What is figure, and what is ground?

One Gestalt principle is the figure-ground relationship: we tend to segment our visual world into figure and ground. OpenStax Psychology 2e

Figure is the object or person that is the focus of the visual field, while the ground is the background. OpenStax Psychology 2e

The figure-ground relationship explains why the same image can be perceived either as a vase or as a pair of faces. OpenStax Psychology 2e

At any moment you can see either the white vase, in the centre, as the figure, or the black profiles on each side, in which case the white is seen as the ground. Britannica Scholars: illusion Seeing one aspect usually excludes seeing the other. Britannica Scholars: illusion

Gestalt psychology grew from the work of Max Wertheimer and his assistants Wolfgang Köhler and Kurt Koffka in the early twentieth century. OpenStax Psychology 2e

The word gestalt literally means form or pattern, but its use reflects the idea that the whole is different from the sum of its parts. OpenStax Psychology 2e

It was in this work that Rubin first elucidated the figure–ground distinction, now a staple of introductory psychology textbooks. Pind, The Psychologist (BPS)

Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler and Kurt Koffka, pioneers of the Gestalt movement, eagerly embraced Rubin’s study, which featured prominently in Koffka’s 1935 Principles of Gestalt Psychology. Pind, The Psychologist (BPS)

Rubin was never happy with being counted as one of the Gestalt psychologists. He admired their descriptive psychology but was sceptical of their wide-ranging theories. Pind, The Psychologist (BPS)

The vase-and-faces figure is the usual classroom example. Our own drawing of it is on the vase and faces page.