Top Down Processing (Definition + Examples)

Top Down Processing is the idea that our brains form an idea of a big picture first from previous knowledge and then break it down into more ... Skiptocontent Menu TopDownProcessing(Definition+Examples) TheodoreT October1,2022 Thereisalotofstimulitotakeinatanygivenmoment.Itcanseemutterlyexhaustingtobreakdowneverysight,sound,andfeelingthatweexperienceandanalyzethemtobuildourperceptionoftheworld.Afterall,wehavegatheredsomuchdataandbuiltupsomanyschemaovertheyearsthatwecouldbasicallyrecreatethethingsthatweknowbestjustbythinkingofthem.  Someexperts,however,believethisishowweprocessinformation.Otherssubscribetothetheoryoftop-downprocessing.  WhatisTopDownProcessing? TopDownProcessingistheideathatourbrainsformanideaofabigpicturefirstfrompreviousknowledgeandthenbreakitdownintomorespecificinformation.Weperceivetheworldaroundusbypullingfromourperceptualset:pastexperiences,expectations,andemotions.Then,weformopinions. ExamplesofTopDownProcessing Haveyoueverseentheimageofavaseandtwofaces?Thisimagedoesn’tchange,butuponfirstglance,wearemorelikelytoseeoneimageortheother.It’sonlyaftertrainourbraintoseetheotherimage,orsomeonetellsustoseethisimage,doesitappear.  Or,let’ssayyousee theimagebelow.IfIweretoaskyouifyousawthe man intheimage,youwouldprobablyrecognizetheman’sfacerightaway.ButifIhadpresentedthisimagetoyouandaskedyoutoidentifythe rat intheimage,yourperceptionofthedrawingwouldhavebeentotallydifferent.  Infact,basedonwhetherornottheimagewasplacedinapileofanimalsorfaces,participantsina1961studyweremorelikelytoseetheimageoftheratortheman.  Thisstudyisjustoneofmanytosupporttheideaoftop-downprocessing.Ifyouwatchedmylastvideo,youknowthattop-downprocessingisatheorythatopposesbottom-upprocessing,whichwasproposedbyJamesJ.Gibson.  Thetheoryoftop-downprocesswasdevelopedjustafewyearslater,andisoftenexplainedsidebysidewithbottom-upprocessingtoroundouttheoverarchingtheoriesonvisualperception. Thisisamoreholisticwayoflookingatvisualperception.Westartbyperceivingthewholeobject.IntheRat-Manexample,westartouranalysisbyseeingtheratorthemanbasedonthecontextofthesituationorourexpectations.Then,webegintobreakdownthevisualstimuliandseethatyes,thiscouldbearatoramanoradifferentdrawingaltogether.  Gregory’sTheory ThemanresponsiblefordevelopingthistakeonvisualperceptiontheoryisBritishpsychologistRichardGregory.Gregorydidnotcointheterm“top-downprocessing”orcreatethisideafromscratch.HistheorywasmainlyrealizedasaresponsetoGibson,andhecreditsHermannvonHelmholtzasthefatherofthistheory.  Gregoryproposedthatwhiletheeyedoestakeinalotofstimuli,mostofitislostbythetimeitreachesthebrain.Sowecan’tpossiblyconstructourentireperceptionofwhat’sinfrontofusinthedirectwaythatGibsonproposed.  Inorderto“fillintheblanks,”thebrainuseshypothesesbasedonwhatitexpectsandwhatitalreadyknowsabouttheworld.Ofcourse,hypothesesarenotalwaystrue.Aswegathermoredetailsandfocusmoreondifferentelementsofwhatweareseeing,wecoulddiscoverthatourinitialhypothesesaren’ttrue.Hence,werealizetheratisn’tjustaratorthemanisn’tjusttheman.  ExamplesofTopDownProcessinginEverydayLife Example1:Bvs.13 InmyarticleaboutBottomUpProcessing,Iusedanexampletoshowhowtop-downprocessingworkedvs.bottom-upprocessing.I’llrepeattheexamplejusttorefreshyourmemory,butI’llstartbyexplaininghowthisexampleworksusingtop-downprocessing. Let’ssayyouarereadingapieceofpaper.Youseethenumber11,thenumber12,andthenwhatappearstobethenumber13.Or,atleastthat’swhatyourbrainsayswhenyoucomeacrossit.Afteracloserlook,yourealizeyouarelookingatacapitalB,butyourbrainchoseanumberfirstduetothecontextofwhatyouwereseeing.  Ifyouareusingbottom-upprocessing,youprobablywouldn’thavemadethemistakeofseeingthe13first.YouwouldhavesimplytakeninthestimuliforwhatitwasandthenanalyzedwhetherornotitwasaB,a13,anothersymbol,etc.  Example2:JumbledLettersStillMakeSense Haveyoueverseenthepassageinwhicheverywordisspelledwrong,butthefirstandlastletterarecorrect?Mostlikely,youcanreadthewholepassagewithoutstruggling.Theindividualwordsthemselvesmakenosense,butreadingthewordasawhole,andwithinthecontextofthelargersentence,isabreeze.  Whilethispassagewasnotwritteninordertosupporttop-downprocessing,itcouldserveasevidencetoprovethatwecanprocesswordsasawholeratherthanlettingthestimuliitselfleadthewayinreadingandunderstandingapieceoftext.  