Helmholtz recognized that the image on the retina is ambiguous (the pattern on the retina could be from many things: the inverse projection problem). He posited that the brain uses unconscious inference to determine what the pattern likely is, based on other evidence about the environment.

Helmholtz's Theory of Unconscious Inference

The problem of trying discern what an object is based on the pattern it leaves on a retina. One pattern can have many different potential mappings (could have come from many different objects). 

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- Inverse projection problem
- Viewpoint invariance
- Helmholtz's Theory of Unconscious Inference
- Principles of perceptual organization
- Regularities in the environment
- Unilateral neglect

Focuses of visual perception

Goldstein, E. B. (2014). Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience. Nelson Education.


Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience

Inverse projection problem

The capability of being able to recognize what an object is from various different viewpoints.

Viewpoint invariance

Proposed by Gestalt psychologists, the principles of perceptual organization explain how humans group sensory stimuli to form meaningful wholes, differing from structuralism's view that perception is just the sum of sensations. These principles include:
- The principle of good continuation
- The principle of good figure (law of pragnanz or principle of simplicity)
- The principle of similarity
- The principle of proximity
- The principle of closure

Principles of perceptual organization

Characteristics in the environment that occur frequently. Two major types are:
- Physical regularities
- Semantic regularities

Regularities in the environment

Damage to the parietal lobe can cause a condition where ignore objects in one half of there visual field (they are not aware of it). 

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