Laws of Organization in Perceptual Forms

Max Wertheimer (1923

First published as Untersuchungen zur Lehre von der Gestalt II, in Psycologische Forschung, 4, 301-350. ranslation published in !llis, ". #1$3%&. A source book of Gestalt psychology #pp. '1-%%&. London( )outledge * +egan ,aul.-1.

I stand at the /indo/ and see a house, trees, s01. heoreticall1 I 2ight sa1 there /ere 33' brightnesses and nuances o4 colour. 5o I have 633'67 8o. I have s01, house, and trees. It is i2possible to achieve 633' 6 as such. 9nd 1et even though such droll calculation /ere possible and i2plied, sa1, 4or the house 130, the trees $0, the s01 11' -- I should at least have this arrange2ent and division o4 the total, and not, sa1, 13' and 100 and 100: or 150 and 1''. he concrete division /hich I see is not deter2ined b1 so2e arbitrar1 2ode o4 organization l1ing solel1 /ithin 21 o/n pleasure: instead I see the arrange2ent and division /hich is given there be4ore 2e. 9nd /hat a re2ar0able process it is /hen so2e other 2ode o4 apprehension does succeed; I gaze 4or a long ti2e 4ro2 21 /indo/, adopt a4ter so2e e44ort the 2ost unreal attitude possible. 9nd I discover that part o4 a /indo/ sash and part o4 a bare branch together co2pose an N. <r, I loo0 at a picture. /o 4aces chee0 to chee0. I see one #/ith its, i4 1ou /ill, 65'6 brightnesses& and the other #6=$6 brightnesses&. I do not see an arrange2ent o4 >> ,lus =0 nor o4 > plus 100 here have been theories /hich /ould re?uire that I see 610>6. In realit1 I see t/o 4aces ; <r, I hear a 2elod1 #1' tones& /ith its acco2pani2ent #33 tones&. I hear the 2elod1 and acco2pani2ent, not si2pl1 6=$6and certainl1 not 30 plus 3$. 9nd the sa2e is true even in cases /here there is no sti2ulus continuu2. I hear the 2elod1 and its acco2pani2ent even /hen the1 are pla1ed b1 an old-4ashioned cloc0 /here each tone is separate 4ro2 the others. <r, one sees a series o4 discontinuous dots upon a ho2ogeneous ground not as a su2 o4 dots, but as 4igures. !ven though there 2a1 here be a greater latitude o4 possible arrange2ents, the dots usuall1 co2bine in so2e 6spontaneous6, 6natural6 articulation -and an1 other arrange2ent, even i4 it can be achieved, is arti4icial and di44icult to 2aintain. "hen /e are presented /ith a nu2ber o4 sti2uli /e do not as a rule e@perience 6a nu2ber6 o4 individual things, this one and that and that. Instead larger /holes separated 4ro2 and related to one another are given in e@perience : their arrange2ent and division are concrete and de4inite. Do such arrangements and divisions follow definite principles "hen the sti2uli abcde appear together /hat are the principles according to /hich abc!de and not ab!cde is

e@perienced 7 It is the purpose o4 this paper to e@a2ine this proble2, and /e shall there4ore begin /ith cases o4 discontinuous sti2ulus constellations. I. 9 ro/ o4 dots is presented upon a ho2ogeneous ground. he alternate intervals are 3 22. and 13 22.

8or2all1 this ro/ /ill be seen as ab!cd" not as a!bc!de. 9s a 2atter o4 4act it is 4or 2ost people i2possible to see the /hole series si2ultaneousl1 in the latter grouping. "e are interested here in /hat is actuall1 seen. he 4ollo/ing /ill 2a0e this clear. <ne sees a ro/ o4 groups obli?uel1 tilted 4ro2 lo/er le4t to upper right #ab!cd!ef$. he arrange2ent a!bc!de is e@tre2el1 di44icult to achieve. !ven /hen it can be seen, such an arrange2ent is 4ar less certain than the other and is ?uite li0el1 to be upset b1 e1e2ove2ents or variations o4 attention.

his is even 2ore clear in #iii&.

