Gestalt Psychology

Meaning of Gestalt:                                                                                                       

A structure, configuration, or pattern of physical, biological, or psychological phenomena so integrated as to constitute a functional unit with properties not derivable by summation of its parts. A gestalt has two or more parts (like figure and ground) that are so integrated together that we perceive them as one object. Think of teaching "the whole child," and you have the idea behind gestalt.

Meaning of Gestalt psychology:

The study of perception and behaviour 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.

Origen of Gestalt psychology:

The perception of oneness from many is the basis of gestalt. It derived from the 1890 German philosophy of Gestalt-qualität, meaning "form or shape," which explored the idea of perception. For example, a picture might have several separate parts that work together to form one perceived image. The area of Gestalt psychology developed in 1912, focusing on the various aspects of a person and how they combine into a whole that affects that person's relationship with his or her environment.

Historical Developments:

There were 3 main founders and contributors of Gestalt psychology. They were Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffa and Wolfgang Kohler. 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 Gestalt Psychology also known as the school of thoughts. Wertheimer had an enormous influence on other areas including sensation and perception as well as experimental psychology. He also wrote a book on productive thinking shortly before his death in October 1943 and was later published. Kurt Koffka graduated with a doctorate in psychology at the University of Berlin. Later he went on to University of Frankfurt where he started working closely with Wertheimer and Kohler. Koffka primary interest of study was on colours. It focuses on the interrelation of brightness and colour, the difference of colours with short and long wave-lengths and also the question of ground and figure. He wrote an article on “Perception: An Introduction to Gestalt Psychology” in 1922. He later went on to being a professor at Smith College where he remained till his death. There he worked on the principles of Gestalt psychology mainly focusing on memory, perception and learning. Wolfgang Kohler graduated with a doctorate from the University of Berlin under the supervision of Stumpf. He later went on to the University of Frankfurt where he worked together with Koffka and Wertheimer. He pursued perceptual ideas through his studies with chimpanzees as director of the Canary Island Anthropoid Station in 1913. He went to become a professor at a University of Berlin taking over Stumpf and left for the U.S as he publicly criticized the Nazis. 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 psychology.  He wrote and lectured extensively on his animal research and on the understanding of human perception.

Contribution:

One of the contributions of Gestalt psychology is Gestalt therapy. Gestalt therapy focuses raising an individual’s needs, senses, feelings as well as boundaries. It contributes to the individual well-being and self-respect. It emphasizes strongly on contact, connection and respectful meetings. According to Lewin’s theory, an individual is actually a part of society and there cannot be an isolation of an individual as Gestalt has always been focusing on the whole rather than individuals. However, in the context of human being, everyone of us are formed by atoms with specific individual characteristic but when put in a larger structure, humans are dependant of each another. This is called, paradigm of individualism. (Lennart B ernhardtson, 2008)

Gestalt therapy borrows a few of the concept from pragmatism like the concept of human experience, and also one of the gestalt experiments in which insights are encouraged to emerge and be tested within the creative activities of the therapy session. In gestalt therapy, the therapist and the patient will engage together to a point where they develop a phenomenal field and this in turn becomes the focus of the therapy. It focuses on what the patient is feeling at that moment in time and what the patient is thinking at that point of time. The therapist must also be trained to find the patterns in the experiences of the patients through contacting with them. Contact in this context would be what the therapist observed in the session with patient; felt, sensed, perceived, observed and known qualities. The therapy teaches the patient the difference between what they truly experience and what was just the interpretation of events. Gestalt therapy helps patients gain a better understanding of how their emotional and physical bodies are connected. Understanding the internal self is the key to understanding actions, reactions and their behaviours. Gestalt therapy is a form of self-discovery and it gives patients the necessary skills to face stressful situations. (D A N B L O O M, 2009)

Principles of Gestalt psychology:

1. Figure/Ground  

This principle shows our perceptual tendency to separate whole figures from their backgrounds based on one or more of a number of possible variables, such as contrast, color, size, etc.

A simple composition may have only one figure. In a complex composition there will be several things to notice. As we look from one to another they each become figure in turn.

But it can be difficult, at other times, to pick out the figure from the ground.  It’s important to keep a balance between the negative and positive space as well as making the figure a quick read. In other words, be sure to make a clear distinction between the figure and the ground.

Negative example: In the photo at right of the mom and kid, it’s hard to tell where the figure ends and the ground begins.

2.  Similarity

Gestalt theory states that things which share visual characteristics such as shape, size, color, texture, or value will be seen as belonging together in the viewer’s mind. 

In the graphic below, the viewer is likely to discern a shape in the middle, though each individual object is the same color.

Similarity occurs when objects look similar to one another. People often perceive them as a group or pattern.

3. Continuation (Continuity)

This Gestalt law states that learners "tend to continue shapes beyond their ending points".

The edge of one shape will continue into the space and meet up with other shapes or the edge of the picture plane.

The example below illustrates that learners are more apt to follow the direction of an established pattern rather than deviate from it. 

