Post #1: Figure ground

Visual Figure ground is the ability to perceive and locate something or someone in a busy place without becoming confused by what's around the object or person (or in the background).  This is an essential skill that everyone needs, especially children, to not lose themselves or others.  If a child, or adult, does not possess this ability, then this makes it very difficult for them to concentrate on something specific or they may become confused easily, visually.
(This typically affects children.)

This issue is actually a problem in gestalt psychology because these children and people do not see things as a whole necessarily but as different parts that they cannot sort or organize correctly in their brain or visual field, therefore, making it hard for someone to keep their place while reading, copying things from the board, paying attention to relevant words in a question, etc.

In simple terms, "figure" is what stands out and "ground" is what you put in the background, or don't pay attention to as much (i.e. peripheral vision).  Here's a woman that explains this very easily from an experience she had:
http://kmthelibrarian.blogspot.com/2012/06/figureground.html

What do you see?  Which is figure and which is ground to you?  This optical illusion is used commonly for this...

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/nich0185/myblog2/vase.jpg


Source:
http://mrsprattclassroom.weebly.com/figure-ground.html