This image, “Visual Gestalt”, is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by Jennifer Turner.
Prägnanz in visual perception
Aug 18, 2019
Things look as they do not only because of the visual input an individual receives, but also because of how the viewer processes this input in a certain context. Prägnanz is about how viewers organize the inputs and about why that is the case. Traditionally, the law of Prägnanz states that psychological organization will always be as “good” as the prevailing conditions allow (Koffka, 1935, p. 110).
In this project, we develop a more fine-grained understanding of Prägnanz (i.e., “goodness” of organization) and its added value for current theory and research on human visual perception, both by studying the existing literature and conducting new empirical research. The proposed empirical studies concern the relation of Prägnanz with: (a) robustness and sensitivity to change; (b) hysteresis and adaptation; (c) order and complexity; and (d) simplification and complication. These concepts are antagonistic to some extent, but they are also complementing each other to optimize a balance. What entails the optimal combination of both will be flexibly adjusted to the individual, input, and context.
The aspired outcome of this project is a further specification of the definition of “goodness” or Prägnanz, the conditions to which it is susceptible, its role in perceptual and higher-order processes (including discrimination, categorization, and aesthetic appreciation), and the ways in which Prägnanz can foster current perception science.
Related
Publications
Prägnanz in visual perception
How do we perceptually and cognitively organize incoming stimulation? A century ago, Gestalt psychologists posited the law of Prägnanz: …
Eline Van Geert, Johan Wagemans
An efficient Bayesian observer model of attractive and repulsive temporal context effects when perceiving multistable dot lattices
In multistable dot lattices, the orientation we perceive is attracted towards the orientation we perceived in the immediately preceding …
Same stimulus, same temporal context, different percept? Individual differences in hysteresis and adaptation when perceiving multistable dot lattices
How we perceptually organize a visual stimulus depends not only on the stimulus itself, but also on the temporal and spatial context in …
Towards the most prägnant Gestalt: Leveling and sharpening as contextually dependent adaptive strategies
Gestalt psychologists posited that we always organize our visual input in the best way possible under the given conditions. Both …
Eline Van Geert, Johan Wagemans
What good is goodness? The effects of reference points on discrimination and categorization of shapes
For many decades, psychologists have acknowledged the importance of using psychological scaling rather than physical scaling when …
Eline Van Geert, Johan Wagemans
Talks
VSS 2023 - A Bayesian efficient observer model to explain attractive and repulsive temporal context effects when perceiving multistable dot lattices
In multistable dot lattices, the orientation we perceive is attracted towards the orientation we perceived in the immediately preceding …
May 23, 2023 08:30
Banyan Breezeway, TradeWinds Island Grand, St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA
Eline Van Geert, Tina Ivančir, & Johan Wagemans
SDWVM 2022 - Stable individual differences in hysteresis and adaptation: Evidence for differential use of stimulus history and perceptual history when perceiving multistable dot lattices
How we perceptually organize a visual stimulus depends not only on the stimulus itself, but also on the temporal context in which the …
Dec 14, 2022 20:00
online
Eline Van Geert, Pieter Moors, Julia Haaf, & Johan Wagemans
ECVP 2022 - Stable individual differences in hysteresis and adaptation: Evidence for differential use of stimulus history and perceptual history when perceiving multistable dot lattices
How we perceptually organize a visual stimulus depends not only on the stimulus itself, but also on the temporal context in which the …
Aug 29, 2022 10:15
Nijmegen, the Netherlands
Eline Van Geert, Pieter Moors, Julia Haaf, & Johan Wagemans
PSYNOM 2021 - Drawing for communication: Simplification and complication as contextually dependent adaptive strategies
The Gestalt psychologists posited that we will always organize our visual input in the best way possible. Both the removal of …
Nov 5, 2021
online
Eline Van Geert, Liesse Frérart, & Johan Wagemans
BAPS 2021 - Bayesian modeling of hysteresis and adaptation in visual perception
Several studies of serial dependence in visual perception presented evidence for the existence of hysteresis and adaptation effects …
May 28, 2021
online
Tina Ivančir, Eline Van Geert & Johan Wagemans
BAPS 2021 - Individual differences in the use of perceptual history in the visual categorization of abstract shapes
How we perceive a visual form is not only dependent on aspects of the shape that is currently presented, but also on the temporal …
May 28, 2021
online
Eline Van Geert & Johan Wagemans
BAPS 2021 - Towards the most prägnant Gestalt: Contextual influences on simplification and complication tendencies
The Law of Prägnanz states that each organizational process will always be as ‘good’ as the prevailing conditions allow. Good …
May 28, 2021
online
Liesse Frérart, Eline Van Geert & Johan Wagemans
VSS 2021 - Individual differences in attractive and repulsive context effects on shape categorization
How we perceive a visual form not only depends on the currently presented shape, but also on the temporal context in which it is shown. …
May 23, 2021
online
Eline Van Geert & Johan Wagemans
Gestalt Speaker Series - What does Prägnanz mean and why should we care?
Koffka (1935) presented the law of Prägnanz as the main principle to guide research on perceptual organization. This law states that …
Apr 9, 2021
online
Eline Van Geert & Johan Wagemans
PPP 2020 - Prägnanz in visual perception
Overview of my PhD project plans at the time.
Jan 28, 2020
Leuven, Belgium
Eline Van Geert & Johan Wagemans
ECVP 2019 - Hysteresis and adaptation in perceptual categorization, discrimination, and similarity judgment tasks
How we perceive a visual stimulus or the difference between two sequentially presented stimuli does not only depend on aspects of the …
Aug 26, 2019
Leuven, Belgium
Eline Van Geert & Johan Wagemans
SIPS 2019 - Individual differences in visual perception: Attractive and repulsive context effects
How we perceive a visual stimulus depends not only on the stimulus itself, but also on the individual in question and the context in …
Jul 8, 2019
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Eline Van Geert & Johan Wagemans
Perception Day 2018 - How to explain the category boundary effect? Reference points and sensitivity to change
In categorical perception research, the category boundary effect is a well-known phenomenon: Keeping physical distance equal, …
Dec 7, 2018
Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Eline Van Geert & Johan Wagemans
CiNaPS 2018 - Causality in a Prägnanz perspective on visual perception
“Why do things look as they do?” (Koffka, 1935, p.75). The law of Prägnanz gives a hypothetical, abstract explanation: “[…] …
Sep 19, 2018
Antwerp, Belgium
Eline Van Geert & Johan Wagemans
ECVP 2018 - A Prägnanz framework of perception
The law of Prägnanz states that “psychological organization will always be as ‘good’ as the prevailing conditions allow” (Koffka, 1935, …
Aug 28, 2018
Trieste, Italy
Eline Van Geert & Johan Wagemans
VSAC 2018 - Aesthetics and good Gestalt: a close but complex relationship?
The relation between good Gestalt and aesthetic appreciation is a long-lived one. Koffka (1935), for example, already noted that …
Aug 25, 2018
Trieste, Italy
Eline Van Geert & Johan Wagemans
BAPS 2018 - Psychological organization: What, why, and how?
The law of Prägnanz states that “[…] psychological organization will always be as “good” as the prevailing conditions allow” (Koffka, …
May 18, 2018
Ghent, Belgium
Eline Van Geert & Johan Wagemans