Picture recognition in animals and humans

The question of object-picture recognition has received relatively little a ttention in both human and comparative psychology; a paradoxical situation given the important use of image technology (e.g. slides, digitised picture s) made by neuroscientists in their experimental investigation of visual co gnition. The present review examines the relevant literature pertaining to the question of the correspondence between and/or equivalence of real objec ts and their pictorial representations in animals and humans. Two classes o f reactions towards pictures will be considered in turn: acquired responses in picture recognition experiments and spontaneous responses to pictures o f biologically relevant objects (e.g. prey or conspecifics). Our survey wil l lead to the conclusion that humans show evidence of picture recognition f rom an early age; this recognition is, however, facilitated by prior exposu re to pictures. This same exposure or training effect appears also to be ne cessary in nonhuman primates as well as in other mammals and in birds. Othe r factors are also identified as playing a role in the acquired responses t o pictures: familiarity with and nature of the stimulus objects, presence o f motion in the image, etc. Spontaneous and adapted reactions to pictures a re a wide phenomenon present in different phyla including invertebrates but in most instances, this phenomenon is more likely to express confusion bet ween objects and pictures than discrimination and active correspondence bet ween the two. Finally, given the nature of a picture (e.g. bi-dimensionalit y, reduction of cues related to depth), it is suggested that object-picture recognition be envisioned in various levels, with true equivalence being a limited case, rarely observed in the behaviour of animals and even humans. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.