Rules of Perceptual Organization: Similarity

Perhaps the most obvious through shape differences, the perceptual organization rule of similarity defines how the brain will automatically group similar objects together; whether the common thread between them be color, shape, size, etc. In this example, the brain groups the objects into three groups: the black squares with white, soft crowns; the white squares with the black soft crowns, and the single white square with the black pointy crown.

In this example, the single yellow man stands out from the other men solely because of his color. The other black figures blend in because of their identicalness, while the yellow man, although his shape is exactly like the others, is impossible to ignore.