![]() It’s driven by cognition and is influenced by our beliefs and expectations. Top-down processing relies heavily on pre-existing knowledge and expectations. When you see an unfamiliar object for the first time, your brain would analyze its features (shape, color, texture, etc.) before it could identify the object.ĭependence on Prior Knowledge and Context It begins with an incoming stimulus and progresses upward until a cohesive representation or understanding is formed. ![]() For example, if you see a blurry image of an object that you’re familiar with, your brain may automatically fill in the gaps to identify the object based on prior knowledge (Angosto et al., 2013).īottom-up processing starts with the details (List, Du & Lee, 2021). It is guided by higher-level cognitive processes and our experiences, expectations, and understanding of the world. Top-down processing starts with a larger concept or idea and works down to the details. Top-down processing and bottom-up processing represent two approaches to understanding perception and how we interpret sensory information. Top-Down Processing vs Bottom-Up Processing “ is processing based on the applications of processing rules to the data present within the stimulus in a way that does not depend upon previous expereince” (Groome, 2013)įrom these definitions, let’s proceed to an examination of the advantages and disadvantages of top-down vs bottom-up approaches.“ is the processing influenced by the individual’s knowledge and expectations rather than simply by the stimulus itself” (Eysenck & Keane, 2005)Ī definition of bottom-up processing is also instructive to provide contrast:.“ is processing which makes use of stored knowledge and expectations in order to guide the interpretation of a … stimulus” (Groome, 2013).Here are some instructive scholarly definitions of top-down processing: It is juxtaposed to bottom-up processing, where you would instead attempt to process and make meaning of a stimulus without referring to prior knowledge or expectations, in order to minimize biases or assumptions that may skew your understanding. Top-down processing occurs when a person processes a stimulus by using their prior knowledge and expectations to interpret what they are observing. References Definitions of Top-Down Processing Instead, you’re likely able to quickly skim the sentence and understand its general meaning thanks to top-down processing.īut at the same time, you’ll likely miss some words or nuanced meanings of the text because your brain does a lot of ‘filling in the gaps’ rather than engaging in close scrutiny of every single word. While this approach is valuable for making sense of the world rapidly, it also relies heavily on mental heuristics, where we rely more heavily on expectations and experience for meaning-making, rather than a close examination of the event at hand.įor example, if you’re reading a sentence in a language you’re fluent in, you don’t have to carefully parse each individual letter or word. In this approach, contrasted to the bottom-up approach, our brains make use of prior knowledge to help make sense of new input and organize our understandings of the world (Angosto et al., 2013).Ĭognitive psychologists believe that this type of processing occurs when we form our perceptions of the world by starting with a larger concept or idea, and then work our way down to the finer details. Top-down processing refers to a cognitive process of processing information based upon prior knowledge and ‘filling in the gaps’.
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