FORM PERCEPTION DEFINITION SERIES

There are typically three constants: size, shape, brightness. Perceptual constancy refers to our ability to see things differently without having to reinterpret the object's properties. Due to our ability to maintain constancy in our perceptions, we see that building as the same height no matter what distance it is. The building which once stood only several inches is now somehow more than 50 feet tall. The next time you walk toward a building, you would have to re-evaluate the size of the building with each step, because we all know as we get closer, everything gets bigger. Imagine if every time an object changed we had to completely reprocess it. Even at first glance, we perceive a circle and a square. Finally, in the fourth figure, we demonstrate closure, or our tendency to complete familiar objects that have gaps in them.

FORM PERCEPTION DEFINITION SERIES

In the third figure, although merely a series of dots, it begins to look like an 'X' as we perceive the upper left side as continuing all the way to the lower right and the lower left all the way to the upper right. Continuity refers to our tendency to see patterns and therefore perceive things as belonging together if they form some type of continuous pattern. The lines are grouped together because of how close they are to each other, or their proximity to one another.

In the next figure, we tend to perceive three columns of two lines each rather than six different lines. The dots are grouped according to similar color. In the first figure above, we tend to see two rows of red dots and two rows of black dots. Similarity refers to our tendency to group things together based upon how similar to each other they are. The Gestalt principles of grouping include four types: similarity, proximity, continuity, and closure. For example, when you see one dot, you perceive it as such, but when you see five dots together, you group them together by saying a 'row of dots.' Without this tendency to group our perceptions, that same row would be seen as 'dot, dot, dot, dot, dot,' taking both longer to process and reducing our perceptive ability. This allows us to interpret the information completely without unneeded repetition. In order to interpret what we receive through our senses, they theorized that we attempt to organize this information into certain groups. The German word 'Gestalt' roughly translates to 'whole' or 'form,' and the Gestalt psychologist's sincerely believed that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

In this section, we will discuss the various theories on how our sensation are organized and interpreted, and therefore, how we make sense of what we see, hear, taste, touch, and smell. The way we perceive our environment is what makes us different from other animals and different from each other. As mentioned in the introduction, perception refers to interpretation of what we take in through our senses.

Form perception definition