Patterns of Perceptual Organization With Simultaneous Stimuli

STUDIES of function of the nervous system by any one method will show patterns. This is a general law which applies to motor, perceptual, and psychic functions. Patterns of functions are present in the normal as well as in the abnormal state. For example, normal subjects show variations in the ability to discriminate two closely applied points in different regions of the body. Thus, the pattern for two-point discrimination is one in which the finest differentiation is at the tongue or finger tips, while other parts of the body, such as the back or the thigh, require a greater distance between two points before discrimination of "twoness" can be made.1According to Pearson2the pattern for the normal sense of vibration is one in which the threshold is low at the clavicle and high over the sacrum. In vision discrimination of targets under daylight illumination is best in