CONTIGUITY
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 672 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
The closeness of elements in space and/or time.
Patterns of interaction are more easily formed among elements which are close to each other in space or time. This is a result of the non-instantaneous propagation of effects and helps explain phenomena like random or causal linkages, clustering, local system's formation, gestalt perception, etc.
Applying this to perception S. ARIETI states: “Sense-data experienced together tend to be re-experienced together, if they produced one effect in the organism by the fact of being together. The effect in its turn connects more firmly together the sense-data” (1965, p.109).
However: “The mode of operation by contiguity, which seems at first so simple, is someting which instead requires the solution, through evolutionary mechanisms of a difficult problem… : response of a part versus response to a whole… In normal conditions, whole — perception wins out and the mode of contiguity generally applies to the contiguity of the various parts which form differentiated wholes” (Ibid).
In other words, contiguity is instaured by reinforcement. Moreover, contiguity perception must be the cause or condition of Gestalt construction.