GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY

what are Gestalt principles?

• physics

• philosophy

• tone perception

which 2 men were influenced by physics?

• Max Planck

  • field of force, e.g. a magnetic field, produces relationships between component elements that can’t be understood by studying the individual elements

• Ernst Mach

  • certain forms have spatial feature that can’t be broken down, e.g “squareness”.

who was influenced by philosophy?

• Christian von Ehrenfels

  • form quality – quality of experience can go beyond elements and still exist if elements are changed, e.g. melody persists in music through a change in key.

who was influenced by tone perception?

• Carl Stumpf

  • 2 pure tones played simultaneously create unique new tone, seemingly not the sum of its parts.

what was Wertheimer’s Phi Phenomenon?

• adjacent lights flashing on and off in sequence cause the appearance of one moving light.

• separate sensory events → single, continuous perceptual event

• concluded that phenomenon couldn’t be explained by analysing its constituent sensory elements - the whole is different to the sum of parts.

what did Koffka put out in 1922 and 1935?

• 1922 article introduced Gestalt Psychology to America -

  • led to misunderstanding of Gestalt theory as just an approach to studying perception.

• 1935 book emphasising Gestalt theory -

  • came at a time when American psychologists were concerned with experimental programs.

what is ‘figure-ground perception’?

• figures can be isolated from their backgrounds due to   distinct features, i.e. borders belonging to figure, background extending behind.

what is ‘closure’?

the tendency to fill in the gaps in incomplete figures to produce a complete whole.

what is ‘grouping?’

natural organisation of perception into patterns according to proximity, similarity, continuity.

what was ‘Köhler’s Problem-solving Apes’:

• challenge to Thorndike’s trial and error theory of learning.

• Köhler argued that individuals need to see the whole problem to find a solution by rearranging elements of the whole.

• process called insight – using perception to quickly find solutions.

• though trial and error still apparent to some extent

what was Wertheimer’s ‘productive thinking’?

successful understanding of geometry problems should involve restructuring the problem to create a simpler figure that formulas could more easily be applied to.

what was Von Restorff’s ‘memory phenomenon’?

• a stimulus that stands out from surrounding stimuli will be recalled more easily.

• interpreted as an extension to the figure-ground perceptual effect.

what was Duncker’s ‘human problem solving’?

• analysed problem solving strategies of students

• successful solutions often involved seeing different uses for objects than normal.

what was Lewin’s Field Theory?

• introduced Gestalt ideas into social and developmental psychology.

• developed theory to understand behaviour through knowing the forces operating on a person.

• a person operates within a life space – a psychological field including everything that may influence behaviour in a given moment.

• behaviour influenced by:

  • person factors (needs, goals, beliefs, personality)

  • environmental factors (physical and perceptual)

what is the impact of Gestalt approach?

• opposed Behaviourism and Structuralism, though failed to become as influential in America.

• Gestalt Psychology viewed as abstract and heavily theoretical.

• there was scepticism that all of psychology could be understood from a Gestalt perspective.

• Gestalt principles has influenced thinking in certain topics of psychology, e.g. cognitive psychology.