Question

If you walk around the mountain, what principle allows you to see it as one object, even though your view is changing? Name two Gestalt principles that might be involved in seeing patterns in the rocks on the mountain, and explain how they work.

a) Closure and Proximity
b) Continuity and Similarity
c) Symmetry and Figure-Ground
d) It doesn't apply to mountain viewing.

Answer 1

The Gestalt principles of continuity and closure enable us to perceive a mountain as a single continuous object and recognize patterns in the rocks despite changing viewpoints.

Step-by-step explanation:

When walking around a mountain, the principle allowing you to see it as one object despite a changing viewpoint is based on the Gestalt psychology theory of perception. The principles of continuity and closure play a significant role in how we perceive patterns such as those in the rocks on a mountain. The law of continuity leads us to perceive continuous lines and patterns even as our angle of view changes. The principle of closure allows us to fill in gaps in visual information and see a complete, unified object rather than a disconnected series of parts. Both principles help in recognizing patterns and maintaining a constant perception despite changing perspectives.

Proximity is another Gestalt principle that causes us to group elements that are close to each other, aiding in pattern recognition on the surface of the mountain. The figure-ground principle helps us distinguish the mountain (the figure) from its surrounding landscape (the ground), contributing to the pattern perception on the mountain's surface.