Gestalt rules for determining figure vs ground

Surroundedness

If one region is completely surrounded by another; the surround will be considered the background

Size

Smaller things are likely to be the figure on a larger background

Symmetry

Symmetrical regions are more likely to be seen as the figure

Parallelism

Regions with parallel contours are likely to be seen as figures

External Edges

Shading that indicated receding into the distance is seen as the figure

Relative Motion

If something appears to be in front of something else; it is considered the ground

Occlusion

When one object partially hides another, we use different “junctions” to determine which is in front

Global superiority

Properties of the whole are perceived before properties of the parts

• Top-down processing is seeing what the bigger part is and then seeing the pieces that make it up