The introduction reads as follows: 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. The top frame is labeled “Figure-Ground” and shows two illustrations. At the left is a map of the southern US states, with Texas highlighted in yellow. The text reads as follows: We tend to perceive visual stimuli as figures existing on a background. On this map, one area becomes the focus, while the rest functions as background context. The right illustration shows a black ornate vase, or two yellow faces in profile. The text reads as follows: Some stimuli, such as this classic figure ground vase, are reversible figures. You see something different depending on whether you focus on the yellow or the black portion. A frame labeled, “Law of proximity” shows two illustrations. The top illustration shows six columns of six dots in each column, with wider spaces between the pairs of columns. The text reads as follows: We tend to perceive objects that are near each other as a unit. This set of dots is perceived as three groups rather than six separate columns or 36 individual dots. The second illustration shows a simple bar chart, with two pairs of light green and dark green bars. A color code identifies the light green bars as “men” and the dark green bars as “women.” The text reads as follows: Proximity helps us read graphs like this one. We understand that bars close together should be compared. A frame labeled, “Law of similarity” shows two illustrations. The upper illustration shows ten columns each having four blue shapes, alternating columns of squares and columns of circles. The text reads as follows: We see objects as a group if they share features such as color or shape. In this example, we perceive eight vertical columns rather than four rows of alternating squares and dots. The lower illustration shows a bar chart, with the bars represented as rows of small houses rather than actual horizontal colored bars. The text reads as follows: Similarity helps us read color-coded charts and graphs. We understand the graph above as having horizontal bars because we naturally group the similarly colored icons. A frame labeled, “Law of connectedness” shows two illustrations. The upper illustration shows nine columns of five orange dots. A frame surrounds the dots in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th columns, and a horizontal line is drawn among the second dots in the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th columns. The text reads as follows: We tend to see objects as a group if there is something that connects them. In this group of dots, the ones enclosed in or connected by lines appear related even though all dots are the same. The lower illustration shows a person’s head with the layers of the skull shown as folded-open sections, labeled “Skull,” “Scalp,” and “Meninges.” The text reads as follows: In a textbook figure, connectedness helps us understand what is being labeled.
A frame labeled, “Law of closure” shows two illustrations. In the upper illustration, four purple circles are drawn, with the left one a solid circle, and the remaining circles composed of progressively narrower dashes. The text reads as follows: We tend to fill in incomplete parts of a line or figure. In this example, we perceive a circle even when the line is broken. The lower illustration shows the letter “A” composed of multiple horizontal lines. The text reads as follows: Closure allows us to read letters and images that are interrupted. We can read this letter even though it is made up of unconnected lines. A frame labeled, “Law of continuity” shows two graphics. In the left graphic, the upper illustration shows two visual equations. The first equation labeled (A) shows an X-shape composed of dots = an upward-sloping dotted line + a downward-sloping dotted line. The second equation labeled (B) shows an X-shape composed of dots = a >-shape dotted line + a <-shape dotted line. The text reads as follows: We perceive groups where objects appear to be going in the same direction. In this example, we perceive the figure as made up of two continuous lines that intersect (A) rather than two angles that are brought together (B). The second illustration shows a scatterplot, with the values range closely to a line rising up from the 0,0 point as it moves right. The text reads as follows: Continuity helps us read graphs like this scatterplot, where we perceive the overall pattern.