Can our beliefs, motivations and emotions influence our visual perception? Are cognition and perception ultimately inseparable? A lot of recent psychological research says "yes" to the question. For instance, it has been claimed that carrying a heavy backpack makes a hill look - not just feel - steeper. Other researchers say that feeling sad makes things seem darker - not just metaphorically, but literally. However, according to a new paper by Yale psychologists Chaz Firestone & Brian J. Scholl, all of these claims for 'top-down' cognitive influence on perception are mistaken:
Cognition does not affect perception: Evaluating the evidence for 'top-down' effects.
Firestone and Scholl begin by noting the recent buzz surrounding top-down influence:
The emergence of so many empirical papers reporting top-down effects of cognition on perception has shifted the broader consensus in cognitive science. Indeed, such alleged top-down effects have led several authors to declare that the revolution ...
