TR Announcement

[Javier R. Movellan]

The following technical report is available online at 
http://cogsci.ucsd.edu  (follow links to Tech Reports & Software )
Physical copies are also available (see the site for information).




              From Contour Completion to Image Schemas: A Modern
                      Perspective on Gestalt Psychology. 

                                Adrian Robert
    
                     (Communicated by Martin I. Sereno) 
     
                      Department of Cognitive Science
                     University of California San Diego

The Gestalt approach to psychology represents an early but comprehensive and
systematic attempt to relate psychological and neural functioning.  When the
approach was first formulated and actively researched, however, too little was
known about brain function to forge a precise and direct connection.  As a
result, the approach never fulfilled its initial promise of a rigorously
founded psychology grounded in physical science and has fallen out of the
favor and attention of most contemporary students of the mind.  In this paper
we re-examine Gestalt psychology with reference to what is currently known of
dynamic mechanisms of brain function, particularly by exploring plausible
neural substrates of perceptual grouping.  We suggest, based on this
examination, that although many of the details of the Gestalt proposals are in
need of revision, the approach remains fundamentally viable, and the elegant
character of its grounding and systematicity make it a valuable framework for
organizing present knowledge at both neural and functional levels.