Perception & Problem Solving

Perception:

The study of human perception has led to thinking in terms of three that can be called factors, aspects and levels. Perception is a subset of cognitive psychology and incorporates the interpretation of sensations (that is, immediate and basic experiences generated by isolated simple stimuli), giving them meaning and organisation. By using existing knowledge on the human perceptual capabilities, considerations relevant for the visual perception and recognition of information patterns can be derived.

For example Gestalt Psychology states that groups of stimuli acquire a pattern quality which is more than the sum of their parts. In relation to human-computer interaction, this means that the design of user interfaces should aim at creating meaningful information patterns.

Gestalt Psychology can be used to help us understand the effects of grouping information that belong together, using consistent coding of colour, fonts and sizes, and separating figure background of different levels of user interface objects.

Problem solving:

The Gestalt theory is resolved to penetrate the problem itself by examining the fundamental assumptions of science. The meaning of science can be taken as breaking up complexes into their component elements. Isolate the elements, discover their laws, then reassemble them and the problem is solved. All wholes are reduced to pieces and piecewise relations between pieces.

The essence of successful problem solving according to Wertheimer is being able to see the overall structure of the problem. “A certain region in the field becomes crucial, is focused; but it does not become isolated. A new, deeper structural view of the situation develops, involving changes in functional meaning, the grouping etc. of the items. Directed by what is required by the structure of a situation for a crucial region, one is lead to a reasonable prediction, which like the other parts of the structure, calls for verification, direct or indirect. Two directions are involved: getting a whole consistent picture, and seeing what the structure of the whole requires for the parts.”