Generative systems of analyzers

It is argued that human visual analyzers are organized into generative systems and that these systems are decomposed into nested structures of control. Any such system is structured as a transformation group G and the nested analyzer hierarchy can be expressed by an algebraic decomposition G 1 . G 2 . … . G n of that group. The paper shows how several important aspects of this analyzer architecture determine several important aspects of any perceptual organization. For example, there is a division of the analyzer hierarchy into two sub-hierarchies, one encoding the stimulus set as generated via a sequence of successively modified prototypes, and the other encoding the stimulus set as generated internally from a subset. The structure of the latter analyzer sub-hierarchy is responsible for the encoding of grouping in the stimulus set. Principles are proposed that determine the way these two analyzer sub-hierarchies are wired together: symmetry axis analyzers of the grouping sub-hierarchy are wired as encoding lines of flexibility in the sub-hierarchy describing the percept as deformed via a sequence of prototypes. In addition, it is found that one particular example of such a combined structure is significantly salient across many perceptual organizational situations. Several aspects of its architecture are examined, and it is found to provide us with a detailed theory of the perceptual encoding of highly complex shape.