Attractors and perceptual field dynamics of homogeneous stimulus areas

Abstract

The phenomenon of the wandering point on a blank sheet of paper in serial reproductions is the starting point of an investigation of the perceptual field structure of homogeneous stimulus areas; 609 stimulus points distributed regularly in 21 rows and 29 columns on a DIN A4 sheet were presented successively to 10 subjects and had to be reproduced immediately afterwards in order to establish empirical vector fields. These were subjected to vector-analytic procedures. A method for the decomposition of the measured vector fields into partitions from gradient potentials and circulation potentials is demonstrated. The gradient potentials of the empirical vector fields revealed a highly regular structure with four point attractors near the corners of the sheet. A model calculation of the wandering point in this potential landscape showed results comparable to the empirical phenomenon. The results are discussed in favor of Gestalt theory and against direct perception.

Art, Science, and Humor: The Study of Humorous Experience at the Intersection between Psychology and the Art World

“…This demonstration showed the surprising progressive migration of that point toward the nearest corner through the successive reproductions, each made by a different person. More recently, Stadler, Richter, Pfaff, and Kruse (1991) developed this demonstration to support a rather complicated theory including the hypothesis of psychophysiological dynamics due to so-called "attractors" at the corners of the rectangular field. They produced more than 20 equations to explain these attractors.…”

Lost in Transition? Complexity in Organisational Behaviour – the Contributions of Systems Theories

“…It is also arguably the most appropriate theory to explain spontaneous transitions between human movement patterns (e.g. Haken 1992, for an overview: Jirsa et al 1998, or to understand selforganisation in medicine (Glass/Mackey 1977;Mackey/Milton 1987;an der Heiden 1992) and clinical psychology (Tschacher et al 1992;Schiepek/Strunk 1994), in perception (Haken 1979;Stadler et al 1991;Haken 1996), cognition (Stadler/Kruse 1990;Stadler et al 1996;Stadler/Haynes 1999), group (Langthaler/Schiepek 1996 and social processes (Weidlich/Haag 1983).…”

The Cognitive Organisation of Human Errors: A Gestalt Theory Perspective

“…The field of action for an individual can be represented as a potential landscape in which the valleys are attractors and the mountains are repellors. In the valleys activity subsides; conversely, on the mountains and ridges it is unstable and less predictable, much like the chaotic trajectories taken by a ball moving through a potential landscape (Gleick, 1987;Stadler & Kruse, 1990;Stadler, Richter, Pfaff, & Kruse, 1991).…”