Chapter 15 Gestalt Psychology

phi phenomenon

Apparent movement illustrated by successive activation of two stationary lights placed in close spatial conjunction. Phenomenally, what is seen is movement from the first to the second light.

field theory

Generally associated with the psychology of Kurt Lewin. Field theory emphasizes the interdependence of the person and the environment. It may be viewed as a corrective to extreme individualistic psychologies that neglect the role of context.

Gestalt psychology continues to be relevant in psychology

Study of emergent phenomena in development, comparative behavior. Dynamic Systems Theory. Rumba(?), as Bonobos "acquire" language, they also begin developing much more complex tool use

Zeigarnik effect

Tendency to remember incompleted tasks better than completed ones.

Roots of thinking about gestalt quality go back to Aristotle

What makes a thing the sort of thing that it is? For living things, material stuff is essentially the same... What distinguishes kinds is the form, the way in which material matter is organized. Foundational perceptual elements (notes, spots of light and color) are analogous to Aristotelean matter, and the organization (melody, image) are analogous to form

Emergence, reification, multistability (eg Necker cube), and perceptual invariance are ideas that originate in Gestalt

What we perceive is more than the elements-whole coherent things

Ernst Mach

(1838-1916) Nineteenth-century physicist who argued that there are space-form and time-form sensations that are configural in their nature. Mach's analysis served as an inspiration for the early Gestalt psychologists who also argued that there are wholes that are grasped intuitively and that are more than a mere collection of elements.

Ehrenfels

(1859 - 1932) was a student of Brentano (as were James and Freud). Austrian philosopher. Described the gestalt-quality of experience, "The experience of an overall pattern of a perceptual display or array.... The perception of the interrelationships between elements" Similar to ideas expressed by Aristotle who said that our perception of objects is not of a clustered set of parts, but of organized wholes. Perception of melody is a phenomenon above the perception of individual notes-the perception of relationships among the element. Transposition does not disrupt identification of melody Test for gestalt quality: if change elements, but not relationships and the quality is unchanged, then it is a gestalt quality. Frequent illustration of post-renaissance pictures of people made out of vegetables and fruits argues for the Gestalt quality of faces

Christian von Ehrenfels

(1859-1932) One of the first to argue that form qualities are given immediately in experience. Although Ehrenfels believed that the whole is more than the sum of the parts, he still believed that it was derivative and thus acts simply like another part.

Max Wertheimer

(1880-1943) Founder of the Gestalt school of thought and author of the influential book Productive Thinking.

Kurt Koffka

(1886-1941) Pioneering Gestalt psychologist remembered especially for introducing Gestalt psychology to the English-speaking world and for the extension of Gestalt theory into the field of developmental psychology.

Wolfgang Köhler

(1887-1967) Principal advocate of the Gestalt school. Köhler is remembered for his pioneering work on the role of insight in learning, for his treatment of value theory from a Gestalt perspective, and for his broad systematic approach to science and psychology.

Kurt Lewin

(1890-1947) Inspired by Wertheimer, Köhler, and Koffka, Lewin attempted to extend the Gestalt vision to other subdisciplinary branches of psychology, including motivation, personality, social psychology, and conflict resolution. Concerned with the interaction of the person and the environment. Prominent figure in motivation.

Karl Duncker

(1903-1940) Gestalt psychologist remembered for his work on the nature of problem solving and for work on the relativity of perceived movement.

Hedwig von Restorff

(1906-1962) A second generation Gestalt psychologist remembered for her study of memory with Wolfgang Köhler.

Solomon Asch

(1907-1996) A second-generation Gestalt psychologist remembered for his work on social psychology, cognition, learning, perception, and personality theory.

Wertheimer's research on the phi phenomenon influenced all of his later work.

(blinking lights perceived as one light moving back and forth). Experience cannot be reduced to its elements-Organization is in the (brain's) experience. Reproductive thinking versus productive thinking-Productive thinking relies on perception of structural patterns. Perception is organized so that it is coherent. Prägnanz. Closure, symmetry (figure ground), continuity, similarity, proximity, common fate; similar to the Kantian idea that information is organized based on space and time; Gestalt principles of organization

Gestalt Therapy

A form of therapy coming out of the work of Fritz Perls and having little or nothing in common with Gestalt psychology. Phenomenological, existential, humanist-Focus on mindful experience of the present. Therapeutic technique: inclusive dialogue. Focus on "field" and personal freedom. Continues to be practiced; has influenced dialectical behavior therapy (DBT; studied here for treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder)

figure-ground

A principle of perception characterized by the tendency of the subject to see some things as standing out and other things as forming background.

approach-avoidance conflict

A type of conflict in which a positive goal is associated with some unattractive or undesirable feature.

approach-approach conflict

A type of conflict marked by the presence of two attractive but mutually exclusive goals. Thus, the achievement of one goal precludes the possibility of attaining the other.

avoidance-avoidance conflict

A type of conflict marked by the presence of two unattractive or undesirable alternatives.

valence

According to Lewin, the positive or negative characteristics of objects in the life space.

