012Helm, , 2014Helm, , 2016. Using this model, I then argue that the input of the perceptual organization process may be modifiable and its output enrichable, but that the process itself is so fast (or efficient) that it has done most of its job by the time thinking might interfere.…”

Structural coding versus free-energy predictive coding

“…By the same token, it would result in categorization into smaller categories. Furthermore, linking up with Section "Attention", it would also result in weaker masking effects on embedded figures (i.e., local features that are incompatible with typically perceived global structures), which therefore would be better discernable (van der Helm, 2015b). The latter agrees with the weak central coherence theory of ASD (Frith, 1989; see also Happé & Booth, 2008).…”

“…Hyperstrings are superpositions of up to an exponential number of similar regularities, which can be hierarchically recoded in a transparallel fashion, that is, simultaneously as if only one regularity were concerned. The first version of PISA (van der Helm & Leeuwenberg, 1986) already employed what Lee and Mumford (2003) called particle filtering, but then, with particle updating guided by propagation of the Occamian simplicity belief. The second version (van der Helm, 1988) added the basics of what van der Helm (2004) formalized as transparallel processing by hyperstrings.…”