Law of Proximity

The law of proximity is a Gestalt psychology principle holding that visual elements positioned close together in space tend to be perceived as belonging to a single unified group, distinct from other elements that are farther away, even when nothing else distinguishes the elements themselves. A commonly used demonstration presents a grid of identical circles spaced so that some sit nearer to their neighbors than others; viewers spontaneously perceive the more closely spaced circles as forming distinct clusters or columns, purely as a function of their spacing, rather than seeing the full grid as a single undifferentiated array of dots.