Gestalt Laws and Monocular and Binocular Cues for Perception

Retinal Disparity

binocular cue; by comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance--greater disparity = closer object

horizontal-vertical illusion

when width and height are equal, object often appears taller than it is wide

relative height

monocular cue; objects higher in field of vision farther away (perceived as background)

relative size

monocular cue; if we assume two objects are similar size, most people perceive the smaller one is farther away

linear perspective

monocular cue; parallel lines appear to converge with distance. The more they converge, the greater their perceived distance

light and shadow

monocular cue; dimmer objects perceived as farther away; shading too presents sense of depth

interposition

monocular cue; if one object partially blocks another, we perceive it as closer

figure-ground relationship

organization of visual field into objects and surroundings

proximity

group nearby figures together

similarity

group similar figures together

continuity

perceive smooth patterns rather than discontinuous ones

connectedness

uniform, linked things perceived as single units

closure

fill in gaps to create a complete object