Which of the following concepts allows viewers to perceive an incomplete shape as a complete form?

The concept of closure refers to the tendency of individuals to perceive incomplete shapes as complete forms. This phenomenon occurs because our brains are wired to fill in gaps in visual information, allowing us to see a whole object even when it is only partially represented. For instance, when we see a dashed line forming a circle, our mind automatically interprets it as a complete circle rather than as separate segments. This ability to mentally complete shapes illustrates a fundamental aspect of human perception known as Gestalt psychology, which emphasizes how we organize visual elements into unified wholes.

In contrast, the other concepts—proximity, figure and ground, and continuation—each describe different perceptual principles but do not specifically address the brain's ability to fill in missing information to create a whole image. Proximity deals with how elements that are close together are perceived as a group, figure and ground distinguish the foreground from the background, and continuation refers to the way that our eyes tend to follow lines or curves in a path. While all these principles play critical roles in visual perception, closure is specifically about completing shapes, which is why it is the correct choice in this context.