1. The Gestalt Revolt
Gestalt revolution in Germany took place around the same time as
1912: Watson begins attack on Wundt and Titchener
Thorndike and Pavlov: animal research having impact
Psychoanalysis 10 years old

2. Gestalt vs. Behaviorism
Gestalt and Behaviorist Revolutions were “friendly” at first:
Both opposed Wundt’s focus on sensory elements, but when Wundt faded, ended up opposing each other
They eventually collided over consciousness:
Gestalt psychologists accepted it and criticized attempts to reduce it to elements
Behavioral psychologists refused it entirely

3. Gestalt Origins A protest against Wundtian psychology
Wundt’s psychology
Sensory elements as inert atoms combined through mechanical associations
Gestaltists criticized this as brick-and-mortar psychology: “We see whole objects like chairs and books, not sensory elements like brightness and hue.”
The whole is different from the sum of its parts

4. Gestalt Origins More to perception than meets the eye
Perception goes beyond the sensory elements
These elements are only physical data coming to the sense organs
The brain does more than just assemble the pieces

5. We’ve Heard this Before
Kant ( )
The meaningful organization of sensory elements
Is not a mechanical process of association
Mind creates a unitary experience
Brentano ( )
Psychology should study the act of experiencing (Act Psychology)

6. Roots of Gestalt Psychology
Ernst Mach ( )
A physicist! His work on Sensation influenced Gestalt Psychology
Discussed spatial (geometric figures) and temporal (melodies) patterns
Considered them to be sensations independent of their elements

7. Mach Bands

8. Roots of Gestalt Psychology
Christian von Ehrenfels ( )
Psychologist: U. of Prague
Elaborated on Mach’s Ideas
Perceptions are often independent of stimuli (Melodies)
Gestalt qualitäten: An experience that cannot be explained by summing elements

9. Roots of Gestalt Psychology
Carl Stumpf ( )
Appointed to professorship at the University of Berlin
Wundt’s major rival
Two of his students founded Gestalt Psychology
Kurt Koffka
Wolfgang Köhler

10. Werthheimer, Koffka, and Köhler
Wertheimer, a student of von Ehrenfel
Koffka and Köhler with Stumpf's students

11. Phenomenology University of Göttingen
: phenomenological psychologists
Phenomenology (Stumpf's introspective method)
“...an approach to knowledge based on an unbiased description of immediate experience as it occurs, not analyzed or reduced to elements.”
Uncorrected observation
Experience not analyzed into elements
Involves naïve experience (anyone can do it).

12. The Changing Zeitgeist in Physics
Physics zeitgeist toward end 19th century moving away from atomism to force fields
Fields of force: “regions or spaces traversed by lines of force, such as of a magnet or electric current.”

13. The Changing Zeitgeist in Physics
Physicists’ descriptions of fields and organic wholes: authentication for:
Kohler: background in physics and studied with Max Planck
Saw connection between field physics and Gestalt wholes
Gestalt psychology as an application of field physics to parts of psychology

14. The phi phenomenon: A challenge to Wundtian Psychology
A product of Wertheimer's 1910 research
Developed riding a train while on vacation
Involved seeing movement when no actual physical motion occurs

15. The phi phenomenon

16. Describe What You Saw Movement Changing colors?
If lines are flashed at slower speeds (200+ milliseconds between flashes) , the impression of movement is lost
There is an optimum (60 milliseconds)
Wertheimer called it an “impression of movement”

17. The phi phenomenon
This movement cannot be explained with traditional Wundtian methods
The brain is creating movement where none actually exists
1912: Wertheimer published results in article “Experimental Studies of the Perception of Movement”
Article indicates formal start of Gestalt school

18. Another Example Train an animal to find food behind an object: Food
Test: Which will it choose?

19. Max Wertheimer (1880-1943) Background
Attended lectures by von Ehrenfels
Studied philosophy and psychology at University of Berlin
1904: PhD from University of Würzburg with Külpe
1921: co-founded Psychological Research
1933: fled Germany top the New School for Social Research in New York
“Laws of Organization…” is on line

20. Productive Thinking in Humans
Based on book by Wertheimer published posthumously (1945)
Thinking as done in terms of wholes
The learner regards the situation as a whole
The teacher must present the situation as a whole
The whole problem must dominate the parts
At different ages
At various levels of problem difficulty

21. Kurt Koffka (1886-1941) Background
1909: PhD from university of Berlin with Stumpf
1910: began association with Wertheimer and Köhler at University of Frankfurt

22. Kurt Koffka ( )
1922: “Perception: an Introduction to Gestalt-Theorie” published in American journal Psychological Bulletin
Described Gestalt psychology’s basic concepts and research results and implications
1st introduction to Gestalt theory for U.S. Psychologists
“Perception” in title led to misunderstanding that was the sole interest of Gestaltists
Gestalt movement actually had a broader concern
Problems of thinking and learning
Ultimately: with all aspects of conscious experience

23. Wolfgang Köhler (1887- 1967) Trained in physics with Max Planck
Convinced that
Gestalten occur in psychology as well as in physics
Psychology must become allied with physics
1909: Ph.D. From university of Berlin with Stumpf

