---
title: "What Is Perceptual Organization For?"
authors:
  - "Andrew P. Witkin"
  - "Jay M. Tenenbaum"
doi: ""
url: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1983/236"
pdf: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1983/0236.pdf"
venue: "Proceedings of the Eighth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence"
year: 1983
pages: "1023-1025"
track: "Vision"
keywords:
---

# What Is Perceptual Organization For?

Andrew P. Witkin, Jay M. Tenenbaum

*Proceedings of the Eighth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence*, pages 1023-1025.

## Abstract

Perceptual organization has typically been viPwed as a description of the image in compact or convenient form . We interpret it as a primitive explanation of the processes that generated the image, based on constraints derived from the discovery of regularities that are unlikely to be accidental. Deeper explanations are constructed by labeling, elaborating, and refining the primitive one . This interpretation of primitive perception has significant implications for perception at all levels, and for the relation between perception and cognition.