Imagine that one day you wake up early with enough energy to get out of bed on a spring morning. You dress in comfortable clothes, grab your house keys and decide to go out for some fresh air. Later, walking down the street you come across a clear image with bold colors, unexpected shapes, symmetrical patterns and small letters. That variety of visual stimuli will inevitably catch your attention. In fact, today’s society is full of images with similar characteristics. For this reason, psychology has long questioned the different types of perception that human beings have to understand the world.
Each theoretical current has sought specific criteria regarding the study of individuals, both in personal and social spheres. In this Psychology-Online article we will explain What is the Gestalt law of figure and ground and examples.
What is the Gestalt law of figure and ground?
The Gestalt law of figure and ground is a theoretical principle based in the fact that human beings interpret images based on the separation between the figures that are presented and their respective background. In this way, this mechanism responds to an ordering of the visual information that must be processed by the mind.
Firstly, the figures are viewed through a specific meaning linked to elements already known to the person. After having carried out this process, a significance is given to the background that appears within the stimulus to complete the information glimpsed. This principle does not respond to a voluntary attitude, but rather is done spontaneously.
If you want to know more about other Gestalt laws, you may also be interested in the article.
How to use the Gestalt law of figure and ground
To better understand what the Gestalt law of figure and ground consists of, it is important to locate some crucial points of this theoretical postulate. Therefore, below we show you how the Gestalt law of figure and ground is applied:
- Focusing of attention: The first step the mind takes is to place its attention on a specific visual stimulus. To do this, it is necessary to resort to the interpretation of the visible element.
- Interpretation of the figure: after having placed your attention on the selected image, focus your attention on the figures that appear within it. This has the effect of a provisional compression of the main elements found there.
- Background Establishment: once the main figure that provides meaning to the observed image is understood, the background is taken as a reference to establish a relationship between both parts. In this way, the interpretation of the visual stimulus is produced based on that of each person.
It should be noted that the various meanings that can be given to images are closely related to the prior knowledge that people possess. In this way, life experiences, everyday objects and social or family aspects, among others, can come into play. Therefore, perception is inevitably conditioned by the cultural, social and political environment of each human being.
Examples of the Gestalt law of figure and ground
Finally, in this section you will find some examples of specific situations that will help you better understand the possible uses of this theoretical principle.
Firstly, they have notable features that allow for varied interpretations of the same image. If you look at a photograph of an irregularly shaped figure with a black background, one of the possibilities would be to think that the central figure is a cup, while the background would consist of two faces. In this case, we must take into account that the initial perception will be directed towards the central figure.
In second place, advertising They also often make use of the principle of the Gestalt figure-ground law. To carry it out, we proceed to create logos referring to products that are sold. As an example, it can be said that multinational beverage companies have designed images that highlight the figure. In this way, a meaning is assigned to the background given that it may have a certain link with the elements that appear within the visual field.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to What is the Gestalt law of figure and ground and exampleswe recommend that you enter our category.
Bibliography
- Cordero Jahr, E. (2013). Figure and background. AUS Magazine, 14 (2), 1.
- Oviedo, GL (2004). The definition of the concept of perception in psychology based on Gestalt theory. Magazine of Social Studies, 18 (1), 89-96.