The formation of incorrect hypotheses will lead to errors of perception (e.g.Sensory receptors receive information from the environment, which is then combined with previously stored information about the world which we have built up as a result of experience.Our perceptions of the world are hypotheses based on past experiences and stored information.Richard Gregory proposed that perception involves a lot of hypothesis testing to make sense of the information presented to the sense organs.We actively construct our perception of reality.
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A lot of information reaches the eye, but much is lost by the time it reaches the brain (Gregory estimates about 90% is lost).In this way we are actively constructing our perception of reality based on our environment and stored information. Helmholtz called it the ‘likelihood principle’.įor Gregory perception is a hypothesis, which is based on prior knowledge. Stimulus information from our environment is frequently ambiguous so to interpret it, we require higher cognitive information either from past experiences or stored knowledge in order to makes inferences about what we perceive. Psychologist Richard Gregory (1970) argued that perception is a constructive process which relies on top-down processing. Gregory (1970) and Top Down Processing Theory This is because the meaning of the surrounding words provide a context to aid understanding. For example, understanding difficult handwriting is easier when reading complete sentences than when reading single and isolated words. Top-down processing refers to the use of contextual information in pattern recognition.
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Processing is carried out in one direction from the retina to the visual cortex, with each successive stage in the visual pathway carrying out ever more complex analysis of the input. Psychologists distinguish between two types of processes in perception: bottom-up processing and top-down processing.īottom-up processing is also known as data-driven processing, because perception begins with the stimulus itself. This controversy is discussed with respect to Gibson (1966) who has proposed a direct theory of perception which is a 'bottom-up' theory, and Gregory (1970) who has proposed a constructivist (indirect) theory of perception which is a 'top-down' theory. Some argue that perceptual processes are not direct, but depend on the perceiver's expectations and previous knowledge as well as the information available in the stimulus itself. Sensory inputs are somehow converted into perceptions of desks and computers, flowers and buildings, cars and planes into sights, sounds, smells, taste and touch experiences.Ī major theoretical issue on which psychologists are divided is the extent to which perception relies directly on the information present in the environment. Each sense organ is part of a sensory system which receives sensory inputs and transmits sensory information to the brain.Ī particular problem for psychologists is to explain the process by which the physical energy received by sense organs forms the basis of perceptual experience. In order to receive information from the environment we are equipped with sense organs e.g.