10-2: The whole warps the sum of its parts

The Whole Warps the Sum of Its Parts: Gestalt-Defined-Group Mean Size Biases Memory for Individual Objects

Summary:

​The Article, “The Whole Warps the Sum of Its Parts: Gestalt-Defined-Group Mean Size Biases Memory for Individual Objects” by Jennifer E. Corbett, describes an experiment that was conducted to test how Gestalt’s grouping theory (human tenancy to put things into groups) would affect memory. The introduction to the research study talked about how the brain is able to perceive more information through sorting visual stimuli into groups. The idea of perceptual averaging gives a logical explanation as to why we are able to see things that are maybe past our peripheral viewpoint. The article states that, “…perceptual averaging, an efficient means of statistically compressing redundant information in sets of objects, is a promising strategy for coping with the visual system’s limiter representational capacity. For example, average properties are represented even when individual items are not.” Our mind puts things that we see into groups to make information easier to process. Gestalts four heuristics (types of grouping) are similarity, proximity, connectedness, and common region. This experiment tested how these four heuristics affected people’s ability to remember information.

The test was conducted on thirty-three volunteer participants between the ages of 19 and 29, with normal or corrected to normal vision. Participants were put in a controlled environment in front of a computer. They were then shown a diagram of a series of circles for 500 milliseconds or 5 seconds. Each of these series were organized according to one of Gestalt’s four heuristics. The circles were then removed and replaced with 6 different circles. After this brief exposure, participants were asked to, “Adjust each test circle to match the size of the corresponding circle in the study display.” Participants then adjusted the size and position of the 6 circles to match what they remembered from the diagram that they were previously presented. They were told that, “each circle could be adjusted only once and that they had to adjust every test circle before they would be able to proceed to the next trial.” They were also told that they needed to respond as quickly and as accurately as they could; however, they were not told that they could had to adjust the circle at least three times. This was to prevent participants from continuing to the next trial without adjusting a circle. 

The results of this experiment showed that, “Error similarity was greater for circles within the same gestalt-defined groups than for circles within different gestalt defined groups.” People had the tenancy to make mistakes when the exposed diagram was in a different gestalt-defined group than the one prior to it. The amount of conditioning time did not seem to affect the results which was quite unexpected. The conclusion of the experiment stated that gestalt-groupings had a significant impact on memory.

Why I Chose This Article:

​Recently, we have been talking about learning and memory in class. I find Gestalt’s research to be particularly interesting which is why I chose to study this research experiment. We as humans have natural tenancies to do certain things (natural reflexes) and putting things into groups just happens to be one of them. I have always been a rather organized person when it comes to schoolwork and I like grouping my assignments, using planners, etc. I have always been a list maker and the idea of putting things into groups makes sense to me. 

​I chose to use the Psychological Science Journal because it seemed to be most applicable to this class and to this assignment. I also like how the journal is formatted. It is easier to read because of the double column formatting and allows for easy highlighting and notetaking. There are also minimal spelling and grammar errors which is a problem in some of the other journals I have read.

Application:

​I think that this idea can extend further than just helping our brain to see things easier. It can affect the way we remember people, events, or important objects. Grouping can either be beneficial to our lives, or can lead to unnecessary judgement. For example: Is it good to be suspicious of someone who may cause you harm, or is it bad to be suspicious of someone just because they fit a stereotype that we have developed? Our society thrives on stereotypes and depending on the situation, it can be good or bad. For the people who fit the stereotype as dangerous, or “sketchy,” it may be hard to live in a society so focused on stereotypes.

​This idea of grouping can be helpful in helping with memory of events. For example: it is easier to recall what happened on a special occasion than what happened on another ordinary day because the special occasion is different. We tend to group all the days where not much happens together. This is why many people can’t remember what they had for breakfast yesterday, but can remember which pair of shoes they were wearing when they got engaged. It is because of grouping, that we are able to recall important events or details.

What I learned

​While looking closer at this study, I have learned that our brain uses grouping to process information quickly and efficiently. It is because of this grouping that we often make errors based on what we see alone. As the title of the study says, “The whole warps the sum of it’sparts.” The study showed that gestalt-grouping has a significant impact on memory and is an important factor to knowledge recollection.