The Gestalt Theory Of Figure-Ground Perception

Figure-ground perception has evolved from the Gestalt school of thought. Its definition is Figure–ground organization is a type of perceptual grouping which is a vital necessity for recognizing objects through vision.
History of Gestalt Psychology
Perceptual organisation is a construct of the Gestalt School of thought. Gestalt theory was first developed in the early 1900s by Austrian and German psychologists. Some of the notable founders of Gestalt theory include Max Wertheimer, and Kurt Koffka. One of the main beliefs of Gestalt theory is that a something as a whole (whether it 's the picture above or a car) consists of interacting parts that can be separated, analyzed, and rearranged in the whole. In other words, the whole is different from

For example, some people have claimed that there are satanic or otherwise harmful lyrics embedded backwards in some rock music. In most cases, when people first listen to the music backwards, they hear absolutely nothing that resembles speech. When somebody tells them to listen for particular words or phrases, however, people report hearing satanic words. As with illusory contours, the words are not really there until someone 's attention is focused appropriately on a particular set of sounds.

Example of Figure-Ground Perception
The "faces or vases" illustration is one of the most frequent demonstrations of figure-ground. What you see depends on whether you see the white as the figure or the black as the figure.
If you see the white as the figure, then you perceive a vase. If you see the black as the figure, then you see two faces in profile. Most people are able to reverse their perceptions and switch back and forth between the vase and faces images. Max Wertheimer and Wolfgang Kohler worked on the Gestalt laws of perceptual organisation.
The idea of figure-ground perceptions relates to one of the most fundamental ways that we simplify a visual

When looking at a visual scene, people tend to look for ways to differentiate between the figure and the ground. Some ways that people accomplish this include:
⦁ Blurriness: Objects in the foreground tend to be crisp and distinct while those in the background are blurry or hazy.
⦁ Contrast: 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.
⦁ Law of common fate: Elements seen moving together are perceived as belonging together.
All of these laws help us understand how people transform raw visual inputs into meaningful displays.
Thus, figure-ground perception is an imperative part of our perception, Without it, our brains would have to analyse more than is necessary and it would be difficult to gauge our surroundings even if we had the help of depth-perception, colours,