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Local object gist: meaningful shapes and spatial layout at a very early stage of visual processing
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
In his introduction, Pinna (2010) quoted one of Wertheimer’s observations: “I
stand at the window and see a house, trees, sky. Theoretically I might say there
were 327 brightnesses and nuances of color. Do I have ‘327’? No. I have sky,
house, and trees.” This seems quite remarkable, for Max Wertheimer, together
with Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Koehler, was a pioneer of Gestalt Theory:
perceptual organisation was tackled considering grouping rules of line and edge
elements in relation to figure-ground segregation, i.e., a meaningful object (the
figure) as perceived against a complex background (the ground).
At the lowest level – line and edge elements – Wertheimer (1923) himself
formulated grouping principles on the basis of proximity, good continuation,
convexity, symmetry and, often forgotten, past experience of the observer. Rubin
(1921) formulated rules for figure-ground segregation using surroundedness, size
and orientation, but also convexity and symmetry. Almost a century of research
into Gestalt later, Pinna and Reeves (2006) introduced the notion of figurality,
meant to represent the integrated set of properties of visual objects, from the
principles of grouping and figure-ground to the colour and volume of objects
with shading. Pinna, in 2010, went one important step further and studied
perceptual meaning, i.e., the interpretation of complex figures on the basis of
past experience of the observer. Re-establishing a link to Wertheimer’s rule about
past experience, he formulated five propositions, three definitions and seven
properties on the basis of observations made on graphically manipulated patterns.
For example, he introduced the illusion of meaning by comics-like elements
suggesting wind, therefore inducing a learned interpretation. His last figure
shows a regular array of squares but with irregular positions on the right side.
This pile of (ir)regular squares can be interpreted as the result of an earthquake
which destroyed part of an apartment block. This is much more intuitive, direct
and economic than describing the complexity of the array of squares.
Description
Keywords
Visão humana
Citation
Martins, J.C.; Rodrigues, J.M.F.; du Buf, J.M.H. Local object gist: meaningful shapes and spatial layout at a very early stage of visual processing, Gestalt Theory, 34, 3/4, 349-380, 2012
Publisher
Verlag Wolfgang Krammer