8B Perception - Psych

Sensory stimuli

The raw pieces of information that are detected by the five senses.

Sensation

The process of receiving and detecting raw sensory stimuli via sensory organs and sending this info to the brain.

Perception

the process of selecting, organising and interpreting sensory information.

The three processes of perception

Selection, organisation and interpretation

The process of sensation and perception

Reception → Transduction → Transmission → Selection → Organisation → Interpretation

Visual sensory system

The network that is involved in the sensation and perception of visual stimuli, including the eyes, the brain, and the neural pathways connecting them.

The process of sensation in vision

1. Visual stimuli is received by the eye in the form of light

2. Light is received by receptors in the retina

3. The light energy is converted into a neural message and sent to the brain

4. Visual information is received in the occipital lobe of the brain, ready for the process of perception to commence

Visual perception

The process of becoming consciously aware of visual stimuli as a result of the interactions between the visual sensory system, and the individuals internal and external environments.

Bottom-up processing

Perception is determined by incoming sensory information, moving from specific stimulus information to general knowledge. An example of this can be seen when reading an unfamiliar text or when learning a second language.

Top-down processing

Perception is driven by prior knowledge and expectations, moving from general knowledge to specific stimulus information. For example, imagine an individual spills water on their favourite childhood novel, and the ink smears on several pages. Despite the words being smudged, they can still interpret the sentences and storyline because the novel’s familiarity informs their expectations of what is being said.

The difference between bottom-up and top-down processing

Bottom-up processing builds knowledge in real time as the stimuli are received, allowing each of the elements to be perceived. The direction of processing is specific to general. The type of info processed is unfamiliar and complex. Whereas, top-down processing uses prior knowledge to fit the incoming stimuli with similar previous understandings. The direction of processing is general to specific. The type of info processed is familiar and less complex.