Gestalt Psychology in Historical Perspective Here is a perfect example of an approach that did not have much staying power as a system or paradigm, but ironically, its components have passed the test of time and remain staple concepts in the field. Hence, the whole may be “greater than the sum of its parts,” but it’s the “parts” that have had the greatest impact.

Gestalt Psychology While behaviorism was becoming the dominant Psychological theory in the US, along with Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis, the Gestalt perspective gained influence in Europe around the same time. Gestalt psychology was seen as an alternative to behaviorism and structuralism. The early Gestalt thinkers felt that behaviorism dealt too much with collecting, tallying, and treating only specific problems, or parts of a whole. As opposed to the structuralist approach, which focuses on particular elements in a configuration, the Gestalt approach focuses on the configuration itself.

Gestalt Psychology Gestalt theory views human beings as open systems, actively and constantly interacting with the environment around them. Unlike the elementistic way of understanding psychological events, such as behaviorism, associationism, and psychoanalysis, Gestalt theory is suited to understanding the order and structure of psychological events. Gestalt theorists' basic belief was that any psychological phenomenon, from perceptual processes to human personality, should be studied holistically; that is, they should not be broken down into components, but rather studied as a whole. As a contrast to structural approaches, the Gestalt psychologists studied perceptions as complete, indivisible phenomena.

Similar Earlier Ideas Plato – true forms existed as ideas. (circles) Immanuel Kant – in 1781, he discussed the mind as having innate abilities which turned sensations into abstract ideas. William James – in his opposition to the study of mental structures, he presented the idea of a “stream of consciousness.” Phenomenalists – in opposition to Wundt, some introspectionists studied mental wholeness.

Max Wertheimer ( ) The beginning of Gestaltism is attributed to Wertheimer in While riding a train on a vacation, he comes up with the idea that perceptions have structures that sensory stimuli do not have. In other words, he started exploring the idea that perceptions contain unique properties which do not come from nor exist in the environment (stimulus).

Phi Phenomenon Wertheimer studied the perception of two lights, side by side, which blinked alternately. – At roughly 5 or less blinks per second, people perceived two alternately-blinking lights. – At roughly 20 or more blinks per second, people perceived two constant lights. – Between the two (10 blinks), however, people perceived one light moving side to side. The effect was called the “phi phenomenon.”

Gestalt theory The phi phenomenon was not a discovery, as motion pictures had been around for decades. It was Wertheimer’s explanation of the phenomenon which constituted the scientific contribution. The explanation, though, will take a few slides. To follow up his finding, Wertheimer created a set of three blinking lights. The middle light blinked, then the two outside lights blinked. ☼  ☼  ☼

Gestalt theory ☼  ☼  ☼ With these lights (at ten blinks per second), people perceived a single light that moved in both directions, then merged back in the middle. He showed perceptions which could not be learned (perceiving unnatural movement). Sensory explanations were inadequate. Wertheimer needed a “gestalt” theory, which came together with the help of two assistants …

Koffka and Köhler Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Köhler worked closely with Wertheimer, and helped to construct the properties of Gestaltism. Koffka published the first English article in 1921, called “Perception: An Introduction to Gestalt-Theorie.” (in Psychological Bulletin) In the 1930’s Köhler started publishing articles which related Gestalt theory to the field theory of physics (the best explanations of gestalt).

Field Theory Overview (brief) The theory – the four natural forces (gravity, electromagnetism, the nuclear forces) exist as fields-of-force surrounding all atomic particles. As with science-fiction “force fields,” the fields can only be observed as the forces they create. The fields are “whole” in nature. In other words, when two similar particles come together, the result is not of two fields, but one stronger field. Thus, particle fields have a holistic property.

Field Theory and Gestaltism Field theory applies to electromagnetism. Neural activity is electromagnetic activity. If electromagnetic forces work together to create a single “whole” force, then the brain’s electrochemical activity would be able to create the “whole” within gestaltic perceptions. The explanation was called “psychophysical isomorphism.” (it only sounds weird )

Isomorphism The “force fields” of brain activity would naturally create a continuous “whole” of brain activity – as if a stream of consciousness. Isomorphism would happen when the “parts” of sensory input were merged with the pre-existing “whole” of brain activity. The brain would thus be naturally able to transform added parts into holistic activity. … and that is Gestalt Theory.

Perception (the fun stuff) Gestalt theory is a debatable theory of neural activity. Gestalt principles, though, are important within perception research. Figure-Ground relationships  Is this image of a vase, or of two people facing each other. This is an issue of deciding the figure (front) and ground (back).

Gestalt Principles The figure-ground relationship was actually discovered before the Gestaltists, but they discovered five more principles, known as “Gestalt Principles.” Principle of Continuity – when stimuli have some continuity, they are perceived as related parts of a complete unit. That is why a series of circles can create a line … o o o o o o o o o o

Complex Continuity As with all the principles, continuity can be complex. Is there really a woman there?

Gestalt Principles (cont.) Principle of proximity – when stimuli are comparatively close, they are grouped together (ten, or five pairs?) Principle of Inclusiveness – With paired stimuli “A” and “B”, if “A” offers much more stimulation, then we tend to make “B” a part of “A”

Proximity Inclusiveness

Gestalt Principles (cont.) Principle of Similarity – Similar objects will form perceptual units. X O X O With similar spacing, do the letters seem more like four rows or four columns.

Gestalt Principles (cont.) Principle of Closure – an “incomplete” stimulus will be perceived as a complete stimulus. The “square” is actually not there.

The Law of Pragnanz As with physical forces, a gestalt brain would organize in the simplest way possible. The resulting mental essence will be “as good as conditions will allow.” (will be “Pragnanz”) The brain works from top to bottom (top- down). It starts with the whole, then proceeds to address the parts as desired.

Gestalt Learning The real world is a “geographical environment” (G.E.) – it is what it is. The “behavioral environment” (B.E.) is in our mind (brain) – a subjective pragnanz of the G.E.. “Problems” occur when the G.E. does not match our B.E., which disrupts the brain’s equilibrium (disrupts the pragnanz). The disruption motivates us to solve the problem by making a greater effort to “see” the solution in the geographical environment.

Gestalt Learning (cont.) Trial and error – unlike behaviorists, gestaltists propose that trial and error can occur in the brain before it occurs in the environment. Insightful learning – if a problem is presented with solutions, the learning is retained as an “insight.” (Monkeys and banana problems) Transposition – the organism does not learn responses, but relationships. This is indicated with transposing learned responses.

Gestalt Contributions to Psychology The gestaltists were a small group of researchers with a small presence at major universities. They were largely overshadowed by the behaviorists in experimental psychology. Still, they made a dramatic impact – holistic experiments, a neuropsychology theory, merging psychology with physics, and group dynamics. Their biggest influence, though, would be in creating a demand for cognitive psychology.