Lecture 10 – Gestalt Psychology

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering key figures, concepts, principles, and experiments from the Gestalt Psychology lecture.

Gestalt Psychology

A psychological theory emphasizing that people perceive and experience the world as organized wholes rather than collections of separate elements.

Whole-is-Different Principle

Central Gestalt idea that the whole experience cannot be reduced to the sum of its individual parts.

Elementism

The view (held by structuralists) that mental phenomena can be understood by breaking them into basic sensory elements; rejected by Gestalt psychologists.

Structuralism

Early school of psychology (Wundt, Titchener) focused on analyzing conscious experience into basic elements via introspection.

Behaviorism

School of psychology that rejected consciousness and studied observable behavior; Gestalt psychology arose partly in opposition to it.

Max Wertheimer (1880–1943)

Co-founder of Gestalt psychology; discovered the phi phenomenon and opposed elementism.

Phi Phenomenon

Visual illusion in which two stationary lights flashed in succession are perceived as a single moving light, demonstrating active organization by the brain.

Kurt Koffka (1886–1941)

Gestalt co-founder who popularized the movement in the U.S. and wrote “Principles of Gestalt Psychology” (1935).

Wolfgang Köhler (1887–1967)

Gestalt co-founder; conducted chimpanzee studies on insight learning and advanced field theory and isomorphism.

Insight Learning

Sudden, meaningful reorganization of a problem that leads to an “Aha!” solution, rather than gradual trial-and-error learning.

Transposition

Ability to transfer an understood relationship (e.g., pick the darker shade) to new stimuli, showing learning of patterns not specific items.

Isomorphism

Gestalt idea that the organization of brain activity mirrors the organization of conscious perception (same form).

Field Theory (Gestalt)

Concept derived from physics suggesting that brain activity forms dynamic fields or patterns that underlie organized perception.

Law of Prägnanz

Gestalt law stating that we perceive the simplest, most stable, and most coherent form possible from ambiguous stimuli.

Closure (Gestalt Principle)

Tendency of the mind to complete incomplete figures to create whole, familiar shapes.

Symmetry (Gestalt Principle)

Preference for perceiving balanced, mirror-image forms within complex stimuli.

Continuity (Gestalt Principle)

Perceptual tendency to see smooth, continuous patterns rather than abrupt changes.

Productive Thinking

Wertheimer’s term for creative, insightful problem solving that restructures a situation to reach a novel solution.

Reproductive Thinking

Problem solving based on memorized procedures or past experiences without restructuring the problem; considered less creative.

“Productive Thinking” (1945)

Wertheimer’s book illustrating differences between insightful and rote problem solving, especially in mathematics.

Gestalt Therapy

Psychotherapeutic approach (Fritz Perls) inspired by Gestalt principles, focusing on awareness and holistic experience in the present moment.

Prägnanz Characteristics

Qualities such as simplicity, regularity, symmetry, and closure that guide perceptual organization.

Kanizsa Triangle

Illusory contour figure showing a perceived triangle formed by incomplete shapes, illustrating isomorphism and Prägnanz.

Chicken Card Experiment

Köhler’s study where a chicken trained to peck the darker card chose a new darker card, demonstrating transposition.

The Mentality of Apes (1917)

Köhler’s seminal work describing chimpanzee insight learning and problem-solving abilities.

Gestalt Principles of Perception

Rules (e.g., similarity, proximity, closure, continuity) explaining how the brain organizes sensory input into coherent wholes.

Similarity (Gestalt Principle)

Tendency to group elements that are alike in appearance (e.g., color, shape) into a single perceptual unit.

Influence on Design

Application of Gestalt principles (e.g., Prägnanz, closure) in graphic design, web layout, and architecture to create clear visual messages.