Since I am supposed to be writing an exam, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to do something else. I found a brief reference to "Grandmother cells and yellow Volkswagon detector theory" in Visual Perception (2E) by Vicki Bruce and Patrick Green (1990). They referenced H. Barlow's 1972 theory. I think if I started using my memory and going through my old books, I'd find more...maybe later. Carol
Carol DeVolder, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology Chair, Department of Psychology St. Ambrose University Davenport, Iowa 52803 phone: 563-333-6482 e-mail: [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: Wallen, Douglas J [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2009 10:23 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] Thinking Critically About Neuroscience: From Molecules to Full Brain Circuit Maps The reference is to a paper by Naomi Weisstein published in the late 1960's (I don't have the reference handy). She was discussing the question of how far the Hubel and Weisel feature detector concept could be pushed in explaining pattern recognition. Doug Wallen Psychology Department, AH 23 Minnesota State University, Mankato Mankato, MN 56001 E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (507) 389-5818 On 4/8/09 8:22 AM, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote: Mike Palij, with a talent for the obscure referent, paused in the course of a discussion to note: > (the problem is similar to that for the classic "grandmother" or > "yellow volkswagen" account of pattern recognition). Now I believe I am familiar with the "grandmother" allusion. It refers to a concept which emerged from the Hubel-Weisel recording studies of neurons in the visual cortex of the cat. Later studies by others showed that neurons in a neighbouring region of the brain (the inferotemporal cortex?) were highly specific (fired only) to complex visual stimuli. The suggestion was made that in our cortex there may exist neurons which are so specifically tuned as to respond only to the stimulus of our grandmother's face. So the full allusion would be to a "grandmother cell" (and I probably could even find out who first said it if I really wanted to). But yellow volkswagen? You've got me there. Are you sure you didn't mean "yellow submarine?" Stephen ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University e-mail: [email protected] 2600 College St. Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Subscribe to discussion list (TIPS) for the teaching of psychology at http://flightline.highline.edu/sfrantz/tips/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
