Out of all the topics within this class thus far, sensory and perception seem to fascinate me the most, probably because I can find tons of connections within my own personal life that relate to the topic in this class. Sensory and perception is everywhere in our world, and is something starts with as early as birth. The most relatable subtopic of sensory and perception thus far, though, would have to be top-down processing. I will explain what top-down processing is, how it works, and some examples of it within my own personal life.
According to Goldstein, top-down processing is “processing that depends on a person’s prior knowledge or expectations.” In other words, top-down processing is using previously stored information to make our general perceptions more defined and detailed. According to Kendra Cherry, “top-down processing happens when we work from the general to the specific; the big picture to the tiny details” (Cherry). It happens in everyday life from perceiving patterns and shapes in our environment, and recognizing them as something familiar according to our previous perceptions. Top-down processing also helps us to perceive similarly looking objects, such as “the blob” in our textbook, as “different objects because of our knowledge of the kinds of objects that are … found in different types of scenes” (Goldstein). This enhances our knowledge of the environment and world around us, and explains how we improve our perception skills as we advance from adolescents into adults.
There are numerous examples of top-down processing within my own life that I never consciously was aware of, or even noticed at all. Perhaps because it seems natural, and I never really understood the term of top-down processing and how it affects perception so much within us. One true example lies within my eighteen-month old (youngest) daughter, Aubrey. Aubrey is the spice of life, and has such a huge sense of humor and is always smiling or laughing. She especially holds a true love for animals, one of which is our dog. His name is Paisley (yes, after Brad Paisley!), but of course her little self cannot pronounce “Paisley” very clearly yet, so to her, his name is “Tais.” It is the cutest thing when she squeals his name and he comes running to her! Back to the story though, after she learned to say “Tais” (her second word, in fact!), every living, fuzzy animal also held that name. The squirrel on the tree outside was “Tais.” The neighbor dog was also “Tais.” Even my sister’s pet rat and hedgehog’s name was “Tais.”
It was so cute, but I of course never paid much attention to it, and shrugged it off because she is just a toddler, and is still learning about much of the world, right? This here is a true example of top-down processing, because Aubrey was, in fact, using previous information (Paisley is a dog, and is small and furry) to apply it to other living things in the world (such as the squirrel, neighbor’s dog, rat and even hedgehog). To her, every little animal she saw was “Tais” because in her mind, it was how she perceived the world at the mere age of one. And of course, everyone has different experiences in life which cause them to have somewhat different perceptions of the world when compared to the next person. My oldest daughter, Hannah (who is five years old), just laughs when Aubrey calls him “Tais,” and sometimes tries to correct her, probably because her perception is more defined than Aubrey’s, since she is older and a tad more knowledgeable of the world around her. Aubrey will eventually reach the age where she perceives a difference between a dog and a rat, but for now, it is free entertainment for my family, as well as the strangers that walk their dogs in front of us on our walk to school in the morning.
Overall, sensory and perception is a very interesting topic, as well as very relatable to my life, as well as the lives of others that are also close to me. Knowledge about the topic of top-down processing can provide a lot of interesting conclusions about how we perceive the world we live in differently, and is something really cool to think about! Just for fun, here is a younger picture of Aubrey, and her beloved friend, “Tais.” 🙂
“Tais” and Aubrey during the snowstorm last Winter.
Sources Cited:
Cherry, K. (n.d.). What Is Top-Down Processing? Retrieved September 11, 2015.
Goldstein, E. Bruce. Cognitive Psychology. Third ed. N.p.: Wadsworth, 2011. Print.