In 1912, Max Wertheimer published his paper on phi motion, widely recognized as the start of Gestalt psychology. Because of its continued relevance in modern psychology, this centennial anniversary is an excellent opportunity to take stock of what Gestalt psychology has offered and how it has changed since its inception. We first introduce the key findings and ideas in the Berlin school of Gestalt psychology, and then briefly sketch its development, rise, and fall. Next, we discuss its empirical and conceptual problems, and indicate how they are addressed in contemporary research on perceptual grouping and figure–ground organization. In particular, we review the principles of grouping, both classical (e.g., proximity, similarity, common fate, good continuation, closure, symmetry, parallelism) and new (e.g., synchrony, common region, element and uniform connectedness), and their role in contour integration and completion. We then review classic and new image-based principles of figure–ground organization, how it is influenced by past experience and attention, and how it relates to shape and depth perception. After an integrated review of the neural mechanisms involved in contour grouping, border ownership, and figure–ground perception, we conclude by evaluating what modern vision science has offered compared to traditional Gestalt psychology, whether we can speak of a Gestalt revival, and where the remaining limitations and challenges lie. A better integration of this research tradition with the rest of vision science requires further progress regarding the conceptual and theoretical foundations of the Gestalt approach, which is the focus of a second review article.

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A Century of Gestalt Psychology in Visual Perception I. Perceptual Grouping and Figure-Ground Organization

The two contrasting theoretical approaches to visual perception, the constructivist and the ecological, are briefly presented and illustrated through their analyses of space and size perception. Earlier calls for their reconciliation and unification are reviewed. Neurophysiological, neuropsychological, and psychophysical evidence for the existence of two quite distinct visual systems, the ventral and the dorsal, is presented. These two perceptual systems differ in their functions; the ventral system's central function is that of identification, while the dorsal system is mainly engaged in the visual control of motor behavior. The strong parallels between the ecological approach and the functioning of the dorsal system, and between the constructivist approach and the functioning of the ventral system are noted. It is also shown that the experimental paradigms used by the proponents of these two approaches match the functions of the respective visual systems. A dual-process approach to visual perception emerges from this analysis, with the ecological-dorsal process transpiring mainly without conscious awareness, while the constructivist-ventral process is normally conscious. Some implications of this dual-process approach to visual-perceptual phenomena are presented, with emphasis on space perception.

https://iipdm.haifa.ac.il/images/publications/joel_norman/Norman_2002b.pdf

Two visual systems and two theories of perception: An attempt to reconcile the constructivist and ecological approaches

Statistics: an introduction.

The impact of atypical sensory processing on social impairments in autism spectrum disorder.

SECTION ONE: GENERAL BACKGROUND SECTION TWO: GROUPS, PATTERNS, TEXTURES SECTION THREE: CONTOURS AND SHAPES SECTION FOUR: FIGURE-GROUND ORGANIZATION SECTION FIVE: SURFACE AND COLOUR PERCEPTION SECTION SIX: MOTION AND EVENT PERCEPTION SECTION SEVEN: PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION AND OTHER MODALITIES SECTION EIGHT: SPECIAL INTEREST TOPICS SECTION NINE: APPLICATIONS OF PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION SECTION TEN: THEORETICAL APPROACHES

The Oxford handbook of perceptual organization

We used a staircase procedure to test sensitivity to (1) global motion in random-dot kinematograms moving at 4! and 18! s )1 and (2) biological motion Thresholds were defined as (1) the minimum percentage of signal dots (ie the maximum percentage of noise dots) necessary for accurate discrimination of upward versus downward motion or (2) the maximum percentage of noise dots tolerated for accurate discrimination of biological from non-biological motion Subjects were adults and children aged 6‐8, 9‐11, and 12‐14 years (n = 20 per group) Contrary to earlier research, results revealed a similar, long developmental trajectory for sensitivity to global motion at both slower and faster speeds and for biological motion Thresholds for all three tasks improved monotonically between 6 and 14 years of age, at which point they were adult-like The results suggest that the extrastriate mechanisms that integrate local motion cues over time and space take many years to mature

Long trajectory for the development of sensitivity to global and biological motion

In two experiments, visual search and speeded classification were used to study perception of hierarchical patterns among participants aged 5 to 23 years. Perception of global configurations of few-element patterns and local elements of many-element patterns showed large age-related improvements. Only minor age-related changes were observed in perception of global configurations of many-element patterns and local elements of few-element patterns. These results are consistent with prior microgenetic analyses using hierarchical patterns. On the one hand, the rapid and effortless grouping of many small elements and the individuation of few large elements both mature by age 5. In contrast, the time-consuming and effortful grouping of few large elements and the individuation of many small elements improve substantially with age, primarily between ages 5 and 10. These findings support the view that perceptual organization involves multiple processes that vary in time course, attentional demands, and developmental trajectories.

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Microgenesis and Ontogenesis of Perceptual Organization Evidence From Global and Local Processing of Hierarchical Patterns

Patients deprived of visual experience during infancy by dense bilateral congenital cataracts later show marked deficits in the perception of global motion (dorsal visual stream) and global form (ventral visual stream). We expected that they would also show marked deficits in sensitivity to biological motion, which is normally processed in the superior temporal sulcus via input from both the dorsal and ventral streams. When tested on the same day for sensitivity to biological motion and to global motion at two speeds (4 and 18° s(-1)), patients, as expected, displayed a large deficit in processing global motion at both speeds. Surprisingly, they performed normally in discriminating biological motion from scrambled displays, tolerating as much noise as their age-matched controls. Networks bypassing damaged portions of the dorsal and the ventral streams must mediate the spared sensitivity to biological motion after early visual deprivation.

Sparing of Sensitivity to Biological Motion but Not of Global Motion after Early Visual Deprivation.

The effects of spatial proximity and collinearity on contour integration in adults and children.

In two experiments, visual search was used to study the grouping of shape on the basis of perceptual closure among participants 5-23 years of age. We first showed that young children, like adults, demonstrate an efficient search for a concave target among convex distractors for closed connected stimuli but an inefficient search for open stimuli. Reliable developmental differences, however, were observed in search for fragmented stimuli as a function of spatial proximity and collinearity between the closure-inducing fragments. When only closure was available, search for all the age groups was equally efficient for spatially close fragments and equally inefficient for spatially distant fragments. When closure and collinearity were available, search for spatially close fragments was equally efficient for all the age groups, but search for spatially distant fragments was inefficient for younger children and improved significantly between ages 5 and 10. These findings suggest that young children can utilize closure as efficiently as can adults for the grouping of shape for closed or nearly closed stimuli. When the closure-inducing fragments are spatially distant, only older children and adults, but not 5-year-olds, can utilize collinearity to enhance closure for the perceptual grouping of shape.

/pdf/developmental-trends-in-utilizing-perceptual-closure-for-56qmhaue1g.pdf

Bat-Sheva Hadad

Papers

Long trajectory for the development of sensitivity to global and biological motion

Microgenesis and Ontogenesis of Perceptual Organization Evidence From Global and Local Processing of Hierarchical Patterns

Sparing of Sensitivity to Biological Motion but Not of Global Motion after Early Visual Deprivation.

The effects of spatial proximity and collinearity on contour integration in adults and children.

Developmental trends in utilizing perceptual closure for grouping of shape: effects of spatial proximity and collinearity.