Figure-Ground Perception

The figure-ground system gives people a good understanding of how we perceive things. In a figure-ground system, we perceive an object, called the figure, as distinct against its surroundings, called the ground.  For example, look at the picture in this post. When someone looks at this picture, they will perceive that it spells out the name Jesus.  In this case the figure is actually the white colored shapes.  If someone tries to stare at those shapes by themselves, they will come to the conclusion that is nothing but gibberish.  However, when they perceive the figures against the dark green ground, they then realize that it spells out the name Jesus.  This is just one good illustration of how the figure-ground relationship works.