Auite obviousl1 the arrange2ent abc!def!ghi is greatl1 superior to ceg!fh%!ikm. 9nother, still clearer e@a2ple o4 spontaneous arrange2ent is that given in #iv&. he natural grouping is, o4 course, a!bcd!efghi, etc.

)ese2bling #i& but still 2ore co2pelling is the ro/ o4 three-dot groupings given in #v&. <ne sees abc!def" and not so2e other #theoreticall1 possible& arrange2ent.

9nother e@a2ple o4 seeing /hat the obBective arrange2ent dictates is contained in #vi& 4or vertical, and in #vii& 4or horizontal groupings.

In all the 4oregoing cases /e have used a relativel1 large nu2ber o4 dots 4or each 4igure. Using 4e/er /e 4ind that the arrange2ent is not so i2perativel1 dictated as be4ore, and reversing the 2ore obvious grouping is co2parativel1 eas1. !@a2ples( #viii&-#@&. It /ould be 4alse to assu2e that #viii&-#@& lend the2selves 2ore readil1 to reversal because 4e/er sti2ulus points #dots& are involved. Cuch incorrect reasoning /ould be based upon the proposition 6 he 2ore dots, the 2ore di44icult it /ill be to unite the2 into groups.6 9ctuall1 it is onl1 the unnatural, arti4icial arrange2ent /hich is rendered 2ore di44icult b1 a larger nu2ber o4 points. he natural grouping #c4., e.g., #i&, #ii&, etc.& is not at all i2peded b1 increasing the nu2ber o4 dots. It never occurs, 4or e@a2ple, that /ith a long ro/ o4 such dots the process o4 6uniting6 the2 into pairs is abandoned and individual points seen instead. It is not true that 4e/er sti2ulus points 6 obviousl1 6 1ield si2pler, surer, 2ore ele2entar1 results. In each o4 the above cases that 4or2 o4 grouping is 2ost natural /hich involves the s2allest interval. he1 all sho/, that is to sa1, the predo2inant in4luence o4 /hat /e 2a1 call &he Factor of Pro'imity. Dere is the 4irst o4 the principles /hich /e undertoo0 to discover. hat the principle holds also 4or auditor1 organization can readil1 be seen b1 substituting tap-tap, pause, tap-tap, pause, etc. 4or #i&, and so on 4or the others. II. ,ro@i2it1 is not, ho/ever, the onl1 4actor involved in natural groupings. his is apparent 4ro2 the 4ollo/ing e@a2ples. "e shall 2aintain an identical pro@i2it1 throughout but var1 the colour o4 the dots the2selves(--

<r, again(--

<r, to repeat #v& but /ith uni4or2 pro@i2it1 (--

hus /e are led to the discover1 o4 a second principle --viz. the tendenc1 o4 li0e parts to band together -- /hich /e 2a1 call &he Factor of (imilarity. 9nd again it should be re2ar0ed that this principle applies also to auditor1 e@perience. Eaintaining a constant interval, the beats 2a1 be so4t and loud #analogous to #@i&& thus( . . ; ; . . ; ; etc. !ven /hen the atte2pt to hear so2e other arrange2ent succeeds, this cannot be 2aintained 4or long. he natural grouping soon returns as an overpo/ering 6upset6 o4 the arti4icial arrange2ent. In #@i&-#@iv& there is, ho/ever, the possibilit1 o4 another arrange2ent /hich should not be overloo0ed. "e have treated these se?uences in ter2s o4 a constant direction 4ro2 le4t to right. Fut it is also true that a continual change o4 direction is ta0ing place bet/een the groups the2selves ( viz. the transition 4ro2 group one to group t/o #so4t-to-loud&, the transition 4ro2 group t/o to group three #loud-to-so4t&, and so on. his naturall1 involves a special 4actor. o retain a constant direction it /ould be necessar1 to 2a0e each succeeding pair louder than the last. Cche2aticall1 this can be represented as (--

