Image Schema/Part Whole

Definitions

from Andrea C Schalley (SIABO PhD School: Ontology & Lexicon - Theory and applications 
a basic part whole relation 
  between two concepts (classes) or
  between two objects  (instances)
  gives name 'whole' and 'part' to the separate concepts or separate objects.
  concept/class level

if a part-class is related to the whole-class then every instance of the whole-class includes one or more instances of the part-class

if a part-object-instance is related to the whole-object-instance then the whole-instance includes the part-object-instance.

Within Linguistic parlance,

the Part Whole Relation corresponds to a sense relation
meronymy is composed of meronyms.
X is a meronym of Y if and only if sentences of the form
a Y has Xs
or a Y has an X
or a X has a Y
and An X is a part of a Y 
are normal when the noun phrases an X, a Y  are interpreted generically.”
(core characterisation of corresponding lexical relation from Cruse 1986: 160

Papers

A Developmental Study of Part-Whole Relations in Visual Perception - Roland C. Lowe
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00221325.1973.10532682
Pages 231-240 | Received 23 Jun 1972, Published online: 04 Sep 2012

Children aged 5 to 9 years matched the shape of (a) small squares embedded in large rectangles and (b) small rectangles embedded in large squares. Predictions made were that (a) the influence of the whole on the perception of the part would be greatest at the 5-year-old level and (b) this effect of the whole would make the parts look to the child somewhat like the whole figure of which the part is a member. Both predictions were supported by the data. The 5-year-olds perceived the small squares as more rectangular, and the small rectangles as more square-like, significantly more than the older age groups, each result representing a shift towards the shape of the whole configuration.

Ambiguous Sound Patterns: Time of Perception of Variable Non-Visual Figure-Ground and Part-Whole Relationships - Nathan Israeli
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00223980.1950.9916044
published as a separate and in from the Journal of Psychology 1950 29, pp 449-459

aim was to demonstrate

(a) ambiguous sound patterns

(b) part-whole relationships

(c) figure-ground relationships

Part-whole relations (slides) Andrea C Schalley
https://www.academia.edu/2077241/Part_whole_relations