Seeing is believing . . . . cues and world views
It is very likely that in that the figure above, you saw 6 pairs of lines in a row, with a single line at either end.
Now, continue and consider this similar, but slightly different presentation.
INSERT FIGURE HERE
Has your understanding of the lines changed?
The lines are exactly the same as they were before -- but the context in which they are presented has changed. This change creates a new whole -- and a new experience. That is because you take from the environment various cues, and use these cues to impose structure, creating a whole that is consistent with your world view.
The organism is predisposed to organizing experience in a particular way.
Gestaltists believe that there are a number of universal rules that dictate the way humans structure their world. In the preceding examples, the first figure you likely grouped based on the law of proximity. The law of proximity suggests that we tend to group together things that are physically close together.
However, in the second figure, you likely changed what you saw and viewed a series of rectangles instead of continuing to see pairs of lines. This new grouping represents the law of closure.
Gestalt theory has developed a number of such laws that help explain human experience, and by abstraction -- human learning.
