{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7162782264","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2605.30170","title":"Unveiling the Visual Counting Bottleneck in Vision-Language Models","display_name":"Unveiling the Visual Counting Bottleneck in Vision-Language Models","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-05-28","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7162782264","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2605.30170"},"language":null,"primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2605.30170","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2605.30170","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"},"type":"preprint","indexed_in":["datacite"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"green","oa_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2605.30170","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5137371542","display_name":"Xingzhou Pang","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Pang, Xingzhou","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5137326105","display_name":"Yifan Hou","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Hou, Yifan","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5137394719","display_name":"Junling Wang","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Wang, Junling","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5137326004","display_name":"Mrinmaya Sachan","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Sachan, Mrinmaya","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":0,"institutions_distinct_count":0,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":null,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":null,"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":null,"last_page":null},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11714","display_name":"Multimodal Machine Learning Applications","score":0.847000002861023,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1707","display_name":"Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11714","display_name":"Multimodal Machine Learning Applications","score":0.847000002861023,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1707","display_name":"Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10775","display_name":"Generative Adversarial Networks and Image Synthesis","score":0.034699998795986176,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1707","display_name":"Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12026","display_name":"Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI)","score":0.008700000122189522,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/bottleneck","display_name":"Bottleneck","score":0.6539000272750854},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/extrapolation","display_name":"Extrapolation","score":0.6097000241279602},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/separable-space","display_name":"Separable space","score":0.48989999294281006},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/magnitude","display_name":"Magnitude (astronomy)","score":0.486299991607666},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/scaling","display_name":"Scaling","score":0.47859999537467957},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/visual-angle","display_name":"Visual angle","score":0.4077000021934509},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/visual-perception","display_name":"Visual perception","score":0.36640000343322754},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/prior-probability","display_name":"Prior probability","score":0.364300012588501},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/perception","display_name":"Perception","score":0.3610999882221222}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780513914","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18210350","display_name":"Bottleneck","level":2,"score":0.6539000272750854},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C132459708","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q744069","display_name":"Extrapolation","level":2,"score":0.6097000241279602},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.5753999948501587},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.5374000072479248},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C70710897","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q680081","display_name":"Separable space","level":2,"score":0.48989999294281006},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C126691448","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2028919","display_name":"Magnitude (astronomy)","level":2,"score":0.486299991607666},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C99844830","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q102441924","display_name":"Scaling","level":2,"score":0.47859999537467957},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C200756006","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q336092","display_name":"Visual angle","level":2,"score":0.4077000021934509},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C178253425","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q162668","display_name":"Visual perception","level":3,"score":0.36640000343322754},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C177769412","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q278090","display_name":"Prior probability","level":3,"score":0.364300012588501},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C26760741","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q160402","display_name":"Perception","level":2,"score":0.3610999882221222},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C114289077","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3284399","display_name":"Statistical model","level":2,"score":0.3562000095844269},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C11413529","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8366","display_name":"Algorithm","level":1,"score":0.3499999940395355},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C174348530","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q188635","display_name":"Bridging (networking)","level":2,"score":0.33329999446868896},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C80444323","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2878974","display_name":"Theoretical computer science","level":1,"score":0.329800009727478},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C119857082","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2539","display_name":"Machine learning","level":1,"score":0.32679998874664307},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777904410","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7397","display_name":"Software","level":2,"score":0.3158000111579895},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C36464697","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q451553","display_name":"Visualization","level":2,"score":0.31380000710487366},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C22019652","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q331309","display_name":"Overfitting","level":3,"score":0.310699999332428},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C99740376","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17092520","display_name":"Interactive visual analysis","level":4,"score":0.29159998893737793},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777508537","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7936620","display_name":"Visual reasoning","level":2,"score":0.2888999879360199},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C75553542","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q178161","display_name":"A priori and a posteriori","level":2,"score":0.2879999876022339},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C774472","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6760393","display_name":"Margin (machine learning)","level":2,"score":0.28769999742507935},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2781020372","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q533093","display_name":"On the fly","level":2,"score":0.2818000018596649},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C33923547","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q395","display_name":"Mathematics","level":0,"score":0.2757999897003174},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C15123163","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q500096","display_name":"Psychophysics","level":3,"score":0.2689000070095062},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C45768438","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q337432","display_name":"Numerical cognition","level":3,"score":0.25940001010894775},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C153180895","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7148389","display_name":"Pattern recognition (psychology)","level":2,"score":0.2583000063896179},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C65620979","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7661176","display_name":"Symbolic data analysis","level":2,"score":0.2565000057220459},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C49937458","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2599292","display_name":"Probabilistic logic","level":2,"score":0.25589999556541443}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2605.30170","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2605.30170","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":null,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2605.30170","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2605.30170","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":false,"pdf":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":0,"referenced_works":[],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"While":[0],"Large":[1],"Vision-Language":[2],"Models":[3],"(VLMs)":[4],"excel":[5],"at":[6],"interpolation,":[7],"they":[8,83],"suffer":[9],"catastrophic":[10],"failures":[11],"in":[12,17],"systematic":[13],"generalization,":[14],"most":[15],"notably":[16],"visual":[18,30,36,53,103],"counting.":[19],"In":[20],"this":[21,25,148],"work,":[22],"we":[23,50],"investigate":[24],"extrapolation":[26,65],"bottleneck":[27],"by":[28],"deconstructing":[29],"counting":[31],"into":[32,63],"three":[33],"cognitive":[34],"stages:":[35],"individuation,":[37],"magnitude":[38,75,114],"awareness,":[39,76],"and":[40,47],"symbolic":[41,93,106],"mapping.":[42],"Using":[43],"synthetic":[44],"Go":[45],"boards":[46],"linear":[48],"probes,":[49],"demonstrate":[51],"that":[52,130,146],"backbones":[54],"maintain":[55],"robust,":[56],"linearly":[57],"separable":[58],"representations":[59],"of":[60],"quantity":[61],"well":[62],"the":[64,89,92,97,139],"regime,":[66],"ruling":[67],"out":[68],"perceptual":[69],"failure.":[70],"Furthermore,":[71],"models":[72],"retain":[73],"latent":[74],"successfully":[77],"performing":[78],"comparative":[79],"reasoning":[80],"on":[81,138],"quantities":[82],"fail":[84,117],"to":[85,91,100,118],"enumerate.":[86],"We":[87],"pinpoint":[88],"collapse":[90],"mapping":[94],"stage,":[95],"where":[96],"model":[98],"fails":[99],"project":[101],"valid":[102],"magnitudes":[104],"onto":[105],"tokens.":[107],"Our":[108],"findings":[109],"support":[110],"a":[111,120],"frac":[112],"tured":[113],"hypothesis:":[115],"VLMs":[116],"acquire":[119],"universal":[121],"number":[122],"space,":[123],"instead":[124],"learning":[125],"disjoint,":[126],"modality-specific":[127],"statistical":[128],"manifolds":[129],"prevent":[131],"cross-modal":[132],"grounding":[133],"for":[134],"unseen":[135],"quantities.":[136],"Validated":[137],"state-of-the-art":[140],"foundation":[141],"model,":[142],"our":[143],"results":[144],"suggest":[145],"bridging":[147],"gap":[149],"requires":[150],"inductive":[151],"priors":[152],"enforcing":[153],"unified":[154],"representations,":[155],"as":[156],"data":[157],"scaling":[158],"alone":[159],"is":[160],"insufficient.":[161]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-07-01T06:00:48.157686","created_date":"2026-05-30T00:00:00"}
