Anne is driving down a residential street on a Saturday afternoon and expects that she may see children playing outside on such a sunny,warm day.Out of the corner of her eye,she detects movement between two parked cars at the side of the road.She immediately presses the brake,interpreting the movement as that of a child.Later she is relieved to see that the movement came from an empty paper bag that is blowing in the wind.Anne's initial perception of the movement as that of a child can best be explained through the notion of ______.
A)size constancy
B)retinal image
C)template matching
D)top-down processing

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Anne's interpretation of the movement as that of a child, despite the actual stimulus being an empty paper bag, is an example of top-down processing. This cognitive process involves using context, expectations, and prior knowledge to perceive and interpret sensory information. In this scenario, Anne's expectation of seeing children playing outside on a sunny day influenced her perception of the ambiguous stimulus.

Anne Is Driving Down a Residential Street on a Saturday