<r, in the sa2e /a1(--

his retention o4 constant direction could also be de2onstrated /ith achro2atic colours #green bac0ground& thus( /hite, light gre1, 2ediu2 gre1, dar0 gre1, blac0. 9 2usical reproduction o4 #@v& /ould be )" )" *" *" F+" F+" A" A" )" )" . . .: and si2ilarl1 4or #@vi& ( )" )" )" *" *" *" F+" F+" F+" A" A" A" )" G, G, . . . hus 4ar /e have dealt 2erel1 /ith a special case o4 the general la/. 8ot onl1 si2ilarit1 and dissi2ilarit1, but more and less dissimilarity operate to deter2ine e@perienced arrange2ent. "ith tones, 4or e@a2ple, )" )+" *" F" G+" A" )" )+ . . . /ill be heard in the grouping ab!cd . . . and )" )+" D" *" F" F+" G+" A" A+" )" )+" D. . . in the grouping abc!def . . . <r, again using achro2atic colours, /e 2ight present these sa2e relationships in the 2anner suggested #sche2aticall1& b1 #@vii& and #@viii&.

#It is apparent 4ro2 the 4oregoing that ?uantitative co2parisons can be 2ade regarding the application o4 the sa2e la/s in regions -- 4or2, colour, sound -- hereto4ore treated as ps1chologicall1 separate and heterogeneous.& III. "hat /ill happen /hen t/o such 4actors appear in the sa2e constellation 7 he1 2a1 be 2ade to cooperate : or, the1 can be set in opposition-as, 4or e@a2ple, /hen one operates to 4avour ab!cd /hile the other 4avours !bc!de. F1 appropriate variations, either 4actor 2a1 be /ea0ened or strengthened. 9s an e@a2ple, consider this arrange2ent(--

/here both si2ilarit1 and pro@i2it1 are e2plo1ed. 9n illustration o4 opposition in /hich si2ilarit1 is victorious despite the pre4erential status given to pro@i2it1 is this .-

9 less decided victor1 b1 si2ilarit1(--

Functioning together to/ards the sa2e end, si2ilarit1 and pro@i2it1 greatl1 strengthen the pro2inence here o4 verticalit1(--

"here, in cases such as these, pro'imity is the predo2inant 4actor, a gradual increase o4 interval /ill eventuall1 introduce a point at /hich similarity is predo2inant. In this /a1 it is possible to test the strength o4 these Factors. IV. 9 ro/ o4 dots is presented(--

and then, /ithout the subBectHs e@pecting it, but be4ore his e1es, a sudden, slight shi4t up/ard is given, sa1, to d" e" f or to d" e" f and %" k" l together. &his shi4t is 6pro-structural6, since it involves an entire group o4 naturall1 related dots. 9 shi4t up/ard o4, sa1, c" d" e or o4 c" d" e and i" %" k /ould be 6contra-structural6 because the co22on 4ate #i.e. the shi4t& to /hich these dots are subBected does not con4or2 /ith their natural groupings. Chi4ts o4 the latter 0ind are 4ar less 6s2ooth6 than those o4 the 4or2er t1pe. he 4or2er o4ten call 4orth 4ro2 the subBect no 2ore than bare recognition that a change has occurred: not so /ith the latter t1pe. Dere it is as i4 so2e particular 6opposition6 to the change had been encountered. he result is con4using and disco24orting. Co2eti2es a revolt against the originall1 do2inant Factor o4 ,ro@i2it1 /ill occur and the shi4ted dots the2selves thereupon constitute a ne/ grouping /hose co22on 4ate it has been to be shi4ted above the original ro/. he principle involved here 2a1 be designated &he Factor of ,niform Destiny #or o4 6)ommon Fate6&.