Reconciling simplicity and likelihood principles in perceptual organization.

Chater, Nick·1996·Psychological Review
DOI 10.1037//0033-295x.103.3.566

Abstract

Two principles of perceptual organization have been proposed. The likelihood principle, following H. L. F. von Helmholtz (1910/1962), proposes that perceptual organization is chosen to correspond to the most likely distal layout. The simplicity principle, following Gestalt psychology, suggests that perceptual organization is chosen to be as simple as possible. The debate between these two views has been a central topic in the study of perceptual organization. Drawing on mathematical results in A. N. Kolmogorov's (1965) complexity theory, the author argues that simplicity and likelihood are not in competition, but are identical. Various implications for the theory of perceptual organization and psychology more generally are outlined.

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Cited by (8)

  1. Simplicity: a unifying principle in cognitive science?
    Chater, Nick, Vitányi, Paul · 2003 · Trends in Cognitive Sciences
  2. Précis of Bayesian Rationality: The Probabilistic Approach to Human Reasoning
    Oaksford, Mike, Chater, Nick · 2009 · Behavioral and Brain Sciences
  3. Expectation in Melody: The Influence of Context and Learning
    Pearce, Marcus T., Wiggins, Geraint A. · 2006 · Music Perception
  4. The under-appreciated drive for sense-making
    Chater, Nick, Loewenstein, George · 2016 · Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization
  5. Connectionist and Statistical Approaches to Language Acquisition: A Distributional Perspective
    Redington, Martin, Chater, Nick · 1998 · Language and Cognitive Processes

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Cite CoChat for the checks on this page, and the paper for its own findings.

This page
CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Reconciling simplicity and likelihood principles in perceptual organization. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1037//0033-295x.103.3.566
The paper
Chater, N. (1996). Reconciling simplicity and likelihood principles in perceptual organization. Psychological Review. https://doi.org/10.1037//0033-295x.103.3.566

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