Chapter 14 Gestalt Psychology

geographical environment

According to Koffka, physical reality.

law of Pragnanz

Because of the tendencies of the force fields that occur in the brain, mental events will always tend to be organized, simple, and regular. According to the law of Pragnanz, cognitive experience will always reflect the essence of one's experience instead of its disorganized, fragmented aspects.

Max Wertheimer (1880-1943)

Founded the school of Gestalt psychology with his 1912 paper on the phi phenomenon.

extrinsic reinforcement

Reinforcement that comes from a source other than one's self.

"Gestalt"

The German word meaning "configuration," "pattern," or "whole".

Zeigarnik effect

The tendency to remember uncompleted tasks longer than completed ones.

Gestalt psychology

The type of psychology that studies whole, intact segments of behavior and cognitive experience.

Kurt Koffka (1886-1941)

Worked with Wertheimer on his early perception experiments. Koffka is considered a cofounder of Gestalt psychology.

behavioral environment

According to Koffka, subjective reality.

quasi needs

According to Lewin, psychological rather than biological needs.

life space

According to Lewin, the totality of the psychological facts that exist in one's awareness at any given moment.

approach-avoidance conflict

According to Lewin, the type of conflict that occurs when a person is attracted to and repelled by the same goal at the same time.

approach-approach conflict

According to Lewin, the type of conflict that occurs when a person is attracted to two goals at the same time.

avoidance-avoidance conflict

According to Lewin, the type of conflict that occurs when a person is repelled by two goals at the same time.

psychological facts

According to Lewin, those things of which a person is aware at any given moment.

productive thinking

According to Wertheimer, the type of thinking that ponders principles rather than isolated facts and that aims at understanding the solutions to problems rather than memorizing a certain problem-solving strategy or logical rules.

Kurt Lewin (1890-1947)

An early Gestaltist who sought to explain human behavior in terms of the totality of influences acting on people rather than in terms of the manifestation of inner essences. Lewin was mainly responsible for applying Gestalt principles to the topics of motivation and group dynamics.

insightful learning

Learning that involves perceiving the solution to a problem after a period of cognitive trial and error.

principle of contemporaneity

Lewin's contention that only present facts can influence present thinking and behavior. Past experiences can be influential only if a person is presently aware of them.

group dynamics

Lewin's extension of Gestalt principles to the study of group behavior.

Ernst Mach (1838-1916)

Observed that some mental experiences are the same even though they are stimulated by a wide range of sensory events. The experience of geometric forms (space forms) and melodies (time forms) are examples.

Christian von Ehrenfels (1859-1932)

Said that mental forms emerge from various sensory experiences and that these forms are different from the sensory elements they comprise.

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

Said that what we experience consciously is determined by the interaction of sensory information with the categories of thought.

psychophysical isomorphism

The Gestaltists' contention that the patterns of activity produced by the brain - rather than sensory experience as such-causes mental experience.

transposition

The application of a principle learned in one learning or problem-solving situation to other similar situations.

molar approach

The attempt to focus on intact mental and behavioral phenomena without dividing those phenomena in any way.

molecular approach

The attempt to reduce complex phenomena into small units for detailed study. Such an approach is elementistic.

elementism

The belief that complex mental or behavioral processes are composed of or derived from simple elements and that the best way to understand these processes is first to find the elements of which they are composed.

memory process

The brain activity caused by the experiencing of an environmental event.

field theory

The branch of physics that studies how energy distributes itself within physical systems. In some systems (such as the solar system), energy can distribute itself freely. In other systems (such as an electric circuit), energy must pass through wires, condensers, resistors, and so forth. In either type of system, however, energy will always distribute itself in the simplest, most symmetrical way possible under the circumstances. According to the Gestaltists, the brain is a physical system whose activity could be understood in terms of field theory.

trace system

The consolidation of the enduring or essential features of memories of individual objects or of classes of objects.

constancy hypothesis

The contention that there is a strict one-to-one correspondence between physical stimuli and sensations, in the sense that the same stimulation will always result in the same sensation regardless of the circumstances. The Gestaltists argued against this contention, saying instead that what sensation a stimulus elicits is relative to existing patterns of activity in the brain and to the totality of stimulating conditions.

phi phenomenon

The illusion that light is moving from one location to another. The phi phenomenon is caused by flashing two lights on and off at a certain rate.

figure-ground relationship

The most basic type of perception, consisting of the division of the perceptual field into a figure (that which is attended to) and a ground, which provides the background for the figure.

memory trace

The remnant of an experience that remains in the brain after an experience has ended.

intrinsic reinforcement

The self-satisfaction that comes from problem solving or learning something. According to the Gestaltists, this feeling of satisfaction occurs because solving a problem or learning something restores one's cognitive equilibrium.

phenomenology

The study of intact, meaningful, mental phenomenal.

principle of continuity

The tendency to experience stimuli that follow some predictable pattern as a perceptual unit.

principle of similarity

The tendency to perceive as units stimuli that are physically similar to one another.

principle of closure

The tendency to perceive incomplete objects as complete.

principle of inclusiveness

The tendency to perceive only the larger figure when a smaller figure is embedded in a larger figure.

principle of proximity

The tendency to perceptually group together stimuli that are physically close.

perceptual constancy

The tendency to respond to objects as being the same, even when we experience those objects under a wide variety of circumstances.

holists

Those who believe that complex mental or behavioral processes should be studied as such and not divided into their elemental components for analysis. (see also phenomenology)

act psychology

Type of psychology that emphasizes the study of intact mental acts, such as perceiving and judging, instead of the division of consciousness into elements.

William James (1842-1910)

can be viewed as a precursor to Gestalt psychology, antielemntist, stream of conciousness (shouldn't be broken)