We perceive the figure as two crossed lines instead of 4 lines meeting at the center. Continuity in the form of a line, an edge, or a direction from one form to another creates a fluid connection among compositional parts.

4.  Proximity

The Gestalt law of proximity states that "objects or shapes that are close to one another appear to form groups". Even if the shapes, sizes, and objects are radically different, they will appear as a group if they are close together.

• refers to the way smaller elements are "massed" in a composition.

• Also called "grouping," the principle concerns the effect generated when the collective presence of the set of elements becomes more meaningful than their presence as separate elements.

• Arranging words into sentences or titles is an obvious way to group unrelated elements to enhance their meaning (it also depends on a correct order for comprehension).

• Grouping the words also changes the visual and psychological meaning of the composition in non-verbal ways unrelated to their meaning.

• Elements which are grouped together create the illusion of shapes or planes in space, even if the elements are not touching.

• Grouping of this sort can be achieved with:

·         Tone / value

·         Color

·         Shape

·         Size

·         Or other physical attributes  

5. Closure

The satisfaction of a pattern encoded, as it were, into the brain, thus triggering recognition of the stimulus. This can involve the brain's provision of missing details thought to be a part of a potential pattern, or, once closure is achieved, the elimination of details unnecessary to establish a pattern match.

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Closure is the effect of suggesting a visual connection or continuity between sets of elements which do not actually touch each other in a composition.

• The principle of closure applies when we tend to see complete figures even when part of the information is missing.
•  Closure occurs when elements in a composition are aligned in such a way that the viewer perceives that "the information could be connected."

• Imaginary lines called vectors, or shapes called counter forms, are generated by these relationships, which the eye understands as part of the composition even though there is "nothing there.

• Vectors and counter forms exert forces and tensions that are as real in defining its underlying structure as the elements that are visible.

• Linear vectors direct the path of the eye through the composition and determine where the eye will go once it is attracted by the prominent features of the composition.

• A vector can be straight or curved, depending on the relationships that form it.

• Counter forms, (or negative spaces), determine to a great extent whether or not the composition will be perceived as a harmonious whole. Counter forms "echo" the positive visual elements with "similarity," or create powerful substructures that support and connect visible elements.

6.  Symmetry or Order

Symmetry states that the viewer should not be given the impression that something is out of balance, or missing, or wrong.  

If an object is asymmetrical, the viewer will waste time trying to find the problem instead of concentrating on the instruction.

• Order has connotations of stability, consistency and structure.

• An orderly arrangement of elements has connotations that will be perceived either positively or negatively by a viewer depending on the purpose of the communication and the viewer's personality.

• Utilitarian information (instructional or technical design) will be more effective if the presentation is orderly, especially if it must be comprehended quickly.

• traffic signs
• sets of instructions
• reference books

• Texts and illustrative material may also need to be orderly; especially if the organization sponsoring the communication wishes to be perceived as orderly and well run (annual reports are typically clean, orderly documents).

• People are accustomed to receiving information in a systematic and organized manner and will be frustrated by material that requires too much work to comprehend.

• Some viewers associate order with institutional rigidity or social conservatism and will reject or be "bored" by communications that seem too highly structured.

• Developing judgment about audience preferences and tolerances with respect to order is central to the designer's task.

• The goal is to be structured and equally engaging.

      

Merits of Gestalt psychology:

·         Gestaltists maintained that the whole is always greater than its constituents or parts.

·         Gestaltists laid great emphasis on the role of motivation, and definite goals and purposes in any type of learning. This has resulted in providing a central role to motivation in any scheme of learning and education.

·         Gestaltism has a notable feature that it makes the task of perception, learning and problem solving an intelligent task rather than a piecemeal molecular function or a mere stimulus-response mechanical process. It has provided a scientific and progressive method of problem solving based on the cognitive abilities of the learner.

·         Gestaltism has necessitated research in the field of organisational climate, instructional planning, group dynamics etc., for organizing the factors in the environment of the learners into a meaningful whole so as to put in the best efforts for managing the affairs of education and welfare of the individuals.

Criticism:

Gestaltism has little predictive power. A general  criticism of gestalt theory has been that it does not provide an explanation of emotion and personality. The famous psychologists of their time piaget and vygotsky highly valued the writings of gestalt psychologists. Although piaget later developed one central criticism of its structures under discussion.

Gestalt theory was mostly criticized for:

1.      being too descriptive instead of offering explanations and models for described phenomena,

2.      investigating subjective experiences like perception,

3.      lack of precision in descriptions and just qualitative description,

4.      denying the basic scientific approach of understanding a whole as a set of its parts.

Conclusion:

Gestalt psychology has impacted the field of psychology to a huge extent mainly in terms of perception, memory and learning. Principles of Gestalt psychology like isomorphism, productive thinking and re productive thinking had proven to be the few best psychological theories that have been implemented to date. Since gestalt have progressed so much till date, gestalt therapy have been established and it aimed in helping individual understand their internal self in order for them to understand their actions, reactions as well as behaviours.