*Cognitive and Gestalt Psychology Notes

Cognitive Perspective

• Humans are active thinkers, processing information, solving problems, and making decisions.

• Behavior is shaped by how individuals perceive, interpret, and remember experiences.

• Humans are capable of learning, reasoning, and changing their behavior based on thought processes.

Gestalt Psychology

• "Gestalt" is German for "whole" or "form."

• Key principle: The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

• Goal: Understand how people perceive patterns and organize information as unified wholes, not just individual elements.

• Findings: People naturally group things, see patterns, and interpret experiences as complete forms.