Frequently Asked Questions > "Processing" > What is "processing"?
Simply speaking, "processing" is what the brain does with information it receives; the interpretation of information taken in through the body/senses.
While there are other types of processing, the following are frequent terms you may hear:
Auditory Processing (or Central Auditory Processing) is the ability to make sense of information taken in through the ears. This is not hearing acuity/sensitivity, rather it is the brain's decoding of the information passed on from the ears.
Language Processing is the ability to hear information, attach meaning to what was heard, determine what to do with that information and then formulate and initiate a response. For example, understanding the meaning after hearing /bad/.
auditory <------------------------------------------------> language
Processing Continuum
There is often confusion between "auditory processing" and "language processing". The brain processes information on three levels:
- First, the brain discriminates the acoustic characteristics of the sound it has heard. For example, hearing the difference between /bad/ and /dad/.
- Second, the brain evaluates the linguistic-phonemic aspects of the sound received which provides a foundation for spelling and reading skills (e.g. blending the individual sounds /b/ /a/ /d/ to form the word 'bad').
- Third, the brain attaches meaning to the sound received (e.g. understanding the concept being communicated by the word 'bad').
The brain's first level of analysis is "auditory processing"; the second and third levels are "language processing".
Sensory Processing (or Sensory Integration) is the brain's ability to organize and make sense of various sensations that connect our body to our brain, such as hearing, sight, smell, taste, tactile/touch, vestibular/balance, and proprioceptive input. The brain receives sensory information from the body, processes and interprets it, and uses it to organize behaviors and create responses.
Visual Processing is the ability to make sense of information taken in through the eyes; this is not visual acuity/sight or sharpness of vision, rather the brain's interpreting of the information passed on from the eyes.
Last updated on May 28, 2012 by Vlinder CT PLLC