Top-Down Visual Processing

http://www.findwaldo.com/fankit/graphics/

This image, from one of many Where’s Waldo books, uses the top-down visual process.  Top-down visual processing usually involves some sort of goal we want to achieve.  For those who are familiar with Where’s Waldo, we know that our goal is to find Waldo.  We instantly fix our eye on smaller parts of the image to find a man dressed in a striped shirt and a snow hat with round glasses and blue jeans.  When playing this game our eyes begin to scan all over the image to find Waldo.  They purposely place red and white striped objects in the images to divert our attention from Waldo. There is so much diversity, we sometimes forget which area we have already scanned or we become unsure of ourselves so we would rescan the same area, possibly several times.  After scanning all over the picture and finally finding Waldo, the reward is that we instantly find him for the next couple of times we play until we forget about it.  When that happens, let the hunt begin.