Gestalt Principles Quiz – Name the Principle in Each Picture

All 12 pictures on the diagram

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Pictures 1 to 4 4

Proximity The dots are seen as three pairs of columns. Dots that stand near each other group together.
Similarity The shapes are seen as rows. The spacing is even, so like groups with like.
Closure The eye fills the gaps and sees one circle. Six separate arcs are all that is drawn.
Figure-ground You see a vase or two faces. Whichever you see is the figure, and the rest is the ground.

Pictures 5 to 8 4

Continuity You see two lines crossing, one straight and one wavy. Each is followed along its smoothest path.
Connectedness Dots joined by a bar are seen as pairs. The dots themselves are evenly spaced.
Proximity Twelve dots are seen as three clusters. Nearness groups them.
Closure Four corners are seen as one whole square. The sides between them are not drawn.

Pictures 9 to 12 4

Similarity The dots are seen as columns, by size. The spacing is even in both directions.
Figure-ground Either cross can be the figure. The other one then falls back as the ground.
Continuity The long line is seen to run straight on. The eye does not follow it round the corner and down.
Connectedness Each dot is seen as a pair with its square. The bar joins them, though the shapes differ.

How this list was compiled: Every principle checked on 2026-10-01 in at least two of these. (1) Introduction to Psychology, an openly licensed textbook, section 4.2 Seeing, table 4.1, Summary of Gestalt Principles of Form Perception, https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_introduction-to-psychology/s08-02-seeing.html (figure and ground: a figure is always seen against a ground, as with the vase and the two faces; similarity: things that look alike are seen as a group; proximity: things near each other are seen as a group; continuity: we see smooth, unbroken lines, so a row of dots follows the smoothest path; closure: we fill the gaps of an unfinished image and see a whole object). (2) Wikipedia, Principles of grouping, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principles_of_grouping (five categories: proximity, similarity, continuity, closure and connectedness; objects close together seem to form groups; a shape whose border has gaps is still seen as enclosed; lines are grouped along an established direction rather than abrupt changes). (3) D. Todorovic, Gestalt principles, Scholarpedia, 2008, http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Gestalt_principles (figure-ground articulation; the proximity, similarity, continuity and closure principles; two crossing lines, one straight and one wavy, are seen as those two lines; element connectedness, proposed by Palmer and Rock in 1994: elements joined by other elements tend to be seen as one group). The twelve pictures are our own, drawn to those descriptions. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-01 from dots, lines and plain shapes. Own original pictures; nothing traced or copied. Licence: own work

How it works

In this Gestalt principles quiz the box under one picture lights up and you pick the principle the picture shows: proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, figure-ground or connectedness. Each principle appears twice among the twelve pictures.

Read the full guide

Ask what makes the groups

Look at how the picture falls into groups, then ask why. If the pieces are simply nearer to each other, it is proximity. If the spacing is even and the pieces that look alike go together, it is similarity. If a bar or line joins them, it is connectedness.

Lines, gaps and backgrounds

The other three are not about groups of dots. Continuity is following a line along its smoothest path where lines cross or branch. Closure is seeing a whole shape though parts of its outline are missing. Figure-ground is seeing one region as a thing and the rest as background, and sometimes the two can swap.

Questions and answers

What are the Gestalt principles?

Rules for how people see separate pieces as organized wholes, first proposed by Gestalt psychologists in the early twentieth century. The ones taught most often are proximity, similarity, continuity, closure and figure-ground. Lists differ from one textbook to the next.

How do you tell proximity from similarity?

Check the spacing. In a proximity picture the pieces look the same and some are simply closer together. In a similarity picture the spacing is even, and the pieces group by a shared look such as shape or size.

What is the difference between closure and continuity?

Closure fills gaps: an outline with pieces missing is still seen as one complete shape. Continuity follows direction: where lines cross or branch, each is seen to carry on along its smoothest path instead of turning sharply.

What is connectedness?

Pieces that are joined by a line or bar are seen as one unit, even when they are evenly spaced or differ in shape. Stephen Palmer and Irvin Rock proposed it in 1994, so it is missing from older lists.

Why is common fate not in the quiz?

Common fate is about movement: things that move the same way at the same rate are seen as one group, like a flock of birds. A still picture cannot show it, so the quiz leaves it out.