GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY

What is the core of Gestalt psychology?

Core idea: The whole is other than the sum of its parts.

Gestalt psychology argues that psychological phenomena cannot be understood by breaking them into isolated elements. The mind actively organises experience into meaningful wholes.

This position directly opposes elementarism and associationism, which attempted to explain mental life as the sum of basic sensations.

Historical Context and founders

• Germany, early 20th century

• Decline of structuralism (Wundt)

• Rise of functionalism in the USA

• Emergence of Gestalt psychology as a reaction against atomistic explanations of perception

Founders:

• Max Wertheimer

• Wolfgang Köhler

• Kurt Koffka

Central principle: The mind organizes experience according to intrinsic laws.

Max Wertheimer and the Phi Phenomenon

Wertheimer demonstrated that perception is not a passive reception of stimuli.

Phi phenomenon:

• Two alternating lights are perceived as continuous movement

• Movement is not in the stimuli but in perception

“We do not perceive two separate flashes, but a single movement… a quality of the whole.” (Wertheimer)

Application:

• Cinema works by the phi phenomenon (24 frames per second create apparent motion)

Wolfgang Köhler and Insight Learning

Köhler studied problem-solving in chimpanzees.

Key idea: Learning occurs through insight, not trial-and-error.

Example:

• A chimpanzee suddenly puts two sticks together to reach a banana

Learning is the restructuring of the perceptual field

This challenged behaviourist explanations of learning.

Kurt Koffka and the Concept of Form

Koffka emphasized that psychological processes are organized totalities.

“A melody is not a sum of notes.”

The meaning of each part depends on the structure of the whole.

Laws of Perceptual Organisation (Gestalt Laws)

• Proximity: Elements close together are grouped

• Similarity: Elements similar in shape or colour are grouped

• Continuity: We perceive continuous patterns

• Closure: We complete incomplete figures

• Prägnanz (Good Form): Preference for simple, stable shapes

These laws show that perception follows internal organising principles.

Criticism: Behaviorism

Behaviourists argued that Gestalt psychology:

• Lacked precision

• Relied on subjective experience

• Was not sufficiently measurable

“Psychology must stick to objective observations of behaviour.” (Watson)

Gestalt Legacy

Gestalt psychology influenced later approaches:

• Kurt Lewin: Behaviour as a function of person + environment

• Carl Rogers: The person as an organised whole

• Cognitive psychology: Active mental organisation

Conclusion: The mind is not passive but an active organising system.