Summary of Chapter Ten: The Gestaltists

The term ‘Gestalt’ was originally used by Wertheimer to mean a set of sensations that are perceived together as a meaningful whole. Gestalt theory was able to better explain perception and higher mental functions, which made the theory gain popularity over Wundtian psychology by 1921. Wertheimer was the first to discover and test that the illusion of motion takes place through the mind’s perception instead of in the retina, meaning that the mind seeks to add structure and meaning to incoming sensory input. An Austrian psychologist, Christian-born Ehrenfels, noticed that even though every note is changed during a melody’s transposition, people still are able to hear the same melody because of an ability to perceive sameness in the way parts of a whole relate to each other. David Katz found that when people see a particular object in shadow that they still perceive it to have the same color and brightness as when it is observed in direct light. The Law of Proximity states that when people see a quantity of similar objects that they tend to view them as sets or groups based on which are close to each other. The Law of Similarity describes the tendency to group objects based on similarity. The Law of Continuation states that people have a tendency to see lines, which have a distinct direction or continuation. This grants them the ability to construct a meaningful shape from an overwhelming background. The Law of Pragnanz describes the human tendency to see the most simple shape possible in a complex pattern. Gestalt theory also applies to problem-solving, which defined insight in relation to the appearance of a comprehensive solution in connection to the layout of the entire problem. Additionally, learning experiments revealed that both humans and animals perceive almost everything through terms of a relationship. Concerning relational issues, Gestalt therapy has been effective when used with psychodrama. The ways things relate to each other are vital keys for perception, learning, and memory. Gestalt theorists such as James Hillman believed that memory was the result of permanent neural changes introduced by experience.

Reference

Hunt, M. M. (1993). The Gestaltists. The Story of Psychology (pp. 410-447). New York: Anchor Canada.