Critique

Critique of:
Parallel visual processes in symmetry perception: Normality and pathology
By JOHAN WAGEMANS

An overview of the general field of research involving symmetry recognition in humans is presented. As this article is a mini-review, it only gives brief explanations of what seems like a great deal of data. However, the author concludes that more research must be done because thus far results have been inconclusive to explain the physiological mechanisms by which humans recognize symmetry patterns.

What can be concluded from the data is that the human visual system is quite good at perceiving symmetry – so much so that many patterns are recognized preattentively. Vertical symmetry seems to be the most easily perceived, followed by horizontal, and then oblique point symmetry at main diagonals (45 and 135 degrees apart from a vertical or horizontal axis).

What struck me most about the data presented was the apparent adaptivity of humans to perceive symmetrical patterns. The couple cases presented of patients with brain and visual defects proved that even these patients were able to detect symmetry albeit at a preattentive (subconscious) level. This made me think that preattentive recognition of symmetry was an evolutionary phenomenon – an inherent ability of all human beings that somehow contributed to their evolutionary progress.

This makes sense, considering that nature itself appears to operate on symmetrical levels. Symmetry is abundant in plant and animal life, and humans’ ability to recognize patterns in nature helped them classify objects into categories for survival purposes. Classification of the vast amounts of data in the outside world into groups made it easier for humans to operate in this material world and made it possible for them to communicate with each other, thus leading to the development of language and society as we know it today.