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{{Short description|Ensemble coding, also known as ensemble perception or summary representation, is a theory}}
{{for|the approach to creating consistent software applications across various devices and interfaces|ensemble programming}} '''Ensemble coding''', also known as '''ensemble perception''' or '''summary representation''', is a theory in [[cognitive neuroscience]] about the internal representation of groups of objects in the [[human mind]]. Ensemble coding proposes that such information is recorded via [[summary statistics]], particularly the [[average]] or [[variance]]. Experimental evidence tends to support the theory for low-level visual information, such as shapes and sizes, as well as some high-level features such as face [[gender]]. Nonetheless, it remains unclear the extent to which ensemble coding applies to high-level or non-visual stimuli, and the theory remains the subject of active research. ==Theory==
Extensive amounts of information are available to the [[visual system]]. Ensemble coding is a theory that suggests that people process the general gist of their complex visual surroundings by grouping objects together based on shared properties. The world is filled with redundant information of which the human [[visual system]] has become particularly sensitive.<ref name="Whitney_2014" /><ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Whitney D, Haberman J, Sweeny T | date = 2014 | chapter = From textures to crowds: multiple levels of summary statistical perception. | title = In The New Visual Neuroscience | veditors = Werner JS, Chalupa LM | pages = 695–710 | ___location = Cambridge, MA | publisher = MIT Press }}</ref> The brain exploits this redundancy and condenses the information. For example, the leaves of a tree or blades of grass give rise to the percept of 'tree-ness' and 'lawn-ness'.<ref name="Haberman_2012">{{cite book |
== Operational definition ==
David Whitney and Allison Yamanashi
* Ensemble perception is the ability to discriminate or reproduce a statistical moment.
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* Ensemble information at each level of representation can be precise relative to the processing of single objects at that level.
* Single-item recognition is not a prerequisite for ensemble coding.
* Ensemble representations can be extracted with a temporal resolution at or beyond the temporal resolution of individual [[Cognitive neuroscience of visual object recognition|object recognition]].
== Opposing theories ==
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=== Limited visual capacity ===
[[Vision science]] has noted that although humans take in large amounts of visual information, adults are only able to process, attend to, and retain up to roughly four items from the visual environment.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Alvarez GA, Cavanagh P | title = The capacity of visual short-term memory is set both by visual information load and by number of objects | language = en-US | journal = Psychological Science | volume = 15 | issue = 2 | pages = 106–11 | date = February 2004 | pmid = 14738517 | doi = 10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.01502006.x | s2cid = 2286443 | url = http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:41302706 | url-access = subscription }}</ref><ref name="Luck_1998">{{cite journal | vauthors = Luck SJ, Vogel EK | title = The capacity of visual working memory for features and conjunctions | journal = Nature | volume = 390 | issue = 6657 | pages = 279–81 | date = November 1997 | pmid = 9384378 | doi = 10.1038/36846 | bibcode = 1997Natur.390..279L | s2cid = 205025290 }}</ref> Furthermore, scientists have found that this visual upper limit capacity exists across various phenomena including [[change blindness]],<ref>{{cite journal |
=== Low resolution representations and limited capacity ===
Additional theories in vision science propose that stimuli are represented in the brain individually as small, low resolution, icons stored in templates with limited capacities and are organized through associative links.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Nakayama K | chapter = The iconic bottleneck and the tenuous link between early visual processing and perception. | veditors = Adler K, Pointon M | title = Vision: Coding and efficiency |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xGJ_DxN3eygC&pg=PA411 |date=1993-05-13 |publisher= Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-44769-0 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Neisser U | date = 1967 | title = Cognitive Psychology | ___location = New York | publisher = Appleton-Cent }}</ref>
== History ==
Throughout its history, ensemble coding been known by many names. Interest in the theory began to emerge in the early 20th century.<ref name="Wolfe_2011" /> In its earliest years, ensemble coding was known as [[Gestalt grouping rules|Gestalt grouping]].<ref name="Wolfe_2011" /> In 1923, Max Wertheimer, a [[Gestalt psychology]] theorist, was addressing how humans perceive their visual world holistically rather than individually.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Wertheimer M | title = Untersuchungen zur Lehre von der Gestalt. II. | trans-title = Investigations into the teaching of the form | language = German | journal = Psychological Research | date = January 1923 | volume = 4 | issue = 1 | pages = 301–50 | doi = 10.1007/BF00410640 | s2cid = 143510308 }}</ref> Gestaltists argued that in object perception, the individual object features were either lost or difficult to perceive and therefore the grouped object was the favored percept.<ref>Koffka, K. (1935). The Principles of Gestalt Psychology. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd.</ref> Although Gestaltists helped define some of the central principles of object perception, research into modern ensemble coding did not occur until many years later.{{cn|date=December 2019}}
