topdownprosessering
Top-down processing is a concept in cognitive psychology that describes how our brains utilize prior knowledge, expectations, and context to interpret incoming sensory information. Instead of processing sensory input in a strictly bottom-up manner, where raw data is analyzed piece by piece, top-down processing allows us to make sense of the world by fitting new information into existing mental frameworks. This means that what we perceive is not solely determined by the sensory stimuli themselves, but also by our existing beliefs, memories, and goals.
For example, when reading a sentence, we don't necessarily process every single letter individually. Instead, our