Gestalt Psychology

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Gestalt Psychology
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Gestalt Psychology

• Rejected structuralism
• Rejected idea that perceptions should be broken
  up into little elements of sensation
• Rejected empiricism
• Rejected associationism

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The Main Idea

• "Whole is greater than the sum of its parts"
• In other words, the whole percept is not
  necessarily just the sum of its sensory parts

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Antecedents

• Kants rationalistic view of mind
• Brentano
• Kulpe, Stumpf - methods and techniques
• American functionalists

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Elements of Gestaltism

• Rationalistic
• Innate mental structures organize our mental
  experience
• Emphasis on whole experiences
• Thinking is more than S-R connections

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The Three Musketeers Wertheimer, Köhler, Koffka
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Max Wertheimer (b. 1880)

• Studied with Stumpf at Berlin
• 1904 Received degree from Kulpe at Wurzburg
• 1910 Position at U. of Frankfurt
• Research on apparent motion

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Apparent (Phi) Motion

• Demo 1

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Wolfgang Köhler (b. 1887) Kurt Koffka (b. 1886)
join Wertheimer

• T-Scope apparatus invented

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• The Phi Phenomenon experiments (1912)
• Nothing in the physical world to correlate with
  the perception

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Koffka

• 1908 Ph.D. Berlin from Stumpf
• 1st to write about Gestalt Psychology in English
• 1922 "Perception An introduction of
  Gestalt-Theorie in Psych Bulletin
• Came to U.S. 1924 - Smith College

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Wertheimer

• 1933 New School for Social Research

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Kohler

• 1909 Ph.D. Berlin from Stumpf
• Research with apes on the island of Tenerife
• 1917/1925 "Mentality of Apes"
• Came to U.S. in 1933 - Swarthmore

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Gestaltism and Perception

• We see things as unified wholes, not parts

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Perceptual Grouping Rules

• Figure-ground segregation symmetry, size,
  convexity

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• Continuity
• Similarity
• Proximity
• Closure
• Pragnanz

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Perception of Relationships is Important

• Sensory information is overridden by the
  observer's tendency to see things relationally
• This tendency is innate, experience has no effect
  on the perception

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(simultaneous contrast effect)
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Gestaltism and Memory

• Zeigarnik (b. 1890) effect - incomplete tasks are
  remembered longer than completed tasks
• Supposedly, the incomplete task creates a
  tension that is relieved when the task is
  completed

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• e.g., test questions missed (did not complete)
  are more likely remembered
• TV series ends in cliffhanger

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Memory Traces

• Physiological basis for memory practice and
  learning consolidate memory traces

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Gestaltism and Learning

• Learning based on understanding the nature of a
  problem
• Against Thorndike
• Kohler and insight learning in Sultan the Ape

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• Aha experience based on incentive

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Gestaltism and Thinking

• Problem solving should be from the whole problem
  down to its parts, not vice-versa
• Examine the big picture first, then analyze to
  obtain the problem's solution
• Wertheimer felt that rote drills and memorization
  were counterproductive

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Kurt Lewin (b. 1890)

• 1914 Ph.D. at Berlin from Stumpf
• 1933-1935 Cornell
• 1935-1945 Iowa
• 1945-1947 Research Center for Group Dynamics at
  MIT

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Lewin and Conflicts

• Approach-Approach Conflict
• Approach-Avoidance Conflict
• Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict

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Motivation and Tensions

• Motivational forces are a form of psychic energy
  or tension
• Behavior always oriented toward some goal
• Intentional actions

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Intention Sets Up Tension

• The intention to communicate sets up a tension
  that persists until the job is done
• Once the job is done, the tension disappears
• If the tension cannot be discharged it persists
  and activates memory

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• Tensions can diffuse to other unrelated
  activities
• Tensions come from needs (e.g., hunger) or
  quasi-needs (finish a block house)

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Leon Festinger (1942 at Iowa) - Lewin's student

• Cognitive Dissonance

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Influence of Gestalt Psychology

• Their opposition to structuralism
• Emphasis on mental organizing principles
• Against empiricist tradition
• Anti-behavioristic

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Influence on Social Psychology

• Many of Lewin's students went on to form the
  field
• Modern social psychology originated primarily
  from the Gestaltists

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Influence on Cognitive Psychology

• Top-down processing
• Work on perception and memory

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Criticisms of Gestalt Psychology

• Definitions are nonexistent or vague
• Gestaltists quick to criticize and propose
  theory, slow to back up their theory and
  criticism with empirical data
• Gestaltism has little predictive power