Describe the concepts of sensory adaptation, bottom-up processing, and top-down processing, and ...

ANSWER:
Sensory adaptation is the tendency to pay less attention to a nonchanging source of stimulation. Students may provide a number of examples. For instance, a student may describe a scenario where an appliance is first turned on, such as a dishwasher. At first, the sound of the dishwasher attracts our attention by engaging our auditory senses. However, as our auditory senses become accustomed to the noise, our senses adapt and we no longer hear the drone of the dishwasher.

Bottom-up processing is perception based on building simple input into more complex perceptions. Students may use examples of visual, auditory, or chemical stimuli. For example, visible light generated from a bright red apple is transmitted to the eye. The visual system then decodes information from this light wave: The distance between two peaks of the light wave is decoded as the color of the apple and the amplitude of the wave is decoded as its brightness.

Top-down processing is the perceptual process in which memory and other cognitive processes are required for interpreting incoming sensory information. Students may use examples of receiving incomplete sensory information that requires top-down processing to make sense of a particular stimuli. For example, a train conductor makes an announcement over a PA system that keeps cutting in-and-out: Please have your static ready. Next static is Grand Central Terminal. Despite the missing words, one may easily perceive this statement as, Please have your tickets ready. Next stop is Grand Central Terminal.