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Chapter 1. Chapter

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Scientific American: Psychology

Infographic Activity 3.4: Gestalt Organizing Principles: The Whole is Better

Gestalt Organizing Principles: The Whole is Better

The Gestalt psychologists identified principles that explain how the brain naturally organizes sensory information into meaningful wholes rather than distinct parts and pieces. These principles help you navigate the world by allowing you to see, for example, that the path you are walking on continues on the other side of an intersection. Gestalt principles also help you make sense of the information presented in your textbooks. Let’s look at how this works.

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1.1 Quiz

1. Barsha is at a college football game, and she really enjoys watching the marching band at the half time show .Some of the band members are wearing yellow uniforms, and the others are wearing white. She cheers loudly as the band positions themselves so that “Go Team” can be seen in yellow in the middle of the football field, surrounded by a rectangle of white. Which of the Gestalt organizing principles allows her to perceive words based on the position of the different colored band uniforms?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct.
Incorrect.

2. Talesha’s psychology instructor is giving a presentation on the workings of the human visual system, and focuses on the blind spot that exists in each eye. “Your blind spot is caused by the disruption of photoreceptors by the optic nerve, but you probably cannot detect your blind spot. I wouldn’t worry about that, though, because your ability to ignore the blind spot is caused by the Gestalt law of ________.”

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct.
Incorrect.

3. When they go to basic training, many military personnel are taught how to use camouflage to make themselves blend into their surroundings and become virtually undetectable. How do you think the effect of camouflage would be best described based on Gestalt principles?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct.
Incorrect.

4. Based on the Gestalt law of continuity, which of the following would be the best description of how your brain “perceives” the letter “X”?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct.
Incorrect.

5. Casey is sitting in his car at a traffic light, when he sees two people walking on the sidewalk. He smiles, thinking that they make a cute couple, when all the sudden one of them walks straight and the other walks sharply to the left. As it turns out, the two people were complete strangers. Why did Casey make the assumption that these two people were in some way involved?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct.
Incorrect.

6. Danielle recently bought a set of bedroom furniture at a large warehouse type store. She was glad to get a good price, but also realized she was going to have to spend the entire day putting the pieces together. She is studying the instruction manual, and is glad that the name of each piece is linked by a solid line to the location on the finished product where it should go. Danielle’s ability to understand how to put the furniture together has been assisted by the Gestalt law of

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct.
Incorrect.