What principle is illustrated by assuming a jump rope is continuous despite not seeing the entire object?

The principle illustrated by assuming a jump rope is continuous, despite not being able to see the entire object, is known as good continuation. This principle refers to our tendency to perceive lines or patterns as continuing in a particular direction because they appear to follow a continuous path. When we see partial information, such as a jump rope that is obscured or not fully visible, our visual system assumes that the object extends in the shape or direction we expect based on prior experience and contextual information.

This results in us perceiving the jump rope as a single continuous object, rather than broken or disjointed segments. Good continuation is a fundamental aspect of how we organize visual information and helps us make sense of objects and their movements in our environment. Other principles, like closure or figure-ground, may play a role in visual perception but are not specifically about the way we infer continuity from incomplete visual cues.