Perception

Perception

The process of organizing, interpreting sensory information resulting in conscious awareness of our world.

Sensation

The process of receiving and detecting raw sensory information via sensory organs and sending it to the brain.

Top-down processing

Perception that is driven by prior knowledge and expectations, moving from general knowledge to specific stimulus information.

Bottom-up processing

Perception that is determined by incoming sensory information, moving from specific stimulus information to general knowledge.

Selection (in perception)

Attending to certain stimuli while excluding others.

Organization (in perception)

Regrouping stimuli so they are cohesively arranged.

Interpretation (in perception)

Understanding and assigning meaning to the organized sensory information.

Gustatory perception

Becoming consciously aware of flavor through sensory information received by taste buds.

Visual perception

Becoming consciously aware of visual stimuli as a result of interactions between the visual system and the environment.

Schemas

Collections of basic knowledge about a concept or stimuli, used to categorize incoming sensory stimuli.