Theory of Perception (Gestalt)
Introduction
The Gestalt laws, for Gestalt psychology, are a series of rules that explain the origin of perceptions from stimuli. There are multiple particular rules, which are based on two general rules: the law of good form and the law of figure and substance.[1][2].
General laws
Law of figure and ground
The figure is the area of perception on which consciousness is focused and the ground is the rest of the perception. The law establishes that it is not possible to simultaneously perceive the same area as figure and background, so there are always elements on which consciousness focuses and elements that it ignores. When this opposition does not exist in a literal way, the mind provokes it, through the content of the unconscious. Subliminal perception is the perception of the background that does not become a figure and, therefore, does not reach consciousness, but influences the unconscious anyway. Figure-ground perception can depend on factors such as depth, distance, and occlusion.
Law of pregnancy or good form
One of the fundamental principles of perception for the Gestaltists is the so-called law of prägnanz (generally translated from German as pregnancy or, better yet, as the principle of good form), which affirms the tendency of perceptual experience to take the simplest possible forms. The parts of a figure that have "good form" or that indicate a common direction or destination clearly form autonomous units in the whole. This law allows easy reading of figures that interfere, forming apparent confusions, but where their properties of "good form" or common destiny prevail, they are seen as broken down from the whole.
The law of good form states that the mind attributes the best possible form to perception. This law is made up of particular laws, as the mind uses various criteria to determine which way is best. In this way, we can talk about the law of closure, contrast, proximity, similarity, continuity, common movement, among others. In paradoxical optical illusions, the mind attempts to attribute known shapes to parts of an unknown shape, but when the whole is assembled, an error occurs.[1][2].