...Gestalt Psychology Reflection Michael A. Perkins PSY310 January 26th, 2015 Dr. Shannon Kelly Gestalt Psychology Reflection The Gestalt psychology movement was fascinating within the time frame in which it started to develop. While other psychological movements strived to boil down psychology in almost simplistic, scientific terms, Gestalt psychology embraced complexities within the consciousness. Gestalt psychologists argued “that when we look out a window we really see trees and sky, not individual sensory elements such as brightness and hue” (Schultz & Schultz, 2011). There is more to what we experience and see that just the simple elements that make these things and experiences up. Gestalt psychology owes much of its beginnings to the philosophical work of Immanuel Kant (Schultz & Schultz, 2011). Kant believed that experiences were created not from association, but through the perception of those experiences (Schultz & Schultz, 2011). There is a certain level of individuality in this statement, as individual perception is not something that can be simply classified in a way that was satisfactory to a more scientific model. For me, seeing the color green immediately leads me to reflect upon my grandmother and my great deal of pleasant experiences and memories. My perception of the color green, therefore, is wholly distinct from a simplistic explanation of the hue or tone of the color. Another interesting influence of Gestalt psychology was physics professor...
Words: 635 - Pages: 3
...Gestalt Psychology Reflection Yanko Abreu PSY 310 February 15, 2016 Dr. Fine Gestalt Psychology Reflection Psychology has always been an ever evolving discipline, popular ideas are constantly thought up and either disproved or developed. Early to mid-twentieth century the United States had become home to the behaviorist school of thought. Being able to conduct experiments in order to further ideas was more important than simply speculating on thought process. Behaviorism had essentially broken down thought to simple stimuli and reaction. This however way not the only school of thought at the time. In Germany, psychologist were having issue with this oversimplification of the human mind. There were those who believed that the mind could not be looked at as just the sum total of its parts this was to be known as Gestalt psychology. Instead the mind had to be studied as a whole in order to fully understand it, especially in regard to the more complex thought processes (Goodwin, 2015). The idea was sound but creating observable experiments to test many of the theories was beyond the capabilities of the time. This was a vulnerability that other psychologist would often exploited. Gestalt psychology stemmed from many different areas of study to include philosophy, physics, and even music. The idea that things had to be studied as a whole instead of its parts was in line with some of the concepts that these other areas were looking into at the time. Music played a surprising...
Words: 1043 - Pages: 5
...Gestalt Psychology Reflection Gestalt Psychology Reflection Gestalt psychology is known as the school of thought. It looks within human thought processing and human behavior as a whole rather than separately. The mind's ability to process and interpret the world. Gestalt psychology was formulated by the original works of Max Wertheimer and provided a substantial amount of information to formulate Wilhelm Wundt's theory of structuralism partially. Other contributors to Gestalt psychology are; Johann Wolfgang von Goeth, Ernst Mach, and Immanuel Kant. (Cherry, 2015) Gestalt psychology is also known as gestaltism and was continually referenced for idealists who were not in favor of Wilhelm Wundt's theory of structuralism. Gestaltism brought new understanding of what human abilities were capable of in terms of meaningful perceptions amongst complicated scenarios or ambitious world views. Max Wertheimer wrote, "There are holes, 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" (Cherry, 2015) Wertheimer saw Gestaltism as a rapid sequence of perceptual events. An example of this would be rows of flashing lights creating an illusion of an event in motion. This is also known as phi phenomenon, something that the movie field has processed into still pictures being presented...
Words: 565 - Pages: 3
...Gestalt Psychology Reflection Jessica Flatequal PSY/310 11/09/2015 University of Phoenix Major contributors of Gestalt Psychology were Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Kohler. The main observations, questions, and principles characteristics from Gestalt Psychology became part of every American Psychologists mental equipment. Mark Wertheimer wrote a paper on phi motion in 1912, which was known to start Gestalt Psychology. Throughout this paper I will review the main contributing events in Gestalt Psychology and its influences in America. Contributions Gestalt contributed to therapy known as Gestalt therapy which focuses on raising individuals boundaries, needs, and sensory. This therapy helps contribute to one’s own self-worth. Gestalt has always focused on whole rather than individuals. Gestalt psychology focuses on human experiencing psychological events as a whole. Wertheimer shifted his interest from law to philosophy and psychology. He had an influence on other things besides the school of thought such as sensation and perception. Kurt Koffka main interest of study was colors such as the difference of color with short and long wave lengths. As a professor at Smith College where he studied the principles of Gestalt, concentrating on focusing and memory. Wolfgang Kohler worked side by side with Werheimer and Koffka at the University of Frankfurt where he studied perceptual ideas through...
