Similarity

Similarity

This organization of perception describes how we see similar things as grouped together. Therefore when looking at this crowd we group together the different colors to make the American Flag, instead of just seeing a bunch of random colors that are not connected or grouped together.

Closure

Closure

Closure relates to how when people view something they tend to fill in the gaps and make the thing we are seeing into a known object that has meaning. This is why when we see this cloud in the sky we can immediately see that it looks like duck because we fill in where there should be other clouds so that it looks like a completed figure.

Visual Illusions

The Mueller-Lyer Illusion presents two lines with arrows at the end of them. The arrows create the illusion that the lines between them are different sizes. If you were to take away the arrows or look very closely, you can actually tell that the two lines in between the arrows are the same size.

The Ponzo Illusion has two lines converging towards a point, with two parallel horizontal lines at different distances on the first two lines. The converging lines help to create the illusion that the top line is bigger. As is demonstrated in the second half of the image, once physical lines are drawn from end to end it is clear that the line are the same size.

The Poggendorf Illusion consists of a line segment with the middle of it blocked by a large rectangle. There are two possible ends to the line, and the illusion is that the top line looks like the correct end. However as seen in the second half of the image, the bottom line segment is the true end of the line.

Shape Constancy

Shape constancy allows us to see an object as a constant shape despite the fact that the object's shape on our retinas is different. For example, in the above image we see 4 angles of the same window. Because we are familiar with windows, we see these images as rectangles. In reality, the image of the window is not a rectangle on our retinas but varying parallelograms. Because we know windows to be rectangles or similarly window-shaped, this window is automatically perceived as a rectangle due to shape constancy.

Brightness Constancy

Brightness constancy is where we perceive an object to have the same lightness despite varying illumination of the object. For example, if a black paper is viewed in direct sunlight and in a dim room, it will still be perceived as black in both rooms even though there is a large difference in lighting on the paper. Brightness constancy is based off of the context of surrounding objects, as is demonstrated in the above image. Even though there is a different amount of brightness on each bowl of fruit, we still perceive the fruits to be their proper color. Your perceived brightness will change with context.

Size Constancy

Size constancy is how we see perceive something as a constant size, even though an object's size on the retina can drastically change over distance. In the picture, the people in the foreground are bigger than the people in the background. Despite the fact that the people in the foreground are larger on the retina than the people in the background, we still perceive the two sets of people to be about the same size due to size constancy.

Law of figure-ground perception

This law states that we are able to differentiate figures from their backgrounds.  This can be differentiated based on many variables such as contrast, color, size, and texture.  Everything that isn’t the figure is background, and this changes as our attention changes.  Figure-ground perception is not limited to sight; it can also be used to differentiate voices from a crowd, and smells in a bouquet of smells.  In the picture, you can se the face of a woman or a man playing an instrument.  Which image you see depends on what you identify as the figure and the background.