FACTORS THAT AFFECT PERCEPTION

GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY

Perception is the experience that comes from organizing bits and pieces of information into meaningful wholes. It is also known as “Gestalt”.

 

Do you see a set of vertical dots and a set of horizontal dots?

1. GESTALT: The Gestalt principles state that humans see patterns and groupings in their environment rather than disorganized arrays of bits and pieces.

Our minds fill in the missing information to random stimulation based on proximity, similarity, continuity, and symmetry. That is the fundamental principle of Gestalt psychology.

Gestalt is often described as “the whole being greater than the sum of its parts”.

2. FIGURE – GROUND PERCEPTION is a step of perceptual organization which assigns a contour to one of the two abutting regions. It is an essential step in forming our perception of surfaces, shapes and objects. These pictures are highly ambiguous and we may perceive either side as the figure and ``see'' its shape. We always perceive the ground side as being shapeless and extended behind the figure, never seeing both shapes simultaneously.

3. PERCEPTUAL INFERENCE: Our perceptions are not based entirely on current sensory information. They are also based on inferences because of past experiences. I can infer that the road won’t end at the curve but will continue beyond what I can see.

4. SUBLIMINAL PERCEPTION: Subliminally perceived items can influence you to increase the accessibility of concepts relating to those items. You are sitting in a dark movie theater, and suddenly a single frame of the movie shows an ice-cold Coca Cola or a message to buy popcorn. Movies flash by at 24 frames per second. That is too fast for you to identify anything you have seen in a single frame but it will make the concept of Coke and popcorn easier for you to think about.

5. DEPTH PERCEPTION is the ability to recognize distances and three-dimensionality in a visual stimulus.

6. VISUAL CONSTANCY: We learn to perceive certain objects in our environment in the same way regardless of changing conditions. Light, angle of vision, distance, and therefore, the image on the retina all change, but your perception of the object does not.

We perceive the opening door as being rectangular in shape, although our view of the shape of it changes as it opens.

7. INTERNAL FACTORS: Personal motivation and interest, self-image, as well as physical and emotional health contribute to our ability to perceive.

A Study in Self-Image

and Perception

8. EXTERNAL FACTORS: In relation to the items in the visual field, perspective, size of subject matter, context of subject matter, as well as lack of experience with subject matter all contribute to our ability to perceive.

9. SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS: We are often influenced by outside forces to perceive in particular ways, whether intentional or not. They can and do affect our perception and judgment.

10. Factors Concerning Stimuli

• Stimuli can be confusing

• There can be too much stimuli

• There can be too little stimuli

• There can be stimuli that you are not familiar with (ex. Cultural differences)

10. Factors Concerning StimuliTry to recite the lyrics to the song

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