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Marcus is attending his school’s winter pep rally. As he looks around, he notices that all the students are sitting by grade level and all are wearing their class colors. He is also aware of the music being played on the sound system, as well as the cheers from the crowd and the cheerleaders spelling out the school letters. Define each of the following psychological phenomena and explain how each contributes to what Marcus is experiencing.

Proximity
Closure
Similarity
Figure-ground
Selective attention

User Linksonder
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Answer:

Proximity: Proximity refers to the physical closeness of objects in a visual scene. In the case of Marcus attending the pep rally, he notices that all the students are sitting by grade level. This means that students of the same grade are physically close to each other, creating a sense of proximity.

Closure: Closure is the phenomenon where the human brain fills in the gaps to complete an incomplete visual pattern. At the pep rally, Marcus sees the students sitting in rows, wearing their class colors. Even if the exact colors of each individual student’s clothing is not clear, the overall pattern of colors creates a complete visual image in Marcus’s mind.

Similarity: Similarity refers to the visual perception of objects as being similar to each other. At the pep rally, Marcus notices that all the students are wearing their class colors. This creates a sense of similarity among the students, as they all share a common visual aspect.

Figure-ground: Figure-ground refers to the human brain’s ability to distinguish between a figure or object of interest and the background it is in front of. At the pep rally, Marcus may see the cheerleaders as the figure of interest against the background of the crowd and the colors of the student’s clothing.

Selective attention: Selective attention is the phenomenon where individuals focus their attention on certain things while disregarding others. At the pep rally, Marcus may be focusing his attention on certain aspects of the event, such as the music or the cheerleaders, while ignoring other things, such as the background noise from the crowd.

User Dor Dadush
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