Words: 736 - Pages: 3
...Gestalt Psychology Reflection April Cage Professor Katrina Ramos 3/16/15 INTRODUCTION Gestalt psychology means unified whole. The three main founders who established the school of gestalt psychology were Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka as well as Wolfgang Kohler. The foundations of the Gestalt psychology are perception, memory and learning. Some of the principles of Gestalt psychology are isomorphism, productive thinking as well as reproductive thinking. It refers to theories of visual perception developed by German psychologists in the 1920s. Instead of approaching psychology as atoms or elements according to Wundt’s theory, Gestalt psychology on the other hand, focuses on human experiencing psychological events as a whole. Reflection Max Wertheimer used to study law but his interest soon shifted to philosophy and psychology. He developed a keen interest on perception after observing how the flashing of lights at train station created an illusion of movement. He was at the University of Frankfurt where he worked with Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler and the three of them established a school of thought known as Gestalt Psychology. He pursued perceptual ideas through his studies with chimpanzees as director of the Canary Island Anthropoid Station in 1913. He became an American citizen and finally became the president of the American Psychological Association in 1959. Kohler contributed substantial literature work to the field of...
Words: 682 - Pages: 3
...Gestalt psychology Reflection Paper Shenique Harmon-Anthony Psychology 310 PATRICIA LAFOUNTAINE December 14th 2015 Erving Polster, in the book Gestalt Therapy Integrated: Contours of Theory & Practice attempted to give his own version of an analogy that in his thinking summarizes a portion of the theory in question. He says, “When a person has swum, traveled, run a lathe, planted flowers, ridden a motorcycle, made wine, painted a picture, parachuted, he has increased the fund from which he may draw for new figural developments. In other words, as the background of his experience becomes more diversified, it also becomes potentially more harmonious with a whole range of happenings.” This description briefly encapsulates why Gestalt psychology is considered as a whole. Gestalt psychology believes that things should not be looked at individual elements but as a whole. It is a school of thought in psychology that looks at the human mind and behavior as a whole. It is noted that they are three founders who are responsible for establishing the school of gestalt psychology. Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka as well as Wolfgang Kohler. However, its moorings are anchored in the work of Max Wertheimer and was formed partially as a response to the structuralism of Wilhelm Wundt. Gestalt psychology has some foundations and those are perception, memory and learning. The major principles of Gestalt psychology are isomorphism, productive thinking and reproductive thinking. The main...
Words: 719 - Pages: 3
...Gestalt psychology reflection Paper Barrie Bogatov Psy/310 14 March, 2015 Since its inception, psychology has taken many twists and turns from the theories of Skinner, Thorndike, experiments from Watson, Pavlov etc. and from them we have learned a great deal. Nevertheless, according to Schultz & Schultz (2012) “at approximately the same time the behaviorist revolution was gathering strength in the United States, the Gestalt revolution was taking hold of German psychology” (Schultz & Schultz, 2012 pg 262). When it comes to Gestalt psychology, one can say that this field had many influences from many different founders with many different views and theories. Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler, Ernst Mach, and Kurt Koffka are some of the ones that had a huge impact on the development of Gestalt psychology. Gestalt psychology as we know is “the study of perception and behavior from the standpoint of an individual's response to configurationally wholes with stress on the uniformity of psychological and physiological events and rejection of analysis into discrete events of stimulus, percept, and response” Max Wertheimer was a young scholar who was going to school to study law. But during his time at the University of Prague he decided to change his major to a field of study that he found rather interesting and that field was philosophy and psychology. As per different students, who took his lectures or had been to his office said that the way he saw...
Words: 656 - Pages: 3
...Gestalt psychology Reflection The Gestalt psychology movement was fascinating within the time frame in which it started to develop. While other psychological movements strived to boil down psychology in almost simplistic, scientific terms, Gestalt psychology embraced complexities within the consciousness. Gestalt psychologists argued “that when we look out a window we really see trees and sky, not individual sensory elements such as brightness and hue” (Schultz & Schultz, 2011). There is more to what we experience and see that just the simple elements that make these things and experiences up. Gestalt psychology owes much of its beginnings to the philosophical work of Immanuel Kant (Schultz & Schultz, 2011). Kant believed that experiences were created not from association, but through the perception of those experiences (Schultz & Schultz, 2011). There is a certain level of individuality in this statement, as individual perception is not something that can be simply classified in a way that was satisfactory to a more scientific model. For me, seeing the color green immediately leads me to reflect upon my grandmother and my great deal of pleasant experiences and memories. My perception of the color green, therefore, is wholly distinct from a simplistic explanation of the hue or tone of the color. Another interesting influence of Gestalt psychology was physics professor Ernst Mach. Mach used his physics background to explain that perceptions of objects do...
