Mamaril,Jenica Ruth R.

June 8, 2019
BSP-1b P105 WS 7:30 am – 9:30 am

1. Discuss the difference between top-down and bottom-up theories of perception.

In Bottom-up processing we use our senses to receive information as we figure out or organize what our senses
are trying to perceive. For example, a teacher flashed a random picture to her students, the students’ eyes detect the features,
the details, the figure on the picture the image will now be processed by the brain as the brain pieces it together, and hence
you perceive a picture of an animal. What you see is based only on the sensory information coming in. Bottom-up refers to
the way it is built up from the smallest pieces of sensory information. While in Top-down processing this is driven by high-
level cognitive process, existing knowledge, and the prior expectations that influence perception in other words this is where
your brain applies what it knows and what it expects to perceive and fills in the blanks. For example this post that is quite
famous in social media entitled “Cna you raed this?”
Try reading this:
“i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig
to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is
taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghi t pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs
is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas
tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it.”
We often read right over typographical errors in text. Because the preceding text gives us a lot of context information,
we know what words to expect and automatically and unconsciously correct the incorrect letter/s in the stimulus. This shows
that we predict what words will appear, and these predictions over-rides the actual stimulus to the eyes when we miss a
typographical error.
2. Describe the process and give examples of the following bottom-up theories:
a. Direct Perception

The picture above represents an evidence that supported Gibson’s Theory which is light and the environment. The flow of the
optic array contains important information about what type of movement is taking place. Wherein he claimed that the center
of that movement indicates the direction in which the perceiver is moving. Gibson also stated that the information in our
sensory receptors, including the sensory context, is all we need to perceive anything. As the environment supplies us with all
the information we need for perception.
b. Template Theories

When police officers takes fingerprints from a crime scene, they do this to try to match them up against stored
instances that have been taken from a particular individuals and those stored instances are templates. Templates are
highly detailed models for patterns we potentially might recognize. We recognize a pattern by comparing it with our set
of templates. Just like when the police officers will check or investigate a crime scene they always look for fingerprints in
order to know the culprit in that crime scene.
c. Feature Theories

An example here is the Selfridge’s Feature- Making model. The purpose of this theory is that we decompose
visual patterns into a set of critical features, which we then try to match against features stored in memory. Like for
instance this model, let’s say for example I have stored the information that the letter “R” comprises 2 horizontal lines, 1
oblique line, 2 right angles, 2 acute angles and 1 discontinuous curve whereas the letter “P” or “D” has 1 vertical line and
1 discontinuous curve. I have similar stored knowledge about other letters of the alphabet. When I am presented with a
letter of the alphabet, the process of recognition involves identifying the types of lines and angles and comparing these
to stored information about all letters of the alphabet. If presented with an “R”, as long as I can identify the features then
I should recognize it as an “R”, because no other letter of the alphabet shares this combination of features.
d. Recognition-by-Components Theory

For example in a daycare center a kid saw building blocks, the kid got three shapes which was a cylinder a
rectangle and a curved shaped one. Using his/her imagination he/she was able to build objects that he/she see every
day which is maybe his/her parents coffee mug or his/her dad’s suitcase whenever he goes to work. Now in here, the
mind of the child picked out some simple components or geons, and assumed “mug” or “suitcase” on what the child has
built using the building blocks. The mind of the child likely made this assumption because our brains are always looking
for patterns, recognizing things that are common and making assumptions about regularities in our environment. These
patterns helps us to perceive and react faster although they aren’t always correct.

3. Describe the process and give examples of the following top-down theories:

a. Constructivist Theory
This happens when the perceiver’s cognitive processes influence what he or she sees. The perceiver uses
sensory information as the foundation for the structure but also uses other sources of information to build the
perception. For example, you saw a yellow object on your dining table, you deduced the features of the yellow object
and turns out it was a banana, you perceived this by what you sense, what you know and what you can infer. Where
in you know that the object on your dining table is color yellow, every time you see the color yellow you thought of
bananas and using high-level cognitive process you can now infer that the object on the dining table is a banana.
Another example is whenever you have meet ups with your friend, you are able to distinguish your friend from a far
maybe because of the way she or he dresses or there are some unique features that only you know that your friend
has.
b. Computational Theory

This theory claims that the mind is a computer. It is generally assumed that CTM is the main
hypothesis of cognitive science. CTM is the view that any instance of thought is identical with the
making of a formal inference. In other words it is the contention that thoughts consist of responses
to symbol tokens that are driven entirely by the formal properties of those tokens and therefore
embody no knowledge of what those symbol tokens mean.