... implies that information entering the cognitive system can be influenced by our existing knowledge, expectations and thoughts and is therefore guided by higher-level cognitive processes. Information flowing upwards enables the more basic cognitive systems to absorb the information, arrange it and then pass it onto the more complex system to allow for further interpretation. The top-down (or concept driven) theory signifies the importance of conceptually driven processes. In terms of perception, the constructivist approach assumes that our reality is formed through putting together raw fragments of sensory information and that our expectations of reality influence our perceptions; several other proceedings intervene between stimulation and experience, such as existing knowledge and expectation of the stimulus - perception is therefore the finished product of the interactive influences. Illusions affect our visual system into perceiving something different to reality, meaning that we are unable to perceive based solely from the information we are ...

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