Sep 17, 2026 · cs.CVJ/K move · Enter open · S save
Zhiyun Jiang, Hanyong Wang, Binbin Liang, Yu Xie+2
Sichuan University, Chengdu, China · Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
True machine intelligence requires transcending passive pixel registration to master top-down functional reasoning over absent information via visual negation understanding. However, unconstrained visual negation paradigms remain overly open-ended, and pervasive affirmation bias causes both existing Multi-Modal Large Language Models (MLLMs) and evaluation metrics to fail under negative semantics. To solve these intertwined challenges systematically, we first anchor the boundaries of negation reasoning within specific cognitive goals. Specifically, by focusing on safety as a highly pragmatic and critical cognitive dimension, we define the task of \textbf{S}cene \textbf{N}egation \textbf{U}nderstanding under \textbf{S}afety Cognition (\textbf{SNUS}). Under this framework, we construct a high-fidelity negative caption dataset mapping dense assertions of localized hazards. Concurrently, we propose the Cognitive Expected Scene Graph (CESG) Score, a structure-grounded, polarity-aware evaluation metric. Extensive experiments demonstrate that while current models struggle on the task, traditional metrics completely collapse under semantic reversals. Conversely, our framework delivers a solid benchmark for SNUS, providing a rigorous foundation to advance risk-aware situational comprehension and counterfactual cognition.