Gestalt principles of form perception
Gestalt is German word with no exact English equivalent, variously defined as
completeness, configuration, essence, form, manner, organic structure, totality,
and wholeness. At the level of an individual, it means the organized form or
pattern that makes up all of a person's experience of what is perceived to be out
there.
Gestalt experiments show that the brain does not act like a sponge (as a passive
receiver of information) but actively filters, structures, and matches all incoming
information against known patterns to make sense of it.
Gestalt theory was proposed by the Austrian psychologist Christian von
Ehrenfels (1859-1932) in 1890.
Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization
The Law of Proximity
Stimulus elements that are closed together tend to be perceived as a group
The Law of Similarity
Similar stimuli tend to be grouped, this tendency can even dominate
grouping due to proximity
The Law of Closure
Stimuli tend to be grouped into complete figures
The Law of Good Continuation
Stimuli tend to be grouped as to minimize change or discontinuity. The
mind continues a pattern, even after it stops.
The Law of Symmetry
Regions bound by symmetrical borders tend to be perceived as coherent
figures
The Law Simplicity
Ambiguous stimuli tend to be resolved in favor of the simplest
The Law of Common Fate
Elements with the same moving direction are seen as a unit.
The Law of Proximity
Stimulus elements that are closed together tend to be perceived as a group
The Law of Similarity
Similar stimuli tend to be grouped, this tendency can even dominate grouping
due to proximity
The Law of Closure
Stimuli tend to be grouped into complete figures
The Law of Common Fate
Elements with the same moving direction are seen as a unit.
Parallelism
Elements that are parallel to each other appear more related than elements not
parallel to each
The Law of Symmetry
Regions bound by symmetrical borders tend to be perceived as coherent
figures
The idea that when we perceive objects we tend to perceive them as
symmetrical shapes that form around their center.
The Law of Good Continuation
Stimuli tend to be grouped as to minimize change or discontinuity. The
mind continues a pattern, even after it stops.
Past Experience
Elements tend to be grouped together if in the past experience of the observer
they were often grouped together.
Past experience could be individual or it could be something common most of
experience.
Having seen traffic lights throughout our lives we expect red to mean stop and
green to mean go. You probably see the image below as a traffic light on its side,
because of the three common colors. That’s past experience at work.
Many of our common experiences also tend to be cultural. Color again provides
examples. In some countries, white is seen as pure and innocent and black as
evil and death. In other countries these interpretations are reversed.
Conventions can arise when the experience is commonly shared, though again
it’s important to remember that we don’t all share the same experiences
Law of Focal Point
A point of interest, emphasis, or difference will capture and hold the viewer’s
attention.
When seeing Kandinsky’s painting above you more than likely first notice the
dark circular form in the upper left. This is the focal point and thus the entry point
into the painting. The focal point captures your attention and from there your
attention flows to other parts of the painting.
Law of Prägnanz
(Good Figure, Law of Simplicity)
People will perceive and interpret ambiguous or complex images as the simplest
form possible.
Ambiguous stimuli tend to be resolved in favor of the simplest
The shape above is ambiguous and complex taken as a whole. You most likely
see it made up of three simple shapes, square, circle, and triangle. These
shapes can be seen clearly when each is given a different color below.
Figure/Ground
Elements are perceived as either figure (element of focus) or ground
(background on which the figure sits).
Figure-ground minds have an innate tendency to perceive one aspect of an event
as the figure or foreground and the other as the ground or the background.
Area
The smaller of 2 overlapping objects is seen as figure. The larger is seen as
ground.
Uniform Connectedness
(Law of Unity)
Elements that have a visual connectedness are perceived as being more related
than elements with no connection.
When you look at the image below you see two squares and two rectangles.
When you look at the image on the right you see two objects, each consisting of
a square and a circle. Circle and square are connected by the line between them.
Uniform connectedness trumps similarity here.
