Crowding is a visual effect suffered by humans, in which an object that can be recognized in isolation can no longer be recognized when other objects, called flankers, are placed close to it. In this work, we study the effect of crowding in artificial Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) for object recognition. We analyze both deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) as well as an extension of DCNNs that are multi-scale and that change the receptive field size of the convolution filters with their position in the image. The latter networks, that we call eccentricity-dependent, have been proposed for modeling the feedforward path of the primate visual cortex. Our results reveal that the eccentricity-dependent model, trained on target objects in isolation, can recognize such targets in the presence of flankers, if the targets are near the center of the image, whereas DCNNs cannot. Also, for all tested networks, when trained on targets in isolation, we find that recognition accuracy of the networks decreases the closer the flankers are to the target and the more flankers there are. We find that visual similarity between the target and flankers also plays a role and that pooling in early layers of the network leads to more crowding. Additionally, we show that incorporating flankers into the images of the training set for learning the DNNs does not lead to robustness against configurations not seen at training.

Crowding is a visual effect suffered by humans, in which an object that can be recognized in isolation can no longer be recognized when other objects, called flankers, are placed close to it. In this work, we study the effect of crowding in artificial Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) for object recognition. We analyze both deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) as well as an extension of DCNNs that are multi-scale and that change the receptive field size of the convolution filters with their position in the image. The latter networks, that we call eccentricity-dependent, have been proposed for modeling the feedforward path of the primate visual cortex. Our results reveal that the eccentricity-dependent model, trained on target objects in isolation, can recognize such targets in the presence of flankers, if the targets are near the center of the image, whereas DCNNs cannot. Also, for all tested networks, when trained on targets in isolation, we find that recognition accuracy of the networks decreases the closer the flankers are to the target and the more flankers there are. We find that visual similarity between the target and flankers also plays a role and that pooling in early layers of the network leads to more crowding. Additionally, we show that incorporating flankers into the images of the training set for learning the DNNs does not lead to robustness against configurations not seen at training.

This paper studies if crowding, a visual effect suffered by human visual systems, happens to deep neural network as well. The paper systematically analyzes the performance difference when (1) clutter/flankers is present; (2) the similarity and proximity to the target; (3) when different architectures of the network is used. Pros: There are very few papers to study if various visual perceptual phenomenon exists in deep neural nets, or in vision algorithms in general. This paper studies the effect of crowding in DNN/DCNN image classification problem, and presents some interesting results which seems to suggest similar effect exists in DNN because of pooling layers merges nearby responses. And this is related to the theories of crowding in humans, which is also interesting.

Crowding is widely regarded as one of the most important risk factors in designing portfolio strategies. In this paper, we analyze stock crowding using network analysis of fund holdings, which is used to compute crowding scores for stocks. These scores are used to construct costless long-short portfolios, computed in a distribution-free (model-free) way and without using any numerical optimization, with desirable properties of hedge portfolios. More speciTically, these long-short portfolios provide protection for both small and large market price Tluctuations, due to their negative correlation with the market and positive convexity as a function of market returns. By adding our long-short portfolio to a baseline portfolio such as a traditional 60/40 portfolio, our method provides an alternative way to hedge portfolio risk including tail risk, which does not require costly option-based strategies or complex numerical optimization.

The misjudgement of tilt in images lies at the heart of entertaining visual illusions and rigorous perceptual psychophysics. A wealth of findings has attracted many mechanistic models, but few clear computational principles. We adopt a Bayesian approach to perceptual tilt estimation, showing how a smoothness prior offers a powerful way of addressing much confusing data. In particular, we faithfully model recent results showing that confidence in estimation can be systematically affected by the same aspects of images that affect bias. Confidence is central to Bayesian modeling approaches, and is applicable in many other perceptual domains. Perceptual anomalies and illusions, such as the misjudgements of motion and tilt evident in so many psychophysical experiments, have intrigued researchers for decades.13

People are often confronted with problems whose complexity exceeds their cognitive capacities. To deal with this complexity, individuals and managers can break complex problems down into a series of subgoals. Which subgoals are most effective depends on people's cognitive constraints and the cognitive mechanisms of goal pursuit. This creates an untapped opportunity to derive practical recommendations for which subgoals managers and individuals should set from cognitive models of bounded rationality. To seize this opportunity, we apply the principle of resource-rationality to formulate a mathematically precise normative theory of (self-)management by goal-setting. We leverage this theory to computationally derive optimal subgoals from a resource-rational model of human goal pursuit. Finally, we show that the resulting subgoals improve the problem-solving performance of bounded agents and human participants. This constitutes a first step towards grounding prescriptive theories of management and practical recommendations for goal-setting in computational models of the relevant psychological processes and cognitive limitations.

Crowding is a visual effect suffered by humans, in which an object that can be recognized in isolation can no longer be recognized when other objects, called flankers, are placed close to it. In this work, we study the effect of crowding in artificial Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) for object recognition. We analyze both deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) as well as an extension of DCNNs that are multi-scale and that change the receptive field size of the convolution filters with their position in the image. The latter networks, that we call eccentricity-dependent, have been proposed for modeling the feedforward path of the primate visual cortex. Our results reveal that the eccentricity-dependent model, trained on target objects in isolation, can recognize such targets in the presence of flankers, if the targets are near the center of the image, whereas DCNNs cannot.

Variable selection problems generally present more than a single solution and, sometimes, it is worth to find as many solutions as possible. The use of Evolutionary Algorithms applied to this kind of problem proves to be one of the best methods to find optimal solutions. Moreover, there are variants designed to find all or almost all local optima, known as Niching Genetic Algorithms (NGA). There are several different NGA methods developed in order to achieve this task. The present work compares the behavior of eight different niching techniques, applied to a climatic database of four weather stations distributed in Tucuman, Argentina. The goal is to find different sets of input variables that have been used as the input variable by the estimation method. Final results were evaluated based on low estimation error and low dispersion error, as well as a high number of different results and low computational time. A second experiment was carried out to study the capability of the method to identify critical variables. The best results were obtained with Deterministic Crowding. In contrast, Steady State Worst Among Most Similar and Probabilistic Crowding showed good results but longer processing times and less ability to determine the critical factors.