Words: 278 - Pages: 2
...Gestalt Psychology Reflection PSY 310 January 11, 2016 Sam Ivory Dr. Fine Gestalt psychology Reflection The school of thought is what Gestalt psychology theory is about. Gestalt believes that all things and scenes are observed in the simplest forms. Also known as the 'Law of Simplicity,' the meaning behind the theory is that the whole of an object or scene is more important than its individual parts. When you observe everything as a whole it allows us to us find order in disorder and unity among outwardly unrelated parts and pieces of information (Cherry, 2015). Gestalt theories have implications for education focusing more meaningful learning and true understanding of principles, over the traditional structured approaches based on memory and recall (King, Wertheimer, Keller & Crochetiere, 1994). Gestalt psychology gave a unique way on human perception. According to Gestalt psychologists, you don't just see the world; what you see, depending on what you are expecting to see. The reason behind Gestalt psychology is that it encourages people to 'think outside of the box' and to look for patterns. Another contribution to Gestalt psychology is the development of our senses is capable of visual recognition of things as a whole and not just simple line and curves (Schamber, 1986). However the breakdown of the mental process wasn’t done until it was in their smallest forms. The psychologist believed that behavior must be studied in all of its complexities instead...
Words: 788 - Pages: 4
...Gestalt Psychology Reflection The school of thought Gestalt psychology began in the late 19th century in Austria and Germany. Gestalt psychology is based on the idea that perception is experienced in larger wholes, or gestalts (Cherry, 2014). Psychologists that use this school of thought believe that instead of breaking down behavior and thoughts into small elements, behavior should be looked at as a unified whole experience (Kowalski, PhD. & Westen, 2010). The assumption behind Gestalt psychology is that an individual’s mind functions by recognizing structures when none is seen. Gestalt psychology was developed from the initial ideas of structuralism and functionalism regarding perception. The Antecedent Influences on Gestalt psychology accepted the value of consciousness and focused on the wholeness of perception. Immanuel Kant and Enst Mach proposed two different propositions regarding Antecedent Influences on Gestalt psychology. Kant proposed, “pieces of information are organized in meaningful ways through association and form a coherent perceptual experience," while Mach proposed “perception of an object does not change despite changing our orientation to the object (Schultz & Schultz, 2012).” According to Schultz & Schultz (2012), another early influence regarding Gestalt psychology was Phenomenology. Phenomenology was influenced by German philosophy and psychology. It is a doctrine based on the “unbiased description of immediate experience just as it occurs...
Words: 595 - Pages: 3
...Gestalt Psychology Reflection Paper PSY/310 Desirèe Ray 2/1/16 Melody Thompson The word Gestalt means a unified whole. Based on that understanding, Gestalt psychology looks at things as a whole versus in pieces or parts. The thoughts of Gestalt psychology is that we are processing the world around us, we don’t just focus on the small, seemingly insignificant things. Instead our mind perceive our surroundings as parts of a greater whole. The Gestalt psychology school played a major role in the study of human perception and sensation. The guiding idea behind Gestalt psychology is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Gestalt psychology was found by 3 principle psychologists. Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Kohler. Max Wertheimer initially studied law, but took an interest in perception after noticing flashing train lights at a train station gave the illusion of motion. From there he went on to change his focus from law to psychology. While at the University of Frankfurt's Psychological Institute, he began to work with two assistants named Wolfgang Kohler and Kurt Koffka. The three colleagues and would go on to form the school of thought known as Gestalt psychology. Thanks to his work during his time at the New School for Social Research in New York City, it became one of the leading schools of psychology during the early part of the twentieth century. Psychologist Solomon Asch wrote of Max Wertheimer the “thinking of Max Wertheimer has penetrated...
