Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt Psychology

ABSTRACT

           Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler were part of a movement in psychology founded in Germany known as the Gestalt Theory., which presents a dramatic contrast to some of the more behavioristic approaches. I decided to analyze his work and bring to light the methods he uses.  I will incorporate the most important developments in the Gestalt theory and how it’s used and shapes modern psychology today. I will conclude the paper with a reflection of what I learned while completing this research paper.

Gestalt Psychology

An Analysis

    There were a group of German psychologist who all graduated from the University of Berlin, who became known as the “Berlin Group” because they worked together in sharing their convictions and united in their attacks against both introspections and behaviorism. What linked all of these psychologists together was the Gestalt Theory. Gestalt, which is German, is a psychology term which means "whole” or “unified whole". (Lefrancois, 2012, p.179) These young psychologists believed that we do not experience things in isolated pieces, but in meaningful, intact configurations. We do not see patches of green, blue and red; we see people, cars, trees and clouds.                                                                                                                  

     These meaningful, intact, conscious experiences are what psychology should concentrate on, hence the name to this approach of psychology (Hergenhahn, 2008). The two most important beliefs of Gestaltist are people solving their problem through insight rather than through trial and error and the whole are greater than the sum of its parts.  Behaviorism merely seeks to alter a surface behavior and doesn’t consider the thoughts or motivations behind an action. Gestalt psychology deems an action as only part of the whole—that certain factors were necessary in order to produce the visible result. Gestalt therapy aims to help patients gain awareness of certain behaviors in order to change them and their outlook on life, whereas behaviorism focuses on observable behavior and changing that alone (Corey, 2009).                                                                                        

     The Gestaltists argued that a molar approach to psychology should be taken. This approach is studying the consciousness, which would mean concentrating on phenomenological experience (mental experience as it occurred to the naive observer, without future analysis). The term phenomenon means “that which appears” or “that which is given,” and so phenomenology is the study of that which naturally appears in consciousness (Hergenhahn, 2008). Gestalt Psychology is a forerunner of contemporary psychology. Cognitive approaches learning are characterized by a preoccupation with such topics as understanding, information processing, decision making, and problem solving. Gestalt psychology involved theories which attempted to describe how people organized visual elements into groups or unified wholes when certain principles are applied.