Grouping into Streams

• Recall Gestalt principles of grouping: proximity, similarity, symmetry, continuity, and common fate.

• Principles of grouping enable parsing of streams of information.
  • If a sequence of tones is played with tones far enough apart in time, a melody can be tracked.

  • If the sequence is sped up, it becomes more difficult to track the transitions between large pitch leaps; you begin to hear tones in streams.

• The visual analog is apparent motion: objects tend to be conserved and the mind will construct whichever process is most probable.

  Figure 1: Dots alternating at sufficient speed can create apparent motion.

  
  
  

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