Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization
Organizing raw sensory stimuli into meaningful experiences involve “cognition”, a set of mental
activities that includes thinking, knowing, and remembering. Knowledge and experiences are
extremely important for perception, because they help us makesense of the input to our sensory
systems.
• We organize our experiences according to certain rules, in a simple way:
I. The Law of Closure.
II. The Law of Proximity.
III. The Law of Continuity.
IV. The Law of Similarity.
V. The Law of Simplicity.
VI. The Law of Common Fate.
VII. The Law of Enclosure/ Connectivity.
I. Law of Closure
The perceptual tendency to fill in the gaps and complete the contours; perceiving the disconnected parts as
the whole object. We mentally close the gaps and perceive the figure given below as wholes.
II. Law of Proximity
We have the perceptual tendency to group together the auditory and visual events that are close or near one
another; they are perceived as a coherent object. In the figures below, we see that on the left, there appears
to be three horizontal rows, versus three columns on the right.
III. Law of Continuity/ Good Continuation
We tend to group the stimuli into smooth and continuous patterns or parts. Humans have a capability to continue contours whenever the elements of the pattern establish an implied direction.
In the drawing below, we see a curved line with a straight line running through it. In the other, we do not see the drawing as consisting of the two segments and perceive it as a continuous pattern.
IV. Law of Similarity
The tendency to perceive objects, patterns or stimuli which are similar in appearance as a group; parts of the visual field that are similar in color, light, texture, shape, or any other quality are seen as one.
Elements that appear similar will be perceived as part of the same form/ sequence; there seems to be a triangle in the circles and the smaller triangles are perceived as one group.
V. Law of Simplicity/ Law of
Prägnanz
People intuitively prefer the simplest, most stable, straightforward, and basic form of possible organizations. A stimulus is organized into as good and simple a form as possible; ‘good’ refers to symmetrical, simple, and regular. In the following figure you tend to see four squares rather than ends of logs of wood or biscuit packs.
VI. Law of Common Fate
It is the tendency to group together the objects that move together, or seem to move together, and in the
same direction. When they are being seen in actual motion, humans’ will mentally group them as moving in
the same direction. Because of this we often see flocks of birds or herds of cattle, or boys or girls playing
together as one group.
VII. Law of Enclosure/ Connectivity
It is our perceptual tendency to perceive features/ patterns, such as dots or objects as a single unit when uniform and linke; lines, dots, areas, objects etc are perceived as single or same unit when combined or linked.
Feature Analysis
• The process of perceiving a shape, pattern, object, or scene by attending to the individual elements
making it up.
• The Gestaltist emphasis was upon the way we interpret the individual elements as a pattern/
sequence which has some sort of meaning; The organized or well formed sequence gives a different
percept or meaning as compared to when separate parts or elements are observed.
• The approach of feature analysis looks into the individual components in order to understand the
entire nature of what we perceive.
• The feature analysis starts with the activation of the neurons in the brain, as they are sensitive to
particular spatial configurations such as circles, angles, edges, curves etc. Since these neurons are
individually present, it is taken to be the evidence of the idea that any pattern, sequence or
component can be broken down into simpler events or parts e.g. the letter “P” is the combination
of a vertical line, and a semi- circle; or an “X” is a combination of a “v’ on an inverted “V”.
• 150 million objects can be produced out of just 36 fundamental components.
In summary
• Stimuli are first broken down into their component parts; these parts are then compared to data
stored in our memory in order to find a match; the stimulus is identified and recognized once a
match is found.
• The feature analysis starts with the activation of the neurons in the brain, as they are sensitive to
particular spatial configurations such as circles, angles, edges, curves etc. Since these neurons are
individually present, it is taken to be the evidence of the idea that any pattern, sequence or
component can be broken down into simpler events or parts e.g. the letter “P” is the combination
of a vertical line, and a semi- circle; or an “X” is a combination of a “v’ on an inverted “V”.
• 150 million objects can be produced out of just 36 fundamental components.
• The figure below shows the process of how we perceive a ‘B’ as a ‘B’.
Steps in Feature Analysis
a. Identify the feature, shape of any object, of which the image falls on the retina.
b. Combine/ gather object in some form/pattern so that some sort of representation can be formed.
c. In the final stage, we identify/ compare each component/element/ object with the help of past experiences or memories.
Top- Down and Bottom- Up Processing
‘Top- Down’processing refers to the perceptual phenomenon guided/ and influenced by;
A-e- yo- g-o - ng t- sc—l?
Top- down processing is guided by the higher mental/ knowledge faculty such asmeaning of the sentence
of which the important letters are missing__ individuals are able to understand the meaning of the sentence
and fill in the gaps by using their prior experiences and memories.
Bottom- Up processing refers to the
Process of recognizing and processing of information about the individual component/ part of the
stimulus.
Humans will be unable to identify the object component unless they are able to recognize and
understand the shape and features of each element that makes it up; in the sentence “A-e- yo- g-o - ng
t- sc—l?” you will not be able to identify the sentence unless you recognize the individual shapes
making up the overall form of the letters.
Top- down and bottom- up processing occur simultaneously and have an interaction with each other,
which makes it possible to understand the complex perceptual phenomena.
