Within the AP® Psychology section of perception are the multifaceted principles of Gestalt. Gestalt principles are the different ways individuals group stimuli together in order to make a whole that makes sense to them. These principles are divided up into five categories: proximity, similarity, continuity, connectedness, and closure. By perceiving objects as well as the world around us we reflect these Gestalt principles. In this AP® Psychology review, we will cover these aspects of the Gestalt and apply them to the AP® exam to get you that 5 you are looking for.

Proximity

The Gestalt principle of proximity is when an individual perceives several objects that are close together as belonging together. An example of this is in the picture above. In the picture the dots are all the same color, size, and shape. The only reason that we perceive two different blocks of dots is because of their position, and how close they are to each other. If these dots were to be miles and miles apart, then we would not perceive them as being a group.

Similarity

If proximity is due to position, then the Gestalt principle of similarity is how we piece information together by how similar objects are. For example, if there were five dogs of all different breeds and five cats of different breeds, then we would group them as cats and dogs. Here, positions do not matter, because we are looking into how similar the objects are to each other.

Another example is the picture above. When looking at these dots one would say that there are two groups. There are white dots and there are blue dots. We perceive these two groups as such, because they have the same shape. The only difference we see is in similarity, or in this case, the color. If all of the dots were blue, then we would say that there was one group of blue dots.

Continuity

The third Gestalt principle is continuity. Continuity is that our brains tend to see objects as continuous or smooth rather than disjointed or discontinuous. A great example of this phenomenon is a movie. Movies are just millions of pictures put together and flipped through at a fast rate. Your brain brings all of these pictures, these disjointed pictures, together into one cohesive, smooth unit.

Another great example of continuity is music. Music is individual notes that are strung together. Our brains bring those notes together into one smooth unit through continuity.

Connectedness

Connectedness is the fourth principle of the Gestalt principles. Connectedness is when we see connections in disjointed objects. One example of this is when you can see the image that will be made on a connect the dots picture before you connect the dots. For example, when people find constellations in the sky they see a picture made up of dots.

Another example of connectedness is a mosaic. A mosaic is made up of tiny broken pieces of glass or tile that are all put together in a collage to make a new, unified whole.

Closure

Closure is the final Gestalt principle. Closure is when individuals fill in the blanks. This means that the brain sees the big picture even when an element of that picture may be missing. An example of this is in the alphabet.

You may not have noticed that some letters were missing (see image above), because your brain knows what that sequence of letters is supposed to look like, and you perceived that the missing letters were there.

Another example of the Gestalt principle of closure is seen in the picture to the left. While these roughly drawn shapes are not finished, we can perceive that these shapes are a circle and a rectangle. Our ability to see closure with almost finished objects fills in the missing information.

This idea was used on the AP® Psychology free response question on the 2011 AP® Psych exam. The question can be seen here. Within this case study the participants had to complete an incomplete figure as well as to tell what was happening and the expected result of the experiment. This FRQ relates to the idea of closure, because the case study should be able to finish the incomplete figures.

Why are These Principles of Gestalt Important?

The principles of Gestalt are extremely important in that they dictate how we perceive life. Life is just a giant whirlwind of stimuli, and to make sense of these stimuli we must group them together. For example, people do not need to examine every brick on the house to determine that it is a house. Here we have grouped the bricks together to realize that that was a wall. Then, we group together those walls to make a house. If there are other houses next to it, then we group those houses into a development. Multiple developments are then grouped into a community. Grouping of stimuli allows us to make sense of the world so that we do not have to focus on the tiny details.

Why Are the Gestalt Principles Important for the AP® Psychology Exam?

Applying the AP® Psychology material, such as the Gestalt principles, is essential for a high score on the AP® Psychology exam. Gestalt principles are a vital portion of the free response question portion of the exam in particular, because examiners love to see application of ideas. The free response question that would include the application of the Gestalt principles would include a scenario of perception. Here the students would be given a scenario in which an individual would see something, and then the student must give the Gestalt principles that explain why the individual perceived this.

Free response questions are worth a large percentage of the AP® Psychology exam; therefore, it is essential that the student looks over the Gestalt principles of perception and be able to apply these ideas to real life examples.

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