Gestalt Laws
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[edit] Gestalt Laws
What are "Gestalt Laws"?
The Gestalt Laws of Organization describe the ways we organize our experiences in a simple and coherent way.
[Marshall,2002]
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A principle of gestalt psychology that identifies factors leading to particular forms of perceptional organisation.
[Kellogg,2002]
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Introduction:
The Gestalt approach emphasizes that we perceive objects as well-organized patterns rather than separate component parts. According to this approach, when we open our eyes we do not see fractional particles in disorder. Instead, we notice larger areas with defined shapes and patterns. The "whole" that we see is something that is more structured and cohesive than a group of separate particles.
[Pedroza,2004]
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There are several different Gestalt Laws. The four principles, that are very often mentioned, are: Proximity, Similarity, Closure and Good Continuation. Besides in literature you can find plenty of other principles, for example: Common Fate, Symmetry, Pragnanz, Figure and Ground, Past Experience etc.
[edit] Examples
The next subsection deals with the principles in detail:
Proximity:
Def.: "How elements tend to be grouped together depending on their closeness." [Pedroza,2004] |
In this picture the human eye recognizes the distances between the points and we tend to see three different groups. The first, at the left seem to form a single block, the second group contains three rows and the third group form two blocks of the same shape.
Similarity:
Def.: "How items that are similar in some way tend to be grouped together." [Pedroza,2004] |
Here we have two different types of similarity. In the upper left we group together the first and third row because of their same colour. And we split the other block into two groups because of their different shapes.
Closure:
Def.: "How items are grouped together if they tend to complete a pattern." [Pedroza,2004] |
This picture shows how we tend to complete lines and other shapes to figures we know. In this example we see a ring and not only a line.
Good Continuation:
Def.: "The law of good continuation states that objects arranged in either a straight line or a smooth curve tend to be seen as a unit." [Pedroza,2004] |
Here the human eye groups together some of the points, so that they seem to form a smooth curved line.
Common Fate:
Def.: "The law of common fate states that when objects move in the same direction, we tend to see them as a unit." [Pedroza,2004] |
On the one hand we group together the points which are moving up and on the other hand we perceive the points which are moving down as a single group.
Symmetry:
Def.: "The principle of symmetry is that symmetrical areas tend to be seen as figures against asymmetrical backgrounds." [Chandler,1997] |
The black area seems to be a figure because of its symmetry.
Pragnanz:
Def.: "The law of Pragnanz says that we try to experience things in as good a gestalt way as possible. In this sense, "good" can mean several things, such as regular, orderly, simplistic, symmetrical, etc." [Grika,2005] |
In this picture we tend to see a triangle and a sqaure instead of unregular figures.
Figure and Ground:
Def.: "Basically, we seem to have an innate tendency to perceive one aspect of an event as the figure or fore-ground and the other as the ground or back-ground." [Boeree,2000] |
Here we either see the white area as figure, two heads, and the black area as background or we see a black vase and a white backgound.
Past Experience:
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Def.: This means that past experience and context have an effect of how we interpret and group elements. |
This picture shows that sometimes it depends on the context and past experience what we perceive. You may perceive either the number 13 or the letter B.
[edit] Conclusion:
Gestalt grouping laws do not seem to act independently. Instead, they appear to influence each other, so that the final perception is a combination of all of the Gestalt grouping laws acting together. Gestalt theory applies to all aspects of human learning, although it applies most directly to perception and problem-solving.
[Pedroza,2004]
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[edit] External Links:
Soegaard, M. Gestalt principles of form perception
[edit] Resources
[Boeree, 2000] George Boeree, Gestalt Psychology, Shippensburg University. Access Date: 21 October 2005, http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/gestalt.html
[Chandler, 1997] Daniel Chandler, Visual Perception, World Lecture Hall. Access Date: 21 October 2005, http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Modules/MC10220/visper06.html
[Grika, 2005] Milo Grika, Gestalt Psychology, Wikipedia. Access Date: 21 October 2005, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_psychology
[Kellogg, 2002] Michael Kellogg, WorldReference, Princeton University. Access Date: 21 October 2005, http://www.wordreference.com/definition/Gestalt%20law%20of%20organization
[Marshall, 2002] Mike Marshall Ph.D., Gestalt Psychology, Marshall University Graduate School. Access Date: 21 October 2005, http://www.webrenovators.com/psych/GestaltPsychology.htm
[Pedroza, 2004] Carlos Pedroza, The Encyclopedia of Educational Technology, San Diego State University. Access Date: 21 October 2005, http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/visualperc1/start.htm
[Ware, 2000] Colin Ware, Information Visualization, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, San Francisco, 2000.
