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7.2 Feature extraction and hierarchical representations in CNNs

2 min readjuly 25, 2024

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) mimic human visual processing by building progressively complex representations. From detecting basic visual elements to assembling , CNNs use hierarchical feature representations to process images effectively.

CNNs employ convolutional layers, pooling layers, and activation functions to learn and extract features. This hierarchical approach allows for the detection of local patterns through receptive fields and the development of increasingly abstract representations in deeper layers.

Hierarchical Representations in CNNs

Hierarchical feature representations in CNNs

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  • Feature hierarchy in CNNs mimics human visual processing builds progressively complex representations
    • Low-level features (early layers) detect basic visual elements (, , simple )
    • Mid-level features (intermediate layers) combine low-level features form and
    • High-level features (deeper layers) assemble complex object structures and scene compositions
  • Convolutional layers apply learnable filters detect specific patterns each layer builds upon previous layer's features
  • Pooling layers reduce spatial dimensions increase invariance to small translations (, )
  • Activation functions (ReLU, sigmoid) introduce enable learning of complex patterns

Receptive fields for local patterns

  • refers to region in input space affecting particular CNN feature grows larger in deeper layers
  • limits each neuron's connections to small region of previous layer preserves spatial relationships
  • Receptive field size increases in deeper layers influenced by , , and pooling operations
  • Enables detection of local features at various scales (textures, object parts)
  • Overlapping receptive fields allow feature detection at different locations
  • Field of view expands with network depth captures larger context for global understanding

Deeper layers for complex features

  • Increasing abstraction shallow layers detect simple features (edges, colors) deep layers capture complex composite features (faces, vehicles)
  • Feature composition deeper layers combine lower-level features create more abstract representations
  • larger receptive fields in deeper layers capture relationships between distant parts of input (scene layout)
  • deeper layers become more robust to input transformations (rotation, scale)
  • aid understanding (, activation maximization)
  • deeper layers more task-specific earlier layers more general and transferable

Feature extraction importance in vision

  • Automatic feature learning CNNs learn relevant features without manual engineering adapt to various tasks and datasets
  • tailored for different vision tasks (classification, detection, segmentation, recognition)
  • pre-trained models serve as feature extractors fine-tuned for specific tasks
  • to variations handles changes in illumination, pose, and occlusions
  • creates compact representations of high-dimensional image data
  • Interpretability analysis of learned features improves model understanding
  • Performance improvements increases accuracy in vision tasks enables efficient processing of large-scale datasets
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© 2024 Fiveable Inc. All rights reserved.
AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.

© 2024 Fiveable Inc. All rights reserved.
AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.
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