Top-Down/Bottom-Up Processing & Gestalt Principles

perceptual organization

ability to use these two processes to create a complete picture/idea "fill in the gaps"

law of continuity/good continuation

lines are seen as following the smoothest path

law of similarity

objects that are similar tend to be grouped together

Gestalt Principles

seek to explain how we perceive things the way we do infer missing parts of a picture when a picture is incomplete

The brain of a small primate is studied as it evaluates the photograph of a giraffe. It is noted that this animal makes an impression of the photograph as a whole and then begins to focus on smaller details within the photograph as part of its assessment. This type of process can be referred to as: A. top-down processing B. bottom-up processing C. Gestalt principles D. constancy

A. top-down processing

Humans have evolved to notice patterns and shapes. A corporate logo uses five unconnected angles equally spaced in a circular fashion. When viewed, it appears to be a star. Which of the following is the logo artist using to create a complete pattern to viewers? A. Bottom-up processing B. Top-down processing C. Gate theory D. Gestalt Principles

D. Gestalt principles Gestalt principles are the basis for many optical illusions and include the tendency of people to see continuity even when lines are unconnected. Specifically, this logo appears to rely on the law of closure to create one complete star from five non-touching angles.

bottom-up processing

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information (stimulus influences what we perceive) object recognition by parallel processing and feature detection data driven ex: sitting in a cockpit

law of closure

objects grouped together are seen as a whole

law of proximity

objects near each other tend to be grouped together

subjective contours

perceiving contours and shapes that are not actually present in the stimulus may arise from law of continuity

law of Pragnanz

reality is organized or reduced to the simplest form possible -or- perceptual organization will always be as regular, simple, and symmetric as possible

top-down processing

the use of preexisting knowledge to organize individual features into a unified whole (use background knowledge to influence perception) driven by memories and expectations conceptual/theory driven ex: Where's Waldo