The process of perception involves the environmental stimuli, which is interpreted, analyzed and
integrated with the help of past experiences.
activities that includes thinking, knowing, and remembering. Knowledge and experiences are
extremely important for perception, because they help us makesense of the input to our sensory
systems.
• We organize our experiences according to certain rules, in a simple way:
I. The Law of Closure.
II. The Law of Proximity.
III. The Law of Continuity.
IV. The Law of Similarity.
V. The Law of Simplicity.
VI. The Law of Common Fate.
VII. The Law of Enclosure/ Connectivity.
I. Law of Closure
The perceptual tendency to fill in the gaps and complete the contours; perceiving the disconnected parts as
the whole object. We mentally close the gaps and perceive the figure given below as wholes.
II. Law of Proximity
We have the perceptual tendency to group together the auditory and visual events that are close or near one
another; they are perceived as a coherent object. In the figures below, we see that on the left, there appears
to be three horizontal rows, versus three columns on the right.
III. Law of Continuity/ Good Continuation
We tend to group the stimuli into smooth and continuous patterns or parts. Humans have a capability to continue contours whenever the elements of the pattern establish an implied direction.
In the drawing below, we see a curved line with a straight line running through it. In the other, we do not see the drawing as consisting of the two segments and perceive it as a continuous pattern.
IV. Law of Similarity
The tendency to perceive objects, patterns or stimuli which are similar in appearance as a group; parts of the visual field that are similar in color, light, texture, shape, or any other quality are seen as one.
Elements that appear similar will be perceived as part of the same form/ sequence; there seems to be a triangle in the circles and the smaller triangles are perceived as one group.
V. Law of Simplicity/ Law of
Prägnanz
People intuitively prefer the simplest, most stable, straightforward, and basic form of possible organizations. A stimulus is organized into as good and simple a form as possible; ‘good’ refers to symmetrical, simple, and regular. In the following figure you tend to see four squares rather than ends of logs of wood or biscuit packs.
VI. Law of Common Fate
It is the tendency to group together the objects that move together, or seem to move together, and in the
same direction. When they are being seen in actual motion, humans’ will mentally group them as moving in
the same direction. Because of this we often see flocks of birds or herds of cattle, or boys or girls playing
together as one group.
VII. Law of Enclosure/ Connectivity
It is our perceptual tendency to perceive features/ patterns, such as dots or objects as a single unit when uniform and linke; lines, dots, areas, objects etc are perceived as single or same unit when combined or linked.
Feature Analysis
• The process of perceiving a shape, pattern, object, or scene by attending to the individual elements
making it up.
• The Gestaltist emphasis was upon the way we interpret the individual elements as a pattern/
sequence which has some sort of meaning; The organized or well formed sequence gives a different
percept or meaning as compared to when separate parts or elements are observed.
• The approach of feature analysis looks into the individual components in order to understand the
entire nature of what we perceive.
• The feature analysis starts with the activation of the neurons in the brain, as they are sensitive to
particular spatial configurations such as circles, angles, edges, curves etc. Since these neurons are
individually present, it is taken to be the evidence of the idea that any pattern, sequence or
component can be broken down into simpler events or parts e.g. the letter “P” is the combination
of a vertical line, and a semi- circle; or an “X” is a combination of a “v’ on an inverted “V”.
• 150 million objects can be produced out of just 36 fundamental components.
In summary
• Stimuli are first broken down into their component parts; these parts are then compared to data
stored in our memory in order to find a match; the stimulus is identified and recognized once a
match is found.
• The feature analysis starts with the activation of the neurons in the brain, as they are sensitive to
particular spatial configurations such as circles, angles, edges, curves etc. Since these neurons are
individually present, it is taken to be the evidence of the idea that any pattern, sequence or
component can be broken down into simpler events or parts e.g. the letter “P” is the combination
of a vertical line, and a semi- circle; or an “X” is a combination of a “v’ on an inverted “V”.
• 150 million objects can be produced out of just 36 fundamental components.
• The figure below shows the process of how we perceive a ‘B’ as a ‘B’.
Steps in Feature Analysis
a. Identify the feature, shape of any object, of which the image falls on the retina.
b. Combine/ gather object in some form/pattern so that some sort of representation can be formed.
c. In the final stage, we identify/ compare each component/element/ object with the help of past experiences or memories.
Top- Down and Bottom- Up Processing
‘Top- Down’processing refers to the perceptual phenomenon guided/ and influenced by;
- Knowledge,
- Experience,
- Motivation and
- Expectation
A-e- yo- g-o - ng t- sc—l?
Top- down processing is guided by the higher mental/ knowledge faculty such asmeaning of the sentence
of which the important letters are missing__ individuals are able to understand the meaning of the sentence
and fill in the gaps by using their prior experiences and memories.
Bottom- Up processing refers to the
Process of recognizing and processing of information about the individual component/ part of the
stimulus.
Humans will be unable to identify the object component unless they are able to recognize and
understand the shape and features of each element that makes it up; in the sentence “A-e- yo- g-o - ng
t- sc—l?” you will not be able to identify the sentence unless you recognize the individual shapes
making up the overall form of the letters.
Top- down and bottom- up processing occur simultaneously and have an interaction with each other,
which makes it possible to understand the complex perceptual phenomena.
The process of perception involves the environmental stimuli, which is interpreted, analyzed and
integrated with the help of past experiences.
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