Kurt Lewin made contributions to several fields in psychology

Bluma Zeigarnik worked with Lewin to demonstrate the Zeigarnik effect in recall. Group dynamics is the study of the effects of groups on individuals and individuals on groups. Lewin studied industrial work groups, educational groups, and casual interest groups.

James' influence was strong but mixed

Centrality of experience. Pluralism in methods and openness to study of wide ranging topics. Views on instincts differed. Views on sensation differed

Köhler conducted numerous studies of insight in primates.

Chimps constructed tools, ladders, enabling them to reach food, after examining objects in their environments. Sultan—more creative and faster. Little evidence of trial and error. The notion of insight challenges behavioral perspectives of learning.

Metaphors for mind and brain

Clay or wax tablet, blank slate: Aristotle to Locke. Hydraulic machine - Descartes, LaMettrie. Telephone network - prevalent model at the turn of the 19th & 20th centuries. Gestalt's isomorphism rejected such models → Computer.

Misunderstandings of Gestalt principles are common

Conceptually unrelated to Gestalt Therapy. Contrary to Pavlov, the Gestalt psychologists accepted analysis and argued for an experientially guided analysis. If a unit is a genuine part of a whole, then it is a legitimate task of the scientist to understand that unit. Gestalt psychology is not an explicitly nativist approach. Embodies the interaction of mind and environment. Gestalt thinkers argue that nature and nurture are intertwined. Gestalt psychologists emphasize the role of past experience and present conditions.

Gestalt perspectives on scientific method reflect acceptance of field physics as a model for psychology

Emphasized the physical environment. They used experience to guide analysis in psychology. They started research with phenomenological investigation. They accepted a broad range of methods in psychology.

group dynamics

In Lewin's psychology, this expression refers broadly to the study of the effects of groups on individuals and the effects of individuals on groups. It also includes the study of group structures and their effect on work, productivity, and achievement of group goals.

The intellectual antecedents of Gestalt psychology

Include the philosophy of Kant, field physics, and William James. Kant balanced empiricism and rationalism / nativism-A priori understandings of space, time, causality interact with experience to organize sensation meaningfully. Mechanical principles of association are not sufficient to explain experience (Locke and Hume argued for these principles of associations)

Gestalt psychology was influenced by

Influenced by Brentano (Act Psychology; the people he trained), Ehrenfels (Austrian; first to use to the term Gestalt...his son and daughter-in-law converted to Islam in the 20s and wrote books under pseudonyms). Wertheimer, Kohler, Koffka-Reaction to elementalism of Wundt, behaviorism of Americans

The second generation of Gestalt psychologists furthered the work of the founders.

Karl Dunker studied induced motion, functional fixedness, and other aspects of the psychology of thinking- how to attach a candle to a wall task. Hewig von Restorff demonstrated the Köhler -von Restorff effect, describing the increased likelihood of recall for distinctive items on a list. Solomon Asch (study of conformity) worked with Wertheimer and Kohler; work in cognition, learning, personality, and social psychology shows Gestalt influence. Mutzafer Sherif used a Gestalt approach in studies of the autokinetic effect, and in his boys' camp experiments on groups and prejudice. Other researchers influenced by Gestalt psychology include Edward Chase Tolman, Kurt Goldstein, Hans Wallach, Fritz Heider, Wolfgang Metzger, and Herman Witkin.

life space

Key concept in Lewin's psychology referring to all the psychological facts that are influential in the life of an individual at a given point in time. Dynamic life space-Objects may have positive (attractive force) or negative valence (repulsive force), the sum of vectors/forces. Interactions of person and life space may result in approach-approach conflict, approach-avoidance conflict, or avoidance-avoidance conflict. Needs are associated with tension systems. Strength of vectors assesses tension. Satisfaction of a need is associated with dissipation of tension.

