Size Constancy

Size constancy explains how we infer the sizes of objects based on the distance they are away from us. We perceive things on the horizon or in the background to be bigger because things that are farther away look smaller. Experience along with inherent knowledge has taught us this.

In this picture, everyone looks about the same size. In reality the size of the man in the background is much smaller than the people in the front of the people.


http://psych.hanover.edu/krantz/SizeConstancy/page2.html

We see him as the same size because we know that things are meant to get smaller as they get farther away.

Closure

With the law of closure, we often fill in gaps in a picture to create a complete, whole object. We ignore gaps and fill in contour lines with our minds in order to see objects.

               http://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm

We apply this to many things in real life including in this panda, which serves as the logo for WWF. This picture of a panda has many open lines, but we fill them in with our brains and are still able to perceive the panda.

Figure-Ground Perception

Figure-ground perceptions describes how we perceive any object, called the figure, as distinct from it's surroundings, called the ground. In most situations we can clearly determine what is the figure and what is the ground, but in some cases the lines become blurred and we see that the same stimulus can trigger more than one perception. We use cues like the size, shape, and positioning of lines and shapes in the pictures to help us determine what is front and center and what is in the background.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure%E2%80%93ground_(perception)

In this image, it is hard to tell what is the figure and what is the ground. It can be perceived as a white vase set against a black background, or as two black faces in a white background.

Brightness Consistancy

Brightness consistency is the ability to see an object as having a constant level of lightness, even if the lighting conditions change. In these two pictures, you can tell what each color is. Even though in the second picture where the lights are turned down, you are still able to tell that she is wearing a white sweater, blue jeans, and brown boots.

Continuity

This picture represents continuity, which is the way your brain will assume that an object that appears to be moving in one direction, will continue to move in that particular direction. In this picture, it appears that one line is going strait horizontally while the other is weaving up in down through the other. The brain doesn't break up the two lines, it continues to move in one direction.

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