Hallucinations and mental imagery demonstrate top-down effects on visual perception
Piers D. L. Howe, Olivia Carter
Behavioral and Brain Sciences 2016 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x15002502 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Commentary Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Mental image Cognitive psychology Visual perception Cognition |
| Citations | 26 |
| Key points | Argues that hallucinations and mental imagery provide evidence for top-down effects on perception that avoid previously identified confounds. |
Abstract
In this commentary, we present two examples where perception is not only influenced by, but also in fact driven by, top-down effects: hallucinations and mental imagery. Crucially, both examples avoid all six of the potential confounds that Firestone & Scholl (F&S) raised as arguments against previous studies claiming to demonstrate the influence of top-down effects on perception.