24. Wolfgang Köhler ( )
: unable to leave Canary Islands during WWI
Studies the behavior of chimpanzees
1917: The Mentality of Apes
1922: succeeded Stumpf at U. of Berlin
Static and Stationary Physical Gestalts (1920) Suggested Gestalt theory as general law of nature

26. Wolfgang Köhler ( )
1935: left Germany due to anti-nazi activities
Criticized regime in classroom lectures
Leaders of the German psychological society went even further, firing Jewish journal editors, lauding Hitler, and proclaiming the Jews “evil influence”
Emigrated to U.S. To teach at Swarthmore college

27. Gestalt Principles of Perceptual Organization
1923: Wertheimer's Article
Perceive wholes, not clusters of sensations
Perceptual organization occurs instantly and is spontaneous and inevitable
Brain as a dynamic system; All active elements interact
Organizing principles not dependent on either higher mental processes or past experience

28. Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization
Pragnanz (good figure): Stimulus patterns are seen in such a way that the resulting structure is as simple as possible.

29. Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization
Similarity: Similar things appear to be grouped together.

30. Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization
Good Continuation: Points forming smooth paths are usually components of the same object

31. Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization
Proximity/Nearness

32. Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization
Common Fate

33. Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization
Meaningfulness: Sensations are more likely to be grouped if the group creates a meaningful object.

34. Isomorphism Theory about neurological correlates of perceived Gestalts
Gestalt: view the cortex as a dynamic system
Associationists: brain is
Passive
Incapable of actively organizing sensory elements received
Incapable of modifying sensory elements received

35. Anatomy and Gestalt Psychology
Faces
LGN
CORTEX
Retina
Reticular Formation
Vase

36. The spread of Gestalt psychology
Mid-1920’s
A coherent and dominant school in Germany
Koffka and Köhler: many lectures in the United States
1933 Nazi regime: shift of Gestalt psychology to the United States

37. Slow acceptance in the United States
Behaviorism was at its peak
A language barrier
Belief that Gestalt psychology dealt solely with perception
Wertheimer, Köhler, and Koffka at small colleges without graduate programs, thus no graduate research assistants
Gestalt focus of protest (Wundt) no longer of concern in U.S.

38. The Battle with Behaviorism
Gestalt criticisms of its new target
Reductionistic and atomistic
Deals with artificial abstractions (S-R units)
Denies the validity of introspection
Eliminates consciousness
Would make psychology no more than a collection of animal research
Conflicts between proponents of the two schools: increasingly emotional and personal

39. Field Theory: Kurt Lewin (1890-1947)
The trend in late 19th-century science
Term as associated with Lewin’s work: “Lewin’s system using the concept of fields of force to explain behavior in terms of one’s field of social influences.”
Extended beyond the orthodox Gestalt framework to include human needs, personality, and social influences on behavior

40. Extending the Boundaries
Kurt Lewin ( )
A German War Hero WWI
Exiled by Nazis in 1933
Field Theory B = f (p,e)
Behaviors must be considered within the contexts of time and space
Objects within the “life space” are assigned valences and their influence determines the individual’s resulting position within the life space

41. Extending the Boundaries
Kurt Lewin ( )
Field Theory as a foundation for understanding conflict
Tension systems affect recall
Zeigarnik Effect: Recall for an interrupted task is better than that of a completed task
Study sessions should end with questions
Deutsch and Collins (1951) segregated/desegregated housing

42. Extending the Boundaries
Group behavior: function of the total field situation at a given time
Effects of authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire leadership styles on behavior of boys
Authoritarian style: aggressive behavior
Democratic style: friendly with more tasks completed

43. Criticisms of Gestalt psychology
Basic criticisms
Organization of perceptual processes accepted as fact rather than studied scientifically
Gestalt position is vague
Basic concepts and terms are not defined with sufficient rigor
Too preoccupied with theory at the expense of research and empirical support
Research lacks adequate controls
Its unquantified data elude statistical analysis
Gestalt experimental work is inferior to that of the behaviorists
Insight learning: not replicable
Poorly defined physiological assumptions

44. Gestalt Rebuttals
A young science’s explanation and definitions are necessarily incomplete
Incomplete is not the same vague
Has from the beginning emphasized experimentation
Has engendered a considerable amount of research
Qualitative results take precedence over quantitative ones
Gestalt research is exploratory
Gestalt research is within a different framework than the behaviorists’
Gestalt speculations about physiological assumptions are a tentative but useful adjunct to their system

45. Contributions of Gestalt psychology
Permanent imprint on psychology
Influenced work in “perception, learning, thinking, personality, social psychology, and motivation
Retained its identity, not absorbed by the mainstream as was behaviorism

46. Focus on consciousness
Fostered interest in consciousness as a legitimate problem for psychology
Centered on phenomenology, not on the Wundt/Titchener elements of consciousness
Recognizes consciousness cannot be studied with the precision and objectivity the behaviorists demand
Phenomenological approach to psychology accepted more by European than by U.S. Psychologists
This phenomenology influenced humanistic psychology movement in U.S.