Gestalt perspectives on mind and brain reject reductionistic and linear models of mind

Köhler argued for models of mind based in natural systems-models of mind based in the brain; free dynamics and isomorphism. Parts of the field/system interact and change anywhere can produce change everywhere. Some structural correspondence between experience and underlying brain processes. (Tootell: retinotopic somatization-bullseye pattern, injected brain with radioactive marker, sacrificed the animal, and saw topographic representation...clear isomorphism)

Friendships between psychologists and physicists influenced Gestalt psychology

Max Planck & Kohler and Albert Einstein & Wertheimer. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in modern Germany reflects Planck's commitment to a holistic understanding of phenomena. Michael Tomasello-language acquisition, altruism. Physical fields: e.g. magnetism, gravity, electrical fields. Fields are quantities associated with points of space-time. These may be vectors (direction and force), scalars (mass), tensors (relationships between vectors), or spinors (in physics)-new concepts at the time.

von Restorff effect

Refers to superiority of recall for isolated items in a list compared to more homogeneous items.

Brentano's theories were anti-atomistic and anti-reductionistic

Rejected elementalism of Wundt. Rejected Kantian ideas of apperception, imposing structures of space and time on experience. Form or shape is not imposed on the mind, does not result from association, but is inherent in the perceptual field. Brentano argued that psychology should begin as a descriptive science, develop a taxonomy of mental acts and phenomena.

Gestalt psychology influenced applied psychology.

Rudolph Arnheim and the psychology of art (Art and Visual Perception, 1954). George Katona and the psychology of education, teaching, and memory AND behavioral economics. Catherine Stern and mathematical education. Psychotherapy through the work of Heinrich Schulte, Adhémar Gelb and Kurt Goldstein (Fritz Perls studied with Goldstein, he later founded Gestalt Therapy).

isomorphism

The Gestalt position on the mind-brain problem. Literally, this term refers to similarity of form. Isomorphism, in the context of the mind-brain problem, refers to an assumed functional relationship between experience and underlying brain processes.

Gestalt approach to learning

The Gestalt psychologists viewed learning in nonbehavioristic terms. Not learning relationship between stimuli and responses, but relationships between stimuli. For example, research on transposition suggested that pigeons learn the relationship between stimuli (e.g., "darker than") instead of absolute stimulus values; Kohler's apes; "view from the air" usually possible in real world problem solving contexts-multi-dimensional view.

functional fixedness

The inability to find productive solutions to new problems. May also refer to the inability to see alternative uses for a particular tool or method.

The influence of Gestalt psychology

The influence of Gestalt psychology was limited by the scattering of Gestalt thinkers before and during World War II. Gestalt ideas inspired systematic approaches to other topics. Gestalt ideas entered textbooks and mainstream psychology. Gestalt research findings were a powerful stimulus for research and changes in other systems. Kurt Lewin (2nd generation theorist) ended up at MIT had a huge influence on group dynamics.

law of Prägnanz

The law of Prägnanz, according to Wertheimer, refers to the idea that perceptual organization tends to be as good as possible under prevailing conditions. Thus, perceptual organization is as orderly, coherent, and economical as possible under prevailing conditions.

proximity

The perceptual tendency to group figures or Gestalten that are close together in space or time.

similarity

The perceptual tendency to group figures or Gestalten that are similar.

good continuation

The perceptual tendency toward linearity, continuity, or coherence. Good continuation is manifested when a perceptual pattern is tracked even in the presence of irrelevant or competing cues.

closure

The tendency psychologically to complete that which is incomplete, to fill in the gaps, or to see wholeness even when it is not present.

Koffka applied Gestalt principles to human development

The view of what the child has and the child's relation to the environment. The view from without and the view from within. He argued that much of early learning is constructive sensorimotor learning, dependent on attention. Children may learn through imitation. Ideational learning, language mediated. Koffka argued that even the most primitive perceptions of infants are complex configurations of figure upon a ground. Argued against the Jamesian idea that there were no coherence in infant perception. Koffka believed they segregate objects (later confirmed with infant habituation and dishabituation experiments)

Gestalt

There is no exact English equivalent for this German term, but English words such as whole and configuration are close in meaning. Common translations include configuration, figure, form, holistic, structure, and pattern. Max Wertheimer - the Gestalt visionary. Gestalt psychology as a worldview. Wolfgang Köhler was a prolific researcher, writer, and spokesman for Gestalt psychology. He spoke out against the Nazi movement and in 1935, came to US and actively promoted Gestalt psychology. Kurt Koffka published The Growth of the Mind, bringing Gestalt theory to developmental psychology.

productive thinking

Wertheimer's term for a bold and radical centering of a problem that results in creative new ideas, breakthroughs, insights, or solutions. Einstein's revolutionary theory of relativity serves as a classic illustration of productive thinking.

reproductive thinking

Wertheimer's term for the routine reproduction of familiar solutions that result in blind conclusions with no sense of direction.

insight

The capacity to see a problem in a large context and perceptually to restructure relationships necessary to the solution of the problem.