Gestalt Psychology : How People Perceive Objects

These organizing principles will determine how the elements in a scene will be grouped together..The role of the Gestalt principles in perceptual organization gives everyone the ability to see objects as continues, simple, similar, and proximity. Continuation allows the human brain to look at a coil of rope as one continuos rope and ropes that overlap each other as two separate strands of rope. If a person did not have the ability of continuation simple processes would take a lot longer while a person uncoiled the entire ropes to make sure that it was one continuos rope. Pragnanz gives a person the ability to look at something in a simplier form when there are more complex ways to look at it. Such is the case with the Olympic five circles, the prananz theory gives the human the ability to see it as five rings flowing together but the brain without the ability may look at it as nine different objects that did not have any flow or connection to them at all. Similarity is when similar items will appear to be grouped together. Grouping can occure when there are items that are of similar shape, size, or orientation. Proximity is very important on how the brain can group similar object together and how by changing the color of some objects will redirect the brain to a different patternization. Such is the case when a block of dots that are 7 high and 7 wide. If all of the dots are the same color the perception in the brain would group them in a horizontal pattern but once

For example, the subject of the Mona Lisa sits in front of a landscape and is centered in the piece with a portrait orientation. In Warhol’s art piece, Marilyn Monroe’s head is also centered, and Warhol also uses a portrait orientation. The placement of both subjects at the center of each artwork immediately captures a viewer’s attention. This placement works to creates balance and focal interest within the art pieces: the Mona Lisa balances the landscape in the background while Marilyn Monroe’s head becomes a point of interest in a negative space of a muted background. This placement allows the artist to control the viewer’s focus, perhaps an intention. Similarities also exist in the use of color. Although, Warhol use vivid colors to depict Marilyn Monroe’s face, the hue of the background color is a muted gold

The first thing that I learned about perception was earlier discovered by a psychologist by the name of Max Wertheimer. He discovered that our body clearly separates images into figures

First, the people in the photo look very tiny due to the distance between where the photograph was taken and the hockey players in the ice rink, but obviously they would appear much larger in real life. Secondly, interposition can be seen due to the jumbo-tron. The jumbo-tron gives the photo a more 3-D effect making it look like it's popping out of the photo. Movement in the photo is graphic movement because your eyes will looks all across the photo and notice different element within it. This photo also depicts sensory and perceptual theories. The sensory theory it depicts is the gestalt theory due to the proximity of the objects or people in the photograph. The perceptual theory that is in this photo is the cognitive theory. The cognitive theory is seen here because of selectivity, that is your eyes mostly focus on parts of the image that stand out the

First, we begin with the visible. At this point, there are two different subsections, images and objects. The images are of objects;

The principles used in this design include figure/ground relationship, asymmetrical contrast and repetition. Out of all these principles, contrast and repetition stands out most. In this work, there is contrast and repetition in colors. Color changed as it has moved one triangle to another. In addition, rhythm and repetition played important part in this design because the geometric shapes repeated more than once. Furthermore, there is also contrast in the size of the type and triangles. For instance, the title "The 2010 Shepley Bulfinch Summer Design Fellowship MMX" used bigger in size than other text. In this work, the figure/ground is well-balanced as well as positive and negative space. These triangles in primary colors and secondary colors are considered as figure and the white part in each rectangle considered as ground. The primary focal points are the triangle in red, blue and yellow. Then the secondary focal point is the triangle that colored in purple and light orange. At last, the tertiary focal point is the texts and the white background of the poster.

　　 They use the law of similarity to create different patterns, which is made by individual umbrellas. At the end of the video, the different patterns and words we perceive is due to the similar characters as we perceived them together, which implied the law of similarity. Then, the different color of the pattern and the words also helps us to distinguish the characters from the background. However, the relationship between the color of the background and the color of the pattern highlights the idea of figure ground relations,

Since being discovered, gestalt psychology created vital contributions to the psychology of thinking and problem solving influenced by thinkers, including, Immanuel Kant, Ernst Mach and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. This paper will reflect on the main influences on Gestalt psychology, their contributions, and the principles of perceptual organization.

Gestalt theory stated that the complex perceptions could be understood easily by breaking them into smaller elementary parts of experience. It is just like splitting graphical forms into sets of dots or melody into sequence of sounds or a perception of a rectangle can be achieved through other forms than four lines. This theory is all based on perception that the ability to perceive objects was an ability of the nervous system, which tends to

Gestalt therapy is a therapeutic approach in psychology that helped foster the humanistic theories of the 1950s and 1960s and that was, in turn, influenced by them. In Gestalt philosophy, the patient is seen as having better insight into himself or herself than the therapist does. Thus, the therapist guides the person on a self-directed path to awareness and refrains from interpreting the patient’s behaviors. Awareness comprises recognition of one’s responsibility for choices, self-knowledge, and ability to solve problems.

I honestly find this chapter a little hard to reflect upon without delving straight into objective-heavy information, but I was finally able to connect a term to something most of us experience online as brain teasers. Perceptual constancy was defined in the text as the tendency to perceive objects as relatively stable and unchanging despite changing sensory information. Its relation to brain teasers is what the majority of people would perceive in a picture versus what the minority that would see something different. Some of the tricks used in these pictures are taken from Gestalt’s principles of perceptual organization. I’m curious as to why the brain views proximity, similarity, closure, and continuity in a seemingly “common” perception

Supernatural and temporal elements are popular devices used in romantic literature. Supernatural elements are things that go beyond the natural realm such as spirits and demons, and temporal elements are a part of the physical world such as nature and flaws in humanity. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, a romantic novel, consists of mystic and secular facets that enhance the plot and tone of the novel as well as creating conflicts. Supernatural elements provide contrast between Puritan beliefs and witchcraft, and temporal elements provide contrast between the sins and flaws of society and the purity of nature. The devil is a supernatural being that imposes itself into the character, Roger Chillingworth. The temporal fault of hypocrisy shows in Dimmesdale’s character and the judgmental nature of the townspeople. The role of the forest is both a supernatural and temporal element because it is a very spiritual place and provides an escape from the secular world.

Gestalt psychology is based upon the idea that we experience things as unified wholes. This approach to psychology began in Germany and Austria during the late 19th century in response to the molecular approach of structuralism. Rather that breaking down thoughts and behavior to their smallest element, the gestalt psychologist believed that you must look at the whole of experience. The problem that gestalt theory confronts is that of an extended event, whether an action,

The Gestalt psychology movement was fascinating within the time frame in which it started to develop. While other psychological movements strived to boil down psychology in almost simplistic, scientific terms, Gestalt psychology embraced complexities within the consciousness. Gestalt psychologists argued “that when we look out a window we really see trees and sky, not individual sensory elements such as brightness and hue” (Schultz & Schultz, 2011). There is more to what we experience and see that just the simple elements that make these things and experiences up.