Basic Category Usage in Vision Language Models
The field of psychology has long recognized a basic level of categorization
that humans use when labeling visual stimuli, a term coined by Rosch in 1976.
This level of categorization has been found to be used most frequently, to have
higher information density, and to aid in visual language tasks with priming in
humans. Here, we investigate basic level categorization in two recently
released, open-source vision-language models (VLMs). This paper demonstrates
that Llama 3.2 Vision Instruct (11B) and Molmo 7B-D both prefer basic level
categorization consistent with human behavior. Moreover, the models'
preferences are consistent with nuanced human behaviors like the biological
versus non-biological basic level effects and the well established expert basic
level shift, further suggesting that VLMs acquire cognitive categorization
behaviors from the human data on which they are trained.
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Hunter Sawyer
admin_assigned
2025-03-18T09:37:16.399Z
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https://cdn-avatars.huggingface.co/v1/production/uploads/no-auth/p3vMX0xkvL_4IpWwyURLM.png
Hunter Sawyer
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HTSawyer
67d8f0fa53f713733d6c6b1d
Jesse Roberts
extracted_pending
2025-03-18T04:05:16.739Z
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https://cdn-avatars.huggingface.co/v1/production/uploads/63c19eb3a0ffa3857eae2efa/pB-CbPa1QFTImiHanNCxU.jpeg
Jesse Roberts
user
JesseTNRoberts
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Kyle Moore
admin_assigned
2025-03-18T09:37:25.148Z
675ec603e4d6d0e820ad9d3f
https://cdn-avatars.huggingface.co/v1/production/uploads/no-auth/ruPDRCZlcbDhZ6zp4xi_P.png
Olzhas
user
KyleMoore
Basic Category Usage in Vision Language Models
The field of psychology has long recognized a basic level of categorization
that humans use when labeling visual stimuli, a term coined by Rosch in 1976.
This level of categorization has been found to be used most frequently, to have
higher information density, and to aid in visual language tasks with priming in
humans. Here, we investigate basic level categorization in two recently
released, open-source vision-language models (VLMs). This paper demonstrates
that Llama 3.2 Vision Instruct (11B) and Molmo 7B-D both prefer basic level
categorization consistent with human behavior. Moreover, the models'
preferences are consistent with nuanced human behaviors like the biological
versus non-biological basic level effects and the well established expert basic
level shift, further suggesting that VLMs acquire cognitive categorization
behaviors from the human data on which they are trained.
Recent vision-language models demonstrate a preference for basic level categorization consistent with human behavior, exhibiting nuances such as biological vs. non-biological distinctions and expert shifts.
basic level categorization vision-language models Llama 3.2 Vision Instruct Molmo 7B-D biological categorization non-biological categorization expert basic level shift