Top-Down Processing: Examples & Definition
In this lesson, you will learn to define top-down processing. Two examples will be provided to help you better understand the concept as it applies to everyday situations. Following completion of this lesson, you will have the opportunity to test your knowledge with a short quiz.
Top-Down Processing
Throughout the day, each of us is exposed to a potentially limitless number of sensory experiences. Just stop wherever you are right now and take a moment to really attune your senses to the environment around you. No matter where you are or what you’re doing, there are multiple sights, sounds, smells, textures, and (if you’re eating) even tastes, all flooding your senses and, subsequently, your brain as we speak. In psychology, these two separate systems are commonly thought of as sensation and perception. Sensation involves bringing in information through the five senses, and perception is how our brains make sense of that information.
Psychologists often refer to the way in which our sensation and perception systems work both separately and together as processing. In general, when it comes to processing in the context of sensation and perception, two types of processing are commonly described, namely bottom-up processing and top-down processing. Let’s take a closer look at top-down processing.
Definition
If you look at a diagram of the central nervous system, you will notice that the brain is literally positioned higher, or on top, of the sensory systems. Therefore, higher-level cognitive processes, such as thinking, are considered to be at the top of the sensation and perception process. On the other hand, lower level brain structures, such as those involved in the sensory systems of vision, touch, or hearing, are considered to be at the bottom.
Top-down processing refers to how our brains make use of information that has already been brought into the brain by one or more of the sensory systems. Top-down processing is a cognitive process that initiates with our thoughts, which flow down to lower-level functions, such as the senses. This is in contrast to bottom-up processing, which is the process of the senses providing information about the environment up to the brain.
Examples
Let’s look at a couple of everyday examples that will help you better understand the concept of top-down processing.
If you ever sat around a fire roasting marshmallows as a kid, then you might remember the first time you learned about the power of fire. No doubt at some point, curiosity got the best of you, and you got a little too close. It didn’t take long for the pain to travel from your skin to your brain and for your brain to tell you to get back. That process is essentially bottom-up processing.
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