Rather, the physical signals are simpy electromagnetic waves or sound waves of varying lengths and amplitude. Chairs, tables, people, books, etc. We recognize an automobile even if it is upside down, a lying horizontally on the ground, etc. Even more spectactularly, we infer the existence of parts of objects that we cannot see at all - the back side of a cup, the underside of a table, etc. Much of the work we have done to answer this question is on visual recognition, and much of that is on letter recognition, which is sufficiently complicated so that it is challenging to describe psychologically.
More wonderful examples come from figures of illusory contours .
However, these models would require that we store an immense number of different templates - one for each typeface. Both can occur simultaneously. Pattern recognition occurs when a match is made between sensory stimuli and a corresponding internal mental form. Pattern recognition occurs when a match is made between a perceived pattern and an abstracted or idealized mental pattern. See examples on page 101 - 103, e.g., . . . . . . . .