In this MRCPsych revision episode we explore Gestalt psychology and the principles that explain how the brain organises sensory information.

Topics include figure–ground perception, similarity, proximity, symmetry, continuity and closure. These cognitive psychology principles describe how humans naturally group sensory stimuli into meaningful patterns.

These concepts frequently appear in MRCPsych Part A examination questions involving perception, cognitive psychology and perceptual disturbances in psychiatry.

This episode maps directly to paragraph 1.1.2 of the Royal College of Psychiatrists membership examination, MRCPsych Part A, syllabus.