Perception is the basis for all behavior, enabling us to make sense of our environment. The act of perceiving seems simple but actually utilizes complex pathways faster than we may realize. Perception begins mostly with the visual sensory system but also includes other senses such as tactility or audition. Visual sense begins when light contacts on our retinal cells at the back of our eyes, forming an image, which is then transmitted to our brains for analysis (Goldstein, 2015, p. 51-58). Here is where things get tricky: The brain interprets the image as not what is actually reflected but what our brain thinks about it. This means that what we are seeing is really rather subjective.
Scientists have varied in their thoughts concerning the objectivity or subjectivity or our perceptions. Early psychologist Wundt (Goldstein, 2015, p. 64) suggested we objectively see what our senses dictate by connecting shapes such as dots until recognizable forms are observed. Later, the more subjective Helmholtz (Goldstein, 2015, p. 63) challenged such by stating the Likelihood of what we see fits the pattern first reflected on our eyes, and Unconscious Inferences we hold about the environment further influence this assessment. Bayesian (Goldstein, 2015, p. 70) added his formula of subjective Prior Knowledge multiplied by evidenced-based Likelihood Outcomes. Objective illusion-based Gestalt (Goldstein, 2015, p. 64) psychologists insisted the mess we are seeing is the whole as the sum of its perhaps dissimilar parts, relying on simple rather than complex componentry, immutable principles unaided by our mind’s knowledge or experience (though more modern psychologists insist that Gestalt visions are indeed influenced by past environmental exposure ( Goldstein, 2015, p. 71)).
Taking our processing into consideration, we as humans do it in two ways: By Bottom-Up Processing (“BUP”) – what our senses read in our environment without decisional input, supported by Gestalt and Wundt. Top-Down processing (“TDP”) interprets by applying knowledge and experience and thus offering meaning, as explained by Helmholtz and Bayesian (Goldstein, 2015, p. 59-71). One BUP Gestalt-like illusion I had while traveling was seeing upcoming hills looking bunched together from a distance and therefore too difficult to cross, when in actuality they were very far apart as I discovered once closer. More evidence of BUP to me was watching a baby not yet old enough to possess TDP demonstrate that when an object it liked was moved out of its field of vision, it no longer existed (Aboals, 2018), a learning stage called Object Permanence (Bremner et al., 2015).
Very effective application of subjective TDP is with the use of Reframing (Kos, 2021) in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) (APA, 2017), a clinical modality based on correcting inaccurate TDP perception. A patient, for example, through BUP, visually observes that he is alone every Saturday night and subsequently figures out through TDP, perhaps by observing the Semantic Regularities (Goldstein, 2015, p. 68) in his non-social scene of unending television and take-out food, that he is a failure and/or doomed to a solitary existence. His TDP may have been influenced by prior events affecting his self-esteem, so does not yet include the Reframing resultant awareness of the more accurate and constructive possibilities that may have caused or can change his conundrum.
Though Reframing is a useful tool, it does however underline that TDP may not always be relied upon to support mental health due to its subjective emotional nature. TDP must be manipulated to more positive perspectives if patients are to endure adverse subjective processing. Reframing may, however, be used along the more objective BUP pathway, and this may be more practical; observing pleasant environmental cues such as a sunny sky and chirping birds can be a genuine sensory experience communicative that a patient’s space can indeed be an encouraging place.
References:
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Goldstein, E. B. (2015). Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research, and everyday experience (4th ; student ed.). Cengage Learning.
Kos, B. (2021). Cognitive reframing – it’s not about what happens to you, but how you frame it. AgileLeanLife.com. https://agileleanlife.com/cognitive-reframing/
Amerian Psychological Association [APA]. (2017, July). What is cognitive behavioral therapy? https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/patients-and-families/cognitive-behavioral
Aboals. (2018, April 16). Object permanence – Nathan at 6 and 13 months old [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvp4BLFixCw
Bremner, J.G., Slater, A.M. & Johnson, S.P. (2015). Perception of object persistence: The origins of object permanence in infancy. Child Dev Perspect, 9: 7-13. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12098