Final answer:
A reversible figure like a Necker cube utilizes the Gestalt principle of the figure-ground relationship in perception, highlighting the active role the brain plays in interpreting and adapting to visual information.
Step-by-step explanation:
A reversible figure, such as a Necker cube, makes use of the Gestalt principles of perception, specifically the principle of the figure-ground relationship. This principle allows us to segment our visual world into figure and ground, enabling the perception of the cube to flip between two different interpretations. The figure-ground relationship is one of several principles, including continuity and closure, which our brains use to interpret sensory information and form our perceptual hypotheses.
Our perception is not a passive process but an active one, where our brain adjusts and fills in information to provide us with a coherent view of the world. This is evident in optical illusions and in the flexibility of the visual cortex, as shown by experiments where subjects adapted to inverted vision caused by prism glasses. These experiments demonstrate that our perception relies on both the physical properties of objects and the interpretive processes of the brain.