Cognitive Psychology - Bottom-up/Top-down PDF

 Bottom-Up vs. Top-Down Processing Bottom-up processing begins with the retrieval of sensory information from our external environment to build perceptions based on the current input of sensory information (Gibson, 196...

 Bottom-Up vs. Top-Down Processing Bottom-up processing begins with the retrieval of sensory information from our external environment to build perceptions based on the current input of sensory information (Gibson, 1966). Top-down processing is the interpretation of incoming information based on prior knowledge, experiences, and expectations (Gregory, 1970) Bottom-Up Data-driven Relies on sensory information Takes place in real-time Top-Down Schema driven Relies on knowledge and experiences Bottom-up processing begins with retrieving sensory information from our external environment to build perceptions based on the current input of sensory information. Top- down processing interprets incoming information based on prior knowledge, experiences, and expectations. In top-down processing, we know that previous knowledge, experience, and expectations are essential in creating perceptions about new stimuli, so the driving force in top-down perception is one’s previous knowledge, experience, and expectations (Gregory, 1974). Whereas in bottom-up processing, no learning is required, and perceptions are solely based on new stimuli from one’s current external environment, meaning that the driving force of perception in bottom-up processing is the stimulus that is currently being experienced within one’s external environment (Gibson, 1972). Bottom-up processing is the process of ‘sensation’ and top-down is the process of ‘perception’. Sensation is the input of sensory information from our external environment that is received by our sensory receptors. Bottom-up processing is the process of ‘sensation,’ whereby the input of sensory information from the external environment is received by our sensory receptors. Perception is how our brains choose, organize, and interpret these sensations. Perception is unique to each individual as we interpret these sensations based on our individual schemas that are constructed from previous knowledge, experiences, and expectations (Jandt, 2020). However painful, imagine you have just stubbed your pinky toe on the corner of the bed. Upon stubbing your pinky toe, the pain receptors in your toe would have immediately recognized the pain sensation and sent these very pain signals to your brain, where they are processed. This would be considered bottom-up processing as your brain receives signals of pain sent by your pinky toe’s sensory receptors. However, now that you have experienced the horrifying pain caused by stubbing your pinky toe, you are now extra careful to avoid the corners of your bed because you remember how painful that experience was and do not wish to repeat it, which would be an example of top- down processing. Simply put, the sensation of pain and the subsequent signals sent to your brain that detected the pain caused by stubbing your pinky toe occurred through bottom-up processing. Prosopagnosia (phonetically pronounced praa- suh-pag-now-zhuh) is a visual form of agnosia where individuals cannot recognize faces or facial differences (Harris & Aguirre, 2017). Prosopagnosia or often referred to as face blindness, is a rare condition where patients who are affected cannot recognize whether they have seen someone’s face before or not. Prosopagnosia (phonetically pronounced praa- suh-pag-now-zhuh) is a visual form of agnosia where individuals cannot recognize faces or facial differences (Harris & Aguirre, 2017). Prosopagnosia or often referred to as face blindness, is a rare condition where patients who are affected cannot recognize whether they have seen someone’s face before or not. In cases such as these, top-down processing is not possible to distinguish one face from the next. Individuals must rely on taking in what they see at the moment when analyzing someone’s face. This is because individuals with prosopagnosia can recognize different facial features but are not able to use their memory to put a name to a face. In essence, individuals with prosopagnosia cannot detect familiar faces because they cannot combine facial features into complete faces that