Which process is involved when initial perceptions influence later perceptions?

The correct answer is the process known as top-down processing. This cognitive mechanism refers to the way our existing knowledge, experiences, and expectations shape how we perceive new information. When initial perceptions influence later perceptions, it signifies that what we have previously attended to—and the mental frameworks we have created—set the stage for interpreting new stimuli or experiences.

For instance, if someone has had a positive experience with a restaurant, they may expect and therefore perceive subsequent visits in a more favorable light, even if the conditions change. This top-down approach clearly illustrates how prior experiences and mental schemas inform our understanding and perceptions of new information, allowing us to make quicker, often unconscious judgments.

On the other hand, bottom-up processing begins with sensory input and builds up to perceptual experience, starting without preconceived notions. Transduction is the conversion of sensory signals into neural signals, a physical process occurring at the sensory receptors. Priming is an exposure effect that influences later responses but does not directly involve the perception layer in the same integrated way as top-down processing does.