week 5 - laws of visual organization Flashcards
perceptual organization
the process by which elements in the environment become perceptually grouped to create our perception of objects
segregation
separating objects through differences
grouping
putting like objects into similar groups
What were Gestalt psychologists views on perception?
we perceive the world through smaller elements or principles
What are the 5 gestalt principles of perception?
- good continuation
- Pragnanz
- similarity
- proximity
- common fate
good continuation
points that are connected by a straight line are seen in a way that follows the smoothest path
pragnanz
every stimulus is seen as simple as possible, despite how complex they may seem
similarity
similar things are grouped together
proximity
things near each other are grouped together
common fate
things moving in the same direction are grouped together
What two principles did modern psychologists add on top of Gestalt principles?
- common region
- uniform connectedness
common region
elements in same region tend to be grouped together
uniform connectedness
connected region of visual properties are perceived as single unit
figure-ground segregation
determining what part of environment is the figure so that it stands out from the background
figure
- more “thing-like”
- more memorable than ground
- seen in front of ground
ground
- more uniform
- extends behind figure
- background
border ownership
contour separating figure from ground belongs to figure
What factors determine which area is the figure?
- elements located in lower part of display
- convex side of borders (borders that bulge out)
What did Gestalt psychologists believe in regard to experience and meaning in perceptual organization?
believed that meaning and experience played a minor role
How did participants respond to M. Wertheimer’s “W & M” experiment?
despite seeing the first images of W and M, the participants were not able to identify the same
What did Gibson conclude about experience and meaning in perceptual organization?
figure-ground can be affected by the meaningfulness of stimuli
Gibson experiment
- the figure considered more meaningful was much easier to perceive as a familiar object
- the figure that did not hold meaning made it much more difficult to segregate figure from ground