GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY
There were two major trends in psychology at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning
of the 20th century. In Europe, Wundt’s structuralist psychology was the major influence, and in America
behaviorist psychology was the dominant trend. In 1912 three German psychologists located in and around
Frankfurt, Germany, independently of each other had come to the conclusion that in the past psychologists
had overlooked the linkage between consciousness and behavior. Therefore these psychologists started to
concert efforts to develop a system of psychology that took into view the unity of human beings. These
efforts laid the foundation of a new look called Gestalt psychology, the purpose of which was to avoid
piecemeal study of psychology and to present a holistic view. In other words, the Gestalt psychology
adopted both the behaviorist’s views and the structuralists’ views. Gestalt is a German word meaning
patterns. The structuralists were focusing on the consciousness as the key element in the study of
psychology while the behaviorists were focusing on the prediction and control of behavior. The group of
students and researchers related to this concept developed the Gestalt School.

Max Wertheimer
Max Wertheimer belonged to the Gestalt school of psychology. He was born in 1886 and died in
1943. He studied at the universities of Prague, Berlin. His original researches, while he was a professor at
Frankfurt and Berlin, placed him in the forefront of contemporary psychology. Wertheimer came to the
United States in 1933, shortly before the Nazis seized power in Germany. Wertheimer’s discovery (1910–
12) of the phi-phenomenon (concerning the illusion of motion) gave rise to the influential school of Gestalt
psychology. His early experiments, in collaboration with Wolfgang Köhler and Kurt Koffka, introduced a
new approach (macroscopic as opposed to microscopic) to the study of psychological problems. In the
latter part of his life he directed much of his attention to the problem of learning; this research resulted in a
book, posthumously published, called Productive Thinking.
One of the greatest contributions of Wertheimer is that he showed by his experiments that if two
lines are shown to a subject and the time period of exposure between these two lines is small, the subject
sees these two lines as one line moving from its position to the position of the other line. Wertheimer called
this phenomenon “Apparent movement” or phi-phenomenon. Therefore, according to Wertheimer, Phiphenomenon
or apparent movement is when we see one image move from one place to another, when
physically there is no movement. In case of the lines shown by Wertheimer, the horizontal or the vertical
lines did not move at all, but instead, on line appeared after the other. The interval between the
disappearance and the appearance of the other line was so short that to the subjects it appeared that the
lines were moving from their positions into the other positions. The greatest impact of this discovery can be
seen in its application in the movie camera. When a movie is being played on a cinema screen it is actually
the phi-phenomenon which is working. The images of the movie are all still images captured by the camera
but the interval between the movements of the images is so short that the characters of the movie seem as
moving to the observer. Television is another example where the image is created by a small dot which
moves across the screen and the characters appear to be moving.
Wertheimer explained this phi-phenomenon as being due to a tendency on the part of human mind
to fill in the gaps. For further explanation, when the line which was perceived by the observer as moving is
analyzed, we see that the movement from the horizontal to the vertical or vice versa, has been developed by
the observer’s brain, while there is no movement at all. Therefore human mind has the tendency to develop
something to fill into the gap. Based upon this tendency, Wertheimer discovered many factors which help
human beings to perceive things in patterns or Gestalts. He called these factors, the factors of organization.
They are factors that help us to perceive in patterns or Gestalts. Some of these factors are:

o Similarity
If you see many dots and small lines, you see dots as one group, pattern, gestalt etc. and lines as
another group. This is similarity leading to gestalts or patterns based on groups.

o Proximity
If you see many dots close to each other, and then some dots separated, you see the closely located
dots as one group of gestalt. This is nearness or proximity leading to gestalt.

o Closure
If a part of a familiar shape is missing we tend to fill it up, and see the shape as whole, this is
closure leading to gestalt. For example, if one of the corners of a star is missing, we tend to fill in
the missing part by ourselves and perceive the star as its complete shape. Therefore closure also
results in gestalt.
These are factors that are in the stimulus field that help us to perceive gestalts. There are some subjective
factors also that help in this whole perception. For example, mental set, or set is a subjective factor that
helps perceptual organization. Mental set of set can be explained with the help of the following examples: if
a person is taking a walk in a garden, and before he came here, he was warned by his friend that there were
snakes in the garden; his mental set would be to see snakes in the garden. Therefore, he is likely to confuse a
twig with a snake and be afraid of it. This is an example of mental set.
Habit or familiarity is another factor that leads to perceