Van Geert Eline, Frérart Liesse, Wagemans Johan
Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, Department of Brain and Cognition, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Tiensestraat 102 - box 3711, BE-3000, Leuven, Belgium.
Research Group of Quantitative Psychology and Individual Differences, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Mem Cognit. 2025 Jan;53(1):150-174. doi: 10.3758/s13421-023-01445-z. Epub 2023 Jul 25.
Gestalt psychologists posited that we always organize our visual input in the best way possible under the given conditions. Both weakening or removing unnecessary details (i.e., leveling) and exaggerating distinctive features (i.e., sharpening) can contribute to achieving a better organization. When is a feature leveled or sharpened, however? We investigated whether the importance of a feature for discrimination among alternatives influences which organizational tendency occurs. Participants were simultaneously presented with four figures composed of simple geometrical shapes, and asked to reconstruct one of these figures in such a way that another participant would be able to recognize it among the alternatives. The four figures differed either qualitatively or only quantitatively (i.e., far or close context). Regarding quantitative differences, two feature dimensions were varied, with one manifesting a wider range of variability across the alternatives than the other. In case of a smaller variability range, the target figure was either at the extreme of the range or had an in-between value. As expected, the results indicated that sharpening occurred more often for the feature with an extreme value, for the feature exhibiting more variability, and for the features of figures presented in the close context, than for the feature with a non-extreme value, exhibiting less variability, or in the far context. In line with Metzger's (1941) definition of prägnant Gestalts, the essence of a Gestalt is context-dependent, and this will influence whether leveling or sharpening of a feature will lead to the best organization in the specific context.
格式塔心理学家认为，在给定条件下，我们总是以尽可能最佳的方式组织视觉输入。弱化或去除不必要的细节（即平整）以及夸大独特特征（即锐化）都有助于实现更好的组织。然而，一个特征何时会被平整或锐化呢？我们研究了一个特征对于区分不同选项的重要性是否会影响出现哪种组织倾向。参与者同时看到由简单几何形状组成的四个图形，并被要求以另一名参与者能够在这些选项中识别出该图形的方式重构其中一个图形。这四个图形要么在性质上不同，要么仅在数量上不同（即远或近的背景）。对于数量差异，两个特征维度有所变化，其中一个在各选项中的变化范围比另一个更广泛。在变化范围较小的情况下，目标图形要么处于范围的极端，要么具有中间值。正如预期的那样，结果表明，与具有非极端值、变化较小或处于远背景中的特征相比，具有极端值的特征、变化较大的特征以及在近背景中呈现的图形的特征，更常出现锐化。符合梅茨格（1941年）对简洁格式塔的定义，格式塔的本质取决于背景，这将影响一个特征的平整或锐化是否会在特定背景中导致最佳组织。
