A generic name for hypotheses that attribute the mediation of hallucinations primarily to a disorder of the conceptual processing of perceptual information. Some examples of so-called top-down factors are prior knowledge, expectancy, attentional modulation, and "imagery. The term top-down hypothesis is used in opposition to " bottom-up hypothesis. The latter term refers to a group of hypotheses that attribute the mediation of hallucinations primarily to a disorder of the data-driven processing of perceptual information.
References
Aleman, A., Laroi, F. (2008). Hallucinations. The science of idiosyncratic perception.New York, NY: American Psychological Association.
Dictionary of Hallucinations. J.D. Blom. 2010.