Reification

Reification is a concept used in Gestalt Psychology that refers to the human mind's tendency to consider an object in its entirety before it perceives the object as the sum of individual parts. A simple example of this is when a person is trying to buy a car. They first identify that it is a "car." Then they note the color, make and model. After this, if interested, the person will start to note the details; condition of the body, number of cylinders, engine condition, trim, etc.


Image source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Reification.jpg