Words: 746 - Pages: 3
...Introduction: Gestalt psychology was the part or place of the cognitive psychology.It served as the foundation of the cognitive perspective to learning,an observation perceive or awareness,understanding,awareness of the environment,capacity of comprehension.Focus of behaviorism.It considered the mental process and products of perception. Contents: Gestalt Principles: 1.Law of Proximity-Elements that are closer together will be perceived as a coherent object.On the left,there appears to be three columns,while on the right,there appears to be three horizontal rows. 2.Law of Similarity-Elements that look similar will be perceived as part of the same form.There seems to be a triangle in the square. 3.Law of Closure-We tend to fill the gaps or ‘’close’’the figures we perceive.We enclose a space by completing a contour and ignoring gaps in the figure. 4.Law of Good Continuation-Individuals have the tendency to continue contours whenever the elements of the pattern establish an implied direction.People tend to draw a good continuous line. 5.Law of Good Pragnanz-The stimulus will be organized into as good a figure as possible.In this Example,good refers to symmetry,simplicity,and regularity. 6.Law of Figure/Ground-We tend to pay attention and perceive things in the foreground first.A stimulus will be perceived as separate from its ground. Summary: Gestalt Theory-An individual has inner and outer forces that affect his perceptions and also his learning...
Words: 373 - Pages: 2
...unning head: GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY Gestalt Psychology Theory Abstract The formation of the gestalt movement. The founding fathers of gestalt theory, Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, Wolfgang Kohler and their focus in the movement. Gestalt therapy explained by the laws and the theory of personality. How the gestalt theory is in effect today. Gestalt Psychology Theory The three pioneers of the Gestalt Theory, Max Werthmeimer, Wolfgang Kohler and Kurt Koffka. All three focused on different aspects that have continued to develop across multiple disciplines throughout the 2oth Century. Gestalt theory focused on the mind’s perceptive processes (Kearsley, 1998). The word gestalt has no direct translation into English, but “describes a configuration or form that is unified. A gestalt may refer to a figure or object that is different from the sum of its parts. Any attempt to explain the figure by analyzing its parts results in the loss of the figure’s gestalt” (Brennan, 2003). In simpler terms” A way a thing has been ‘placed’, or ‘put together’”; common translation includes “form” and “shape” (Myers, 1998). Zakia, 1997, described gestalt by saying,”…what you experience when you look at a picture is quite different from what you would experience if you were to look at each item that is in the picture separately”. Wertheimer was born in Prague in 1880 (The Columbia Encyclopedia, 2001). He studied at the Universities of Prague, Berlin and Wurzburg, receiving...
Words: 4209 - Pages: 17
...importance of socializing opportunities. The prediction that extraverts would take more frequent studybreaks was supported in Sample 1 but not replicated in Sample 2. The data are interpreted as providing direct support for Eysenck's theory of behavioral differences and mixed indirect support for his theory of neurological differences between introverts and extraverts. Cognitive Theories The cognitive school is probably best defined by exclusion: if it ain't biological, behaviourist or humanist, it's cognitive (I'm including information-processing models here). It all starts with Gestalt theories [Wertheimer, Köhler and Koffka, and with only the vaguest connection with Gestalt therapy (Perls)]: originally theories of perception, interested in the way the brain imposes pattern on the perceived world, Gestalt moved into problem-solving learning. It is also much influenced by the developmental psychology of Piaget (but also read Donaldson (1984) if reading Piaget), focusing on the maturational factors affecting understanding. The accommodation/assimilation dialectic is the part most useful for understanding grown learners. Broadly, cognitive theory is interested in how people understand material, and thus in; aptitude and capacity to learn (thus fringing onto psychometrics and testing), and learning styles (the reference is to one of...
Words: 317 - Pages: 2
...Influences of Gestalt psychology were Immanuel Kant’s study on the focuses of perception as a whole, Ernst Mach’s influence of sensation thinking, and Christin von Ehrenfel’s further exploration and experimentation on Mach’s sensations theory. Max Wertheimer studied Ehrenfel’s work and used it as the bass for his movement of the Gestalt theory. In addition, the two other founders of Gestalt psychology, Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler, studied elements of consciousness and artificial abstractions that furthered Gestalt research and movement. “After Wertheimer initiated the studies on the perception of apparent movement, Gestalt psychologists seized on other perceptual phenomena. The experience of perceptual constancies afforded additional support for their views” (Schultz, 2011, p. 271). The idea of perceptual constancy is having completeness and or wholeness not very even if information is missing. Gestalt psychology is theory of the mind being so complex and dynamic that sensory elements such as vision and sound interact in order to fill in missing information that is perceived by an individual who is perceiving the information given. The founders of Gestalt psychology explain perceptual and a few defining principles. The first law is similarity, meaning items are perceived as being together such as forming a group. For example, if an individual were to see a group of squares and circles the law similarity would allow the individual to group the squares and circles separately...
Words: 508 - Pages: 3
