Gestalt Principles

The Gestalt principles is the idea that perceptions are the creation of adding up sensations. It was proposed by the Gestat psychologist that percption will depend on a number of organizing principles. 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 the colors are changed and every other verticle line of dots has a different color than the vision will focus the dots as being grouped verticle. Perceptual organization is in everyones life on a daily basis and learning to recognize these principles can assist a person to gain a better understanding of how these principles can help everyone to better organize the world.

Reference:
Goldstein, E. B. (2014). Sensation and perception (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.