We cannot process information in the same manner because we have no prior knowledge of the object.
Perception organization refers to the way we process information or stimuli to make sense of what we are observing. We can thus give them meaning which we can understand easily. There are some important steps in perception organization or we can say types of steps we can take to reach a conclusion.
These are: figure and Ground, Stereotyping, perceptual schemes, closure, proximity and similarity. Figure is what we immediately notice and it is the object of our attention. Ground is the area or stimuli surrounding that image. For example when a friends calls us from a distance, his voice becomes the point of focus while everything else around us like other people's voices become the ground. Perceptual schemes are also used to make sense of information. These are based on appearance, social roles, interaction style, psychological traits and membership. For example if you are close to your church, you might assume that everyone who goes to that church thinks the way you do. Similarly if you meet your professor, you are likely to place him in the category of a teacher...
Imagine an old man walk up to you, completely confused about directions to his destination. You might immediately think "old people never know where they are." This is a way of stereotyping.
Closure is our ability to fill in missing pieces to make sense of information. We do it for our own convenience and for better understanding. For example you hear that someone died in a plane crash even though he wasn't meant to be on that plane. You might think he decided to purchase a ticket at the very last minute or someone gave him a cheaper ticket etc. This is how we put in more pieces to complete the puzzle for ourselves.
Proximity refers to how close something is to the other. And Similarity refers to how similar it is to something we already know. This is the perceptual organizational process which helps us finally reach a rich percept.
REFERENCE
Gregory Robinson-Riegler and Bridget Robinson-Riegler. Cognitive Psychology: Applying the Science of the Mind, Second Edition, Allyn and Bacon. 2008
