Gestalt Principles

Apparent Motion

Illusions of movement occurs when stimuli in different locations are flashed one after another with proper timing (ex. flipbooks)

Principles of Perceptual Organization

Rules describing which elements in an image appear to group together to create larger objects/illusions (bottom-up processing)

Principle of Pragnanz

Every stimulus pattern is seen in a way that the result is as simple as possible (Central theory of Gestalt psychology. Ex. the Olympic rings)

Principle of Good Continuation

Lines tend to be seen as following the smoothest or straightest path, belonging together (Ex. two branches behind a tree)

Principle of Similarity

Image chunks similar to each other will be more likely to group together (Ex. same shapes in a grid organized by color)

Principle of Closure

People fill in gaps to perceive a complete object; closed contour is preferred to open contour (Ex. The white gaps on a zebra in a pdf perceived as stripes)

Principle of Proximity

Items near each other are more likely to group together then items that are separated (Ex. grouping two sets of bowling pins after scoring a split)

Principle of Parallelism and Symmetry

Parallel contours are likely to belong to the same figure, symmetrical regions are more likely to be seen as a figure

Principle of Common Fate

Things that are moving in the same direction tend to be grouped together (Ex. A flock of geese migrating in the same direction)

Principle of Common Region

Elements that are within the same region of space tend to be grouped together

Principle of Uniform Connectedness

A connected region of the same visual properties is perceived as a single unit (Ex. 6 dots, grouped into a set of 3 by connecting in groups of 2)