Learning to categorize objects using temporal coherence

The invariance of an objects' identity as it transformed over time provides a powerful cue for perceptual learning. We present an unsupervised learningprocedure which maximizes the mutual information between the representations adopted by a feed-forward network at consecutive time steps. We demonstrate that the network can learn, entirely unsupervised, to classify an ensemble of several patterns by observing pattern trajectories, even though there are abrupt transitions from one object to another between trajectories. Thesame learning procedure should be widely applicable to a variety of perceptual learning tasks. 1 INTRODUCTION A promising approach to understanding human perception is to try to model its developmental stages. There is ample evidence that much of perception is learned.