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Gestalt psychologists (Wertheimer, Koffka and Kohler) outlines several principles that describe the way in which basic sensory input are oganized into whole patterns.
- According to Gestalt psychologists, human beings perceive different stimuli note as discrete elements, but as an organised, тАЬwholeтАЭ that carries a definite form.
- They believe that the form of an object lies in its whole, which is different from the sum of their parts.
- For example, a flower-pot with a bunch of flowers is a whole. If the flowers are removed, the flower-pot still remain a whole. It is the configuration of the flower-
- pot that has changed. Flower pot with flower is one configuration, without flowers it is another configuration.
- Gestalt psychologists also indicate that cerebral processes of human beings are always oriented towards the perception of a good figure. That is the reason why human being perceive everything in an organized form.
Some of these principles are discussed below:
- Figure ground relationshipтАФWe tend to divide the world around us into two parts: figure, which has a definite shape and a location in spaces; and ground, which has no shape, seems to continue behind the figure, and has no definite location. TheтАЩ figure-ground relationship helps clarity the distinction between sensation and perception.
- ContoursтАФContours are formed whenever a marked difference occurs in the brightness or colour of the background. Contours give shape to the objects in our visual world because they mark one object off-from another or they mark an object off from the general ground. Contours determine shape, but by themselves they are shapeless.
- GroupingтАФHaws of grouping describe basic ways in which we group items together perceptually. These are simple principles through which we perceive the world around us. The principles of grouping include similarity, proximity, closure, and continuity.
- The principle of similarity says that objects of similar shape, size, or colour tend to be grouped together. In the auditory sense, sounds of similar tone and intensity are grouped together.
- The law of proximity says that items which are close together in space or time tend to be perceived as belonging together or forming an organized group
- Principle of continuation describes the tendency to perceive a line that starts in one way as continuing in the same way.
- Law of closure refers to perceptual processes that organize the perceived world by filling in gaps in stimulation.
- In case of principle of continuity if interruptions are too pronounced or too long, continuity disappears and a unified whole is not perceived.
4.┬а Camouflage: When contours are disrupted visually, objects are difficult to distinguish from the background. This is camouflage. It works because it breaks up contours, e.g. uniform of soldiers in the forest.