Example3:ReadingMisspelledWordsorBadHandwritingIsEasierWhenReadingaWholeSentence  There’sapicturethatfloatsaroundsocialmediaorfallsintoyouremailinboxeverynowandagain.Itshowsaparagraphmadeofmisspelledwords.Thelettersarerearrangedsothatthefirstandlastletterarecorrect,buteverythingelseisoutofplace.Somehow,youcanstillreadtheentireparagraph! Thisistopdownprocessinginaction.Ifyouweretoseeanyofthewordsintheparagraphseparately,youwouldprobablyhaveahardertimeunderstandingwhatthewordissaying.Butwhenit’sstrungtogetherinasentence,yourbrainunderstandsthecontextandeasilycomprehendstheword.  Example4:TheStroopEffect  Youmighthaveheardaboutthislittlechallengebefore.Let’ssayyouseealistofcolors:red,black,etc.Eachofthewordsiswritteninadifferentcolorthatdoesn’tmatchtheword.“Red”mightbewritteninblack,etc.Whenaskedtoidentifythecolorsofthewordsratherthantheworditself,peoplemayhaveahardtime.It’seasyforthebraintoreadtheword. Thisisanexampleoftop-downprocessingbecauseweunderstandandprocesstheconceptofreadingthewordsinfrontofusratherthanidentifyingthecolor.Weautomaticallyprocesstheword,causingthedelaywhenwearetryingtodothedifferenttask.YoucanlearnmoreabouttheStroopEffectHere.  Example5:PhonemicRestoration Top-downprocessinghelpsusto“fillintheblanks”andgiveoursenseslesstodo.Amajorityofthethingsthatweseeandhearare“filledin.”Oncewe’vegraspedtheconceptofwhatwe’reseeing,hearing,smelling,etc.,thebraindoestherest.  Thiscausesanexcitingphenomenoncalledphonemicrestoration.Whenspeechsignalsarereplacedwithcertainsounds,ourbrainscanfillintheblanksand“hear”whatisbeingsaid.Whitenoise,forexample,coulddisruptsmallpiecesofspeechsignalsandwouldgocompletelyunnoticed.Youcanhearexamplesofphonemicrestorationonline.Aswhiteorpinknoisestartstofillinthegapsbetweentheperson’sspeech,itbecomesmorecoherent.  Phonemicrestorationisveryusefulforhumans.Withoutit,wewouldhaveahardtimehearingeverythingandwouldrequireamorequietenvironmentinordertohaveachat.  Example6:SeeingaPileofProduceThatDon’tHaveAnyBruises  Top-downprocessingdoesn’tjustallowustofillintheblankswhenwearelisteningtopeople.Wealsofillintheblankswithoureyes.Thismeansthatknowledgeoftop-downprocessingcanbeusedtomanipulateanimageoridea.  Let’ssayyouarearrangingfruitatagrocerystore.Onlyonesideofthefruithassomebruises,butyoureallyneedtosellthefruit.Whatsidedoyouhavefacingthecustomers?  Youcouldarrangetheproducesothatthegood-lookingsideisfacingthecustomers.Whenthecustomersseethefruit,they“fillintheblanks.”Theydon’tneedtoseethebackofthefruit–theyknowit’sthere.Inthiscase,unfortunately,theyjustwon’tknowthatthebackofthefruitiscoveredinbruises.Onlyiftheypickitupandinspectitwilltheyknowwhat’sontheotherside. Whileitappearsthattop-downandbottom-upprocessingaretwodifferentwaystoviewtheworld,manyarguethatweuseacombinationofbothtosee,hear,andunderstandwhatishappeningaroundus.Top-downprocessingallowsustoapplypatternsandpastknowledgetounderstandwhatishappeningfaster.Buttakinginsmallerdetailsallowustorefinewhatweareseeingandpossiblyseethingsinnewways. IsTopDownProcessingAutomatic?  Psychologistswhohavestudiedtop-downprocessinghavedistinguisheditfrom“voluntary”formsofperception.Sothiscanbeconsideredanautomaticprocess!  LearnMoreaboutTopDownProcessing Wanttodivedeeperintothissubject?CheckoutthisTEDTalkthatwefoundonr/psychology!Enjoylearningmoreaboutopticalillusions,topdownprocessing,andhowweseetheworld.  Relatedposts: BottomUpProcessing AutomaticProcessinginPsychology LevelsofProcessingTheory InformationProcessingTheory(Definition+Model) BehavioralTheoryofPersonality TheodoreT. Theodoreisaprofessionalpsychologyeducatorwithover10yearsofexperiencecreatingeducationalcontentontheinternet.PracticalPsychologystartedasahelpfulcollectionofpsychologicalarticlestohelpotherstudents,whichhasexpandedtoaYoutubechannelwithover2,000,000subscribersandanonlinewebsitewith500+posts. Search PERCEPTION: The5Senses MirrorNeurons BottomUpProcessing TopDownProcessing FollowUsOn: PsychologyResources Developmental Cognitive Social Personality Behavioral Relationships Psychologists Careers Therapy SerialKillers PsychologyTests PersonalityQuiz MemoryTest IQTest Depressiontest TypeA/BPersonalityTest ADHDTest Company AboutUs LogIn Contactus ©PracticalPsychology.Allrightsreserved PrivacyPolicy|TermsofUse CloseResources&Guides Developmental Cognitive Social Personality Behavioral Relationships Psychologists Careers SerialKillers PsychologyTests PersonalityQuiz MemoryTest IQTest DepressionTest TypeA/BPersonalityTest ADHDTest About Login