PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION

Gestalt psychologists were among the first to study

how the brain organizes sensory impressions into a
gestalt—a German word meaning “form” or
“whole.” They emphasized the importance of
organization and patterning in enabling us to
perceive the whole stimulus rather than perceiving
its discrete parts as separate entities. Gestalt
principles are based on the notion
that we all share a natural tendency to force
patterns ontowhatever we see. A series of
principles that focus on the ways we organize bits
and pieces of information into meaningful wholes
are Known as gestalt laws of organization.

Figure and ground principles

The most fundamental Gestalt principle of
organization is our tendency to distinguish
between figure (our main focus of attention) and
ground (the background or surroundings).

2. closure
We usually group elements to form enclosed or
complete figures rather than open ones. A
talented artist can give the impression of an entire
face with just a few cleverly placed strokes of the
pen or brush—the viewers fill in the details.
3. Proximity
Another very simple rule of perception is the
tendency to perceive objects that are close to one
another as part of the same grouping, a principle
called proximity, or “nearness.”

4. Similarity
Similarity refers to the tendency to perceive things
that look similar as being part of the same
group. When members of a sports team wear
uniforms that are all the same color, it allows
people viewing the game to perceive them as one
group even when they are scattered around
the field or court.
The principle of common region: is highly related
to proximity. It states that when objects are
located within the same closed region, we perceive
them as being grouped together.

The principle of continuity states that elements

that are arranged on a line or curve are perceived
to be more related than elements not on the line or
curve.

The Law of Prägnanz (or Pragnanz) suggests that

when people are presented with complex shapes
or a set of ambiguous elements, their brains
choose to interpret them in the easiest manner
possible.

DEPTH PERCEPTION

The ability to view the world in three dimensions

and to perceive distance. Depth perception is
learned primarily through experience. However,
research using an apparatus called the visual cliff
suggests that some depth perception is inborn.
One mechanism by which we perceive depth is the
interaction of both eyes to produce binocular cues;
the other involves monocular cues, which work
with each eye separately.

Monocular cues
1. Linear perspective: Parallel lines converge, or
angle toward one another, as they recede into the
distance.

2. Interposition: Objects that obscure or overlap

other objects are perceived as closer.

Relative size : Close objects cast a larger retinal

image than distant objects.
Aerial perspective : Distant objects appear hazy
and blurred compared to close objects
because of intervening atmospheric dust or haze.

Gradient texture:the progressively finer

appearance of textures and surface grains of
objects as the viewer moves away from them
Binocular Cues
1. Retinal disparity: Because our eyes are about
two and onehalf inches apart, each retina receives
a slightly different view of the world. (Watch what
happens when you point at a distant object,
closing one eye and then the other.) When both
eyes are open, the brain
fuses the different images into one, an effect
known as stereoscopic vision.

2. Convergence: It helps us judge depth. The closer

the object, the more our eyes are turned inward.
The resulting amount of eye-muscle strain helps
the brain interpret
distance.
PERCEPTUAL CONSTANCY
1. Size
Tendency to interpret an object as always being the same size, regardless of its
distance from
the viewer (or the size of the image it casts on the retina). So if an object that is
normally perceived to be about 6 feet tall appears very small on the retina, it will be
interpreted as being
very far away.

2. Shape
Tendency to interpret the shape of an object as constant, even when it changes on the
retina.

3. Brightness constancy
The tendency to perceive the apparent brightness of an object as the same even when
the light
conditions change
 Illusions

The Müller-Lyer illusion is a classic optical illusion that was first described by the
German psychologist Franz Müller-Lyer in 1889. The illusion involves two lines of
equal length, with each line having a series of arrowheads or fins pointing either
inward or outward. The line with fins pointing outward appears longer than the line
with fins pointing inward, even though both lines are actually the same length. This
illusion is thought to be caused by the brain's use of depth cues to interpret the visual
information. The fins pointing outward create an impression of depth, which causes
the brain to interpret the line as being farther away, and therefore longer, than the line
with fins pointing inward

The Ponzo illusion is a type of optical illusion that involves the perceived size of
objects in relation to their background. It was first discovered by Italian psychologist
Mario Ponzo in 1913.The illusion involves two horizontal lines that are the same
length, but appear to be different lengths due to their placement in a converging
pattern of diagonal lines. Specifically,
the line that appears closer to the converging lines is perceived as being longer than
the line that is farther away.

Hermann grid
You probably see gray blobs or diamonds that fade away or disappear completely
when you try to look directly at them. This is the Hermann grid.
The moon illusion
Moon on the horizon appears to be much larger than the moon in the sky (Plug &
Ross, 1994).
One explanation for this is that the moon high in the sky is all alone, with no cues for
depth
surrounding it. But on the horizon, the moon appears behind trees and houses, cues
for depth
that make the horizon seem very far away. The moon is seen as being behind these
objects and,
therefore, farther away from the viewer. Because people know that objects that are
farther away
from them yet still appear large are very large indeed, they “magnify” the moon in
their
minds—a misapplication of the principle of size constancy

Illusions of motion
Sometimes people perceive an object as moving when it is actually still. One example
of this takes place as part of a famous experiment in conformity called the
autokinetic effect. In this effect, a small, stationary light in a darkened room will
appear to move or drift because there are no surrounding cues to indicate that the light
is not moving.
Another is the stroboscopic motion seen in motion pictures, in which a rapid
series of still pictures will seem to be in motion. Many a student has discovered that
drawing little figures on the edges of a notebook and then flipping the pages quickly
will also produce this same illusion of movement.
Another movement illusion related to stroboscopic motion is the phi
phenomenon, in which lights turned on in sequence appear to move. For example,
if a light is turned on in a darkened room and then turned off, and then another light a
short distance away is flashed on and off, it will appear to be one light moving across
that distance. This principle is used to suggest motion in many theatre marquee signs,
flashing arrows indicating direction that have a series of lights going on and off in a
sequence, and even in strings of decorative lighting, such as the “chasing” lights seen
on houses at holiday times.
The “Rotating Snakes” illusion is one of many motion-illusion images designed by
Dr.
Akiyoshi Kitaoka.