Perception and attention are something that go hand in hand. If you aren’t paying good enough attention to something, then your perception of it may be faltered. The cognitive process of perception deals with top-down and bottom-up processing, where each has its own definition. That, along with the cognitive processes of attention, are considered as selective attention and divided attention. Understanding the difference between the two of each process can enhance your ability to communicate with others and build stronger relationships. Though there are numerous examples of all these processes, we will only touch base on a couple.
The cognitive process of perception is one of the most important processes cognitively. According to Thomas Farmer and Margaret Matlin, perception contributes to just about every other cognitive process in the mind, making it one of the most researched topics in cognitive sciences (Farmer et.al., 2018). The process of perception is taking existing knowledge to interpret and gather external stimuli that is registered by all the human senses, states Farmer and Matlin (Farmer et.al., 2018). This is done through learning as we grow up. We learn new things, and for the knowledge to cognitively register in our brains, we must have that internal memory of it. Touch, taste, and smell are senses that contribute to our perception throughout our life spans.
Top-down processing has to do with object recognition through emphasizing how a person’s concepts, memory, and expectations of that object (Farmer et.al., 2018). Bottom-up processing is when you register an object by its own characteristics without previous knowledge (Farmer et.al., 2018). Both processes contribute to visual perception by incorporating what we used to know, or solemnly on the object alone. When visually looking at an object through the top-down process, you use past experiences in how you will perceive that specific object. However, bottom-up processing forces you to look at the object alone and visually perceive it specifically on how that object looks at that moment. Both processes get used right along with attention as well, the next topic.
Attention to Thomas Farmer and Margaret Matlin, uses both sensory information and memory to accumulate limited information pertaining to the task at hand or an object (Farmer et.al., 2018). For us to retain the information we are trying to gather we must give our full undivided attention to the task at hand. We cannot read two different textbooks at the same time and expect to learn information from both. Of course, people could multitask, but neither one of the tasks are going to get their 100% attention. When only giving something 50% of your attention, you may only retain 50% of what it is. Top-down and bottom-up processing are used for attention as well, determining whether the person is using selective attention and divided attention to intake the external stimuli.
According to a study that was conducted by Dr. Mulligan, the people that were using undivided attention, and perceptual attention got higher scores than ones that were using selective and divided attention (Mulligan, 2002). Looking at five different buttons and making the decision to choose one of them through a series of three sets of 44 different circumstances was monitored. Selective attention is a process in what you decide to pay attention to, whether from past experiences, or because you are biased against the other surrounding stimuli. This makes you not be able to see each side of a story, or why something isn’t working the way you want it to. On the flip side, divided attention is when you are attempting to focus on two or more items at the same time. Dividing your attention is like taking a percentage of your effort out of what you are trying to learn or study. To illustrate, try reading two books at the same time, and see how well you can follow the story. Not very easy, is it? That is why when someone has something important to say, they always tell you, “I need your Undivided Attention” (Farmer, et.al., 2018).
In conclusion, being able to educate yourself on perception and attention, you can strive to learn at a faster rate and stay open to other opinions. Living a black and white type of life is something that most of our society has been living. With everyone leaning so far to one side of the political spectrum, it is dividing us as a Country from the inside out. Opening up your mind, and paying attention to someone else’s perception of an ordeal, can enhance the conversation, especially if you don’t use selective attention. With both the cognitive processes of perception and attention, top-down and bottom-up processing can be used together to incorporate both at the same time. Minimizing selective and divided attention can help you learn a new skill or educate yourself on a certain topic quicker. It may seem like it takes longer but taking it one task at a time can assist you in gathering the information you need to develop a secure perception.
One thing I always like to say is…
“Don’t allow external stimuli to affect your internal perception of yourself”.
-Cyral I Callender III
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References
Farmer, T. A., & Matlin, M. W. (2018). Cognition (10th Edition). Wiley Global Education US. https://purdueuniversityglobal.vitalsource.com/books/9781119491668
Mulligan, N. W. (2002). Attention and perceptual implicit memory: effects of selective versus divided attention and number of visual objects. Psychological Research, 66(3), 157. https://doi-org.libauth.purdueglobal.edu/10.1007/s00426-002-0089-2
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