The word Gestalt is German for “whole” or “form” and, in psychology, refers to the idea that what we perceive from top-down processing has more meaning than what would be perceived from simply bottom-up processing. Psychologists that study perception have identified a number of principles that influence our perception. Think of these specific principles as further examples of top-down processing, but know and be able to draw diagrams for:
· Figure-Ground
· Proximity
· Similarity
· Good continuation
· Closure
· Area
· Symmetry
Read: Gestalt Theory of Visual Perception (http://goo.gl/Uixzlx)
You can also see the following for more examples:
http://courses.csail.mit.edu/6.831/archive/2008/lectures/L15-graphic-design/image024.png