In 1971, [[Norman H. Anderson (psychologist)|Norman Anderson]] was one of the earliest to conduct explicit ensemble coding research.<ref name="Haberman_2012" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Anderson|first=Norman H.|date=1971|title=Integration theory and attitude change.|journal=Psychological Review|language=en|volume=78|issue=3|pages=171–206|doi=10.1037/h0030834|issn=0033-295X}}</ref> Anderson's research into social ensemble coding showed that individuals described by two positive terms were rated more favorably than individuals described by two positive terms and two negative terms.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Anderson|first=Norman H.|date=1965|title=Averaging versus adding as a stimulus-combination rule in impression formation.|journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology|language=en|volume=70|issue=4|pages=394–400|doi=10.1037/h0022280|pmid=5826027|issn=0022-1015}}</ref> This research on [[impression formation]] demonstrated that a weighted mean or average captures how information is integrated rather than the summation.<ref name=":0" /> Additional research during this time explored ensemble coding in group attractiveness,<ref>Anderson, N. H., Lindner, R., & Lopes, L. L. (1973). Integration Theory Applied to Judgments of Group Attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 26(3), 400-408.</ref> shopping preferences,<ref>Levin, I. P. (1974). Averaging Processes in Ratings and Choices Based on Numerical Information. Memory & Cognition, 2(4), 786-790.</ref> and the perceived badness of criminals.<ref>Leon, M., Oden, G. C., & Anderson, N. H. (1973). Functional Measurement of Social Values. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 27(3), 301-310.</ref>
== The current era ==
Findings by [[Dan Ariely]] in 2001 were the first data to support the modern theories of ensemble coding. Ariely used novel experimental paradigms, which he labeled "mean discrimination" and "member identification", to examine how sets of objects are perceived. He conducted three studies involving shape ensembles that varied in size. Across all studies, participants were able to accurately encode the mean size of the ensemble of objects, but they were inaccurate when asked if a certain object was a part of the set. Ariely's findings were the first that found statistical summary information emerge in the visual perception of grouped objects.<ref name="Ariely_2001">{{cite journal | vauthors = Ariely D | s2cid = 6435925 | title = Seeing sets: representation by statistical properties | journal = Psychological Science | volume = 12 | issue = 2 | pages = 157–62 | date = March 2001 | pmid = 11340926 | doi = 10.1111/1467-9280.00327
Consistent with Ariely's findings,<ref name="Ariely_2001" /> follow-up research conducted by Sang Chul Chong and Anne Treisman in 2003 provided evidence that participants are engaging in summary statistical processes. Their research revealed that participant's maintained high accuracy in encoding the mean size of the stimuli even with short stimuli presentations as low as 50 milliseconds, memory delays, and object distribution differences.<ref name="Chong_2003">{{cite journal | vauthors = Chong SC, Treisman A | title = Representation of statistical properties | journal = Vision Research | volume = 43 | issue = 4 | pages = 393–404 | date = February 2003 | pmid = 12535996 | doi = 10.1016/S0042-6989(02)00596-5 | doi-access = free }}</ref>
Additional research has demonstrated that ensemble coding is not limited to the mean size of objects in the ensemble,<ref name="Ariely_2001" /> but that additional content is extracted, such as average line orientation,<ref name="Dakin_1997">{{cite journal | vauthors = Dakin SC, Watt RJ | title = The computation of orientation statistics from visual texture | journal = Vision Research | volume = 37 | issue = 22 | pages = 3181–92 | date = November 1997 | pmid = 9463699 | doi = 10.1016/S0042-6989(97)00133-8 | doi-access = free }}</ref> average spatial ___location,<ref name="Alvarez_2008">{{cite journal | vauthors = Alvarez GA, Oliva A | title = The representation of simple ensemble visual features outside the focus of attention | journal = Psychological Science | volume = 19 | issue = 4 | pages = 392–8 | date = April 2008 | pmid = 18399893 | pmc = 2587223 | doi = 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02098.x }}</ref> average number,<ref name="Halberda_2006">{{cite journal | vauthors = Halberda J, Sires SF, Feigenson L | title = Multiple spatially overlapping sets can be enumerated in parallel | journal = Psychological Science | volume = 17 | issue = 7 | pages = 572–6 | date = July 2006 | pmid = 16866741 | doi = 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01746.x | s2cid = 18182572 }}</ref> and statistical summaries such as the variances<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Solomon JA, Morgan M, Chubb C | title = Efficiencies for the statistics of size discrimination | journal = Journal of Vision | volume = 11 | issue = 12 | pages = 13 | date = October 2011 | pmid = 22011381 | pmc = 4135075 | doi = 10.1167/11.12.13 }}</ref> are detected. Observers are also able to extract accurate perceptual summaries of high-level features such as the average direction of eye gaze of grouped faces<ref>{{Cite journal|
