2021

Savera learning ms

Microsoft account
[Company name]
1/1/2021
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Topic: PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION

1. Problem statement: To study the phenomenon of figure and ground.
Introduction: Perceptual organization is characterized as “The way of gathering
visual elements together (organization) so that one can more readily give meaning
to the visual as a whole (perception)” . It is an essential concept because it allows
individuals to make sense of the things that they see at a rapid pace.

The perceptual organization theory has been explained by Gestalt psychologists

who believed that human mind is capable of giving meaning to a whole stimulus
rather to its individual parts. Gestalt psychology emphasize on how our mind
organize and interpret visual stimuli. This theory is of the view the whole of
something is bigger than its individual parts which means that our mind has the
tendency to unite the incoming visual stimuli to make them more
meaningful(bigger) as a whole.

Gestalt laws of perceptual organization:

 Law of Closure – Law of closure simply means to fill the gaps between
the visual stimuli to make them meaningful.

 Law of Proximity – The law of proximity deals with the fact that the
human mind perceived the objects that are near to each other as if they
are grouped.

 Law of Similarity- The law of similarity describes the tendency of a

human mind to perceive the objects that are similar in appearance and
treats them as a single group rather than individual entities.

 Law of Continuity – The law of continuity as the name suggests

describes the tendency of a human mind to perceive the objects that
extends itself into space in a similar pattern of color, size and shape
without a break, a whole figure.

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 Law of Inclusiveness – The law of inclusiveness, describes the tendency

of a human mind to perceive the objects of a pattern more readily than
other figures.

Factors affecting the perceptual organization:

 Perceptual learning
 Perceptual of space
 Mental set
 Motive and needs
 Cognitive style

FIGURE AND GROUND:

It is a type of perceptual organization which allows human mind to recognize

objects through vision. In Gestalt psychology, it is identifying a figure from the
background. It is a way we simplify a visual scene.  The concept of figure-ground
perception is often illustrated with the classic "faces or vases" illusion, also known
as the Rubin vase. Depending on whether you see the black or the white as the
figure, you may see either two faces in profile (meaning you perceive the dark
color as the figure) or a vase in the center (meaning you see the white color as the
figure).

How to differentiate between figure and ground: When looking at a visual

scene, people use several tricks to identify figure from the ground. Some are given
below;

 Blurriness: Objects in the foreground tend to be crisp and distinct while

those in the background are blurry or hazy.
 Contrast: The high contrast between objects can lead to the perception of
figure and ground. The Rubin vase is one example.
 Size: Images that appear to be larger will be perceived as closer and part of
the figure while those that are smaller will seem further away and part of the
background.
 Separation:  An object isolated from everything else in a visual scene is
more likely to be seen as a figure versus background.
 Shape: figure tends to be convex in shape and ground to be concave.
 Color: Color is one of the cues to select between them because the ground is
often continuing as a same color. On the other hand, figure can be of
multiple colors.
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2. Apparatus: Reversible figures (vase and faces, old and young lady), stopwatch,
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pencil and paper.

3. Hypotheses: In this experiment, we have two hypotheses;

 Attention of our subject fluctuate between figure and ground.
 Attention of the subject would be more on the figure comparable to the
ground.

4. Procedure: First of all we gave necessary instructions to the subject about the
experiment. He was told to choose his figure and ground from the diagram and
then keep his focus on the figure. The moment his attention was fluctuated, he
informed us by moving his finger and we noted the time. This experiment was
performed for one minute and readings were taken during this time. For the
next minute, the second diagram was presented to the subject and the same
procedure was followed.

5. Discussion: Following were the finding of the experiment:

 The results showed that the attention of the subject did fluctuate when
watching a reversible figure proving our first hypothesis.
 In case of vase-face diagram, the subject choose vase as a figure and face as
a background. In one minute interval, the finding showed his attention was
more on vase (figure) comparable to the face (background). Same happened
for the other reversible figure. The face of the old lady was given more
attention which was chosen as figure by the subject than the young lady
(background).
 VASE-FACE FIGURE:

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Trial vas face Time(sec)

1  11.01

2  20.64

3  28.36

4  39.07

5  50.48

Vase 6  60.18 (face) =

4

Face (background) = 2 Total = 6

OLD-YOUNG LADY FACE:

Trials Old lady Young lady Time (sec)

1  8.14

2  11.1

3  27.53

4  34.76

5  44.92

6  60.52

Old lady (figure) = 4 Young lady (background) = 2

Total = 6
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Hypothesis 1: Thus, our first hypothesis which states that “the attention of the
subject fluctuates between figure and ground” is proved through the above
experiment. We can justify our finding in the light of description of attention.
Careful observation shows that a human mind cannot direct its attention to single
stimuli for a long time. It is the limitation of our sense organs to keep focus at one
thing for a time being. Eventually, attention will divert. When we are seeing an
object or listening to a sound, after few seconds, the attention will be shifted
towards other stimulus or other area of the stimulus for a fraction of time and
returns to the original stimulus. This process is called fluctuation. It is one of the
conditions of the process of attention. Same happened in this experiment. Subject
was keeping his focus on figure but after some time the attention unconsciously
shifted towards the ground.

Hypothesis 2: It is proven that the process of choosing figure-ground perception is

probabilistic. The brain takes into account all relevant cues to generate best
possible guess. Subjective factors such as interest, motive, and mindset influence
our choice. The subject was able to pay more attention on the figure because of his
interest to focus on figure.

6. Conclusion: The conclusion we derived from the experiment are

 The attention of the subject fluctuates between figure and ground.
 The attention of the subject is more on the figure comparable to the
ground.
7. References:
 Wagemans J, Elder JH, Kubovy M, et al. A century of Gestalt
psychology in visual perception: I. Perceptual grouping and figure-
ground organization. Psychol Bull. 2012;138
 Dresp-langley B. Principles of perceptual grouping: Implications for
image-guided surgery. Front Psychol. 2015;6:1565. 
 https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2503-20.2020

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