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A Brief History of Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt psychology suggests that we perceive objects as part of a greater whole rather than focusing on individual components. It formed in response to structuralism, which broke down psychology into small parts. Gestalt psychologists were interested in the totality of the mind. Some major figures included Max Wertheimer, who discovered the phi phenomenon of apparent motion, and Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler, who were among the founders. Gestalt proposed five laws of perception: continuity, closure, proximity, similarity, and figure-ground relationships.

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144 views4 pages

A Brief History of Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt psychology suggests that we perceive objects as part of a greater whole rather than focusing on individual components. It formed in response to structuralism, which broke down psychology into small parts. Gestalt psychologists were interested in the totality of the mind. Some major figures included Max Wertheimer, who discovered the phi phenomenon of apparent motion, and Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler, who were among the founders. Gestalt proposed five laws of perception: continuity, closure, proximity, similarity, and figure-ground relationships.

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Alexis V. Larosa
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GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY

Gestalt psychology is a school of thought that looks at the human mind and behavior as
a whole. When trying to make sense of the world around us, Gestalt psychology suggests that
we do not simply focus on every small component. Instead, our minds tend to perceive objects
as part of a greater whole and as elements of more complex systems.

A Brief History of Gestalt Psychology

Originating in the work of Max Wertheimer, Gestalt psychology formed partially as


a response to the structuralism of Wilhelm Wundt.

While Wundt was interested in breaking down psychological matters into their
smallest possible part, the Gestalt psychologists were instead interested in looking at the
totality of the mind and behavior. The guiding principle behind the Gestalt movement was
that the whole was greater than the sum of its parts.

The development of this area of psychology was influenced by a number of


thinkers, including Immanuel Kant, Ernst Mach, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

The development of Gestalt psychology was influenced in part by Wertheimer's


observations one day at a train station. He purchased a toy stroboscope which displayed
pictures in a rapid sequence to mimic the appearing movement. He later proposed the
concept of the Phi phenomenon in which flashing lights in sequence can lead to what is
known as apparent motion.

In other words, we perceive movement where there is none. Movies are one
example of apparent motion. Through a sequence of still frames, the illusion of movement
is created.

"The fundamental "formula" of Gestalt theory might be expressed in this way,”


Max Wertheimer wrote. "There are wholes, the behavior of which is not determined by
that of their individual elements, but where the part-processes are themselves
determined by the intrinsic nature of the whole. It is the hope of Gestalt theory to
determine the nature of such wholes."
Major Gestalt Psychologists

There were a number of thinkers who had an influence on Gestalt psychology.


Some of the best-known Gestalt psychologists included:

1. Max Wertheimer: Regarded as one of the three founders of Gestalt psychology,


Wertheimer is also known for his concept of the phi phenomenon. The phi
phenomenon involves perceiving a series of still images in rapid succession in order
to create the illusion of movement.
2. Kurt Koffka: Know as one of the three founders of Gestalt psychology,
Kurt Koffka had diverse interests and studied many topics in psychology including
learning, perception, and hearing impairments.
3. Wolfgang Kohler: Also a key founding figure in the history of the Gestalt
movement, Kohler also famously summarized Gestalt theory by saying, "The whole
is different than the sum of its parts." He was also known for his research
on problem-solving, his criticisms of the introspection used by the structuralists to
study the human mind, and his opposition to behaviorism.

Five Laws of Perception

Gestalt psychologists posit five main “laws” of perception that underlie the organization
of visual information:
1. Continuity
2. Closure
3. Proximity
4. Similarity
5. Figure and Ground

1. Continuity:
Describes our tendency to perceive objects
that seem to have a relationship to each
other as being continuous. For example,
we perceive the pattern below as two lines
crossing rather than as two angles joined
at their apexes (Pettersson, 1989, p 71).
2. Closure:
Closure describes our tendency to look for unity in objects and to see lines as a
single unit. Therefore, given the mere suggestion of an object, we will tend to fill
in the details. For exmple, it is likely that you perceive the series of disconnected
lines represened below as a square, and the series of disconnected dots as forming
a single circle.

Closure explains why we see the following isntructional image, depicting the parts
of the brain involved in creating long-term memory, as a whole head.

3. Proximity:
Proximity describes the tendency to perceive
objects that are close to one another as being
grouped together in a meaningful way. For
example, you are likely to perceive no groupings
in the following series of equally spaced
squares:

However, by increasing the vertical or horizontal distance between some of the


squares we can create a perception of two groups of four squares rather than
eight squares
4. Similarity:
We might also use the principle of similarity to
group things in our visual fields. According to
this principle, things that are alike tend to be
grouped together . For example, when watching
a football game, we tend to group individuals
based on the colors of their uniforms. When
watching an offensive drive, we can get a sense
of the two teams simply by grouping along this
dimension.

When looking at this array of dots, we likely perceive alternating rows


of colors. We are grouping these dots according to the principle of similarity.

5. Figure-ground relationship:
One Gestalt principle is the figure-ground relationship. According to this principle,
we tend to segment our visual world into figure and ground. Figure is the object
or person that is the focus of the visual field, while the ground is the background.
Our perception can vary tremendously, depending on what is perceived as figure
and what is perceived as ground. Presumably, our ability to interpret sensory
information depends on what we label as figure and what we label as ground in
any particular case, although this assumption has been called into question
(Peterson & Gibson, 1994; Vecera & O’Reilly, 1998).

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