The Gestalt Psychologists formulated the Laws of
Perceptual Organization, which describe how the visual scene
is grouped into its various parts.
This demo introduces the Law of Similarity and the Law
of Proximity.
The Law of Similarity states that similar items tend to be
grouped together.
The Law of Proximity states that items near to one another
tend to be grouped together.
1.) Start by clicking on the 'Start Demo' button below. A new frame
will pop up. (Note: if you are using MS Internet Explorer or a PC version
of Netscape, you may want to resize your new frame. Also, you will need
to click your mouse somewhere inside the new frame to get things rolling for
either of these 2 platforms.)
2.) First, manipulate similarity without manipulating proximity.
Click 'Proximity' in the menubar and choose 'Proximity Bias: None'.
Then click 'Similarity' in the menubar. Try 'Similarity Bias: Row'. Then
try 'Similarity Bias: Column'. What happens?
3.) Second, manipulate proximity without manipulating similarity.
4.) Now, manipulate both similarity and proximity together. Start
with 'Similarity Bias: Row'. Is there an increased bias towards seeing rows,
when 'Proximity Bias: Row' is also selected? What happens when 'Proximity Bias:
Column' is selected instead? Try the various combinations. Does the effect of
similarity 'overpower' the effect of proximity (or vice versa?)?