== Levels of ensemble coding ==
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=== Low-level feature information ===
[[High- and low-level|Low-level]] ensemble coding has been observed in various psychophysical areas of research. For example, people accurately perceive the average size of objects,<ref name="Chong_2003" /> motion direction of grouped dots,<ref name=":2">{{cite journal | vauthors = Watamaniuk SN, Sekuler R, Williams DW | title = Direction perception in complex dynamic displays: the integration of direction information | journal = Vision Research | volume = 29 | issue = 1 | pages = 47–59 | date = 1989-01-01 | pmid = 2773336 | doi = 10.1016/0042-6989(89)90173-9 | s2cid = 11379304 }}</ref><ref name=":3">{{cite journal | vauthors = Watamaniuk SN, McKee SP | title = Simultaneous encoding of direction at a local and global scale | journal = Perception & Psychophysics | volume = 60 | issue = 2 | pages = 191–200 | date = February 1998 | pmid = 9529903 | doi = 10.3758/BF03206028 | doi-access = free }}</ref> number,<ref name="Halberda_2006" /> line orientation,<ref name="Dakin_1997" /> and spatial ___location.<ref name="Alvarez_2008" /><ref name="Whitney_2014" />
=== High-level feature information ===
[[High- and low-level|High-level]] ensemble coding extends to more complex, higher level objects including faces.<ref name="Whitney_2014" /><ref name="Haberman_2012" />
=== Independence of low- and high-level information ===
Some findings suggest lower-level and higher-level information may be processed by independent cognitive mechanisms<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Haberman |first1=Jason |last2=Brady |first2=Timothy F |last3=Alvarez |first3=George A |title=Independent ensemble processing mechanisms for high-level and low-level perceptual features |journal=Journal of Vision |date=August 2014 |volume=14 |issue=1322 |page=1322 |doi=10.1167/14.10.1322 |url=https://jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2145200|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sama |first1=Marco A |last2=Nestor |first2=Adrian |last3=Cant |first3=Jonathan S |title=Independence of viewpoint and identity in face ensemble processing |journal=Journal of Vision |date=May 2019 |volume=19 |issue=2 |page=10.1167/19.5.2 |doi=10.1167/19.5.2 |s2cid=145822839 |url=https://jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2733024|doi-access=free }}</ref>
== Social vision and ensemble coding ==
Based on the early work of Anderson,<ref name=":1" /> it appears that humans integrate semantic as well as social information into memory using ensemble coding. These findings suggest that social processes may hinge on the same sort of underlying mechanisms that allow people to perceive average object orientation <ref name="Dakin_1997" /> and average object direction of motion.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name="Haberman_2012" />
In recent years, ensemble coding in the field of [[social vision]] has emerged. Social vision is a field of research that examines how people perceive one another. With the addition of ensemble coding, the field is able to explore people perception, or how people perceive groups of other people. This specific research area focuses on how observers accurately perceive and extract social information from groups and how that extracted information influences downstream judgments and behaviors.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|
Additional research has uncovered that in as little as 75 milliseconds, participants are able to derive the average sex ratio of an ensemble of faces.<ref name=":5" /> Furthermore, within that 75 milliseconds, participants were able to form impressions based on the perceived sex ratio and make inferences about the group's perceived threat.<ref name=":5" /> Specifically, this research found that groups were judged as more threatening as the ratio of men to women increased.<ref name=":5" />
In 2023, researchers found that people can accurately gauge the average trustworthiness of multiple faces presented together, even at very brief exposure times (as short as 250 ms). The findings suggest that our brains efficiently extract a summary statistic of facial features from crowds, enabling quick social judgments that may influence behavior.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dolan |first=Eric W. |date=2024-02-24 |title=Ensemble perception: Trust judgments of crowds of faces happen at the blink of an eye |url=https://www.psypost.org/ensemble-perception-trust-judgments-of-crowds-of-faces-happen-at-the-blink-of-an-eye/ |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=PsyPost - Psychology News |language=en-US}}</ref>
== References ==
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[[Category:Cognitive psychology]]
[[Category:Perception]]
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