Question

I am having trouble understanding top-down and bottom-up processing. In particular, how to implement an example of it myself so I can remember it for the exam.

Answer 1

In general terms, top down processing means from general to specific, or from bigger to narrowed down idea. In terms of cognition (psychology) it refers to the processing of thoughts and then to the senses. THe processing of information starts at cognition to it way down to sensations. For eg- We have a mental set that in the dark eerie things happen, this is our cognition, now even when we sense a sound in the dark, we would assume that this sound is fishy.

The specific information does not make as much sense as the whole information along with context does. For example- Many a times, when we are asked to tell the meaning of a particular word, we are not able to tell it, even though we have a rough idea of it. Hence, we ask to put the word in a sentence, then we are able to tell the meaning of the word. THis is an example of top down approach.

The bottom up approach refers to building up from smaller bits of information. So, from sensation to Cognition- For example- We have met a stranger, and the guy seemed funny and we had a nice conversation, and we like the guy based on the jokes or the conversation you've had with him. But later on, very reliable evidences say that the guy you've met is a a wanted criminal. So, initially when you had no mental set for the person you liked him for the talk you've had. This is an example of bottom up approach, i.e., from funny conversation (sensation) to liking the person (cognition). And later on finding (sensation) that he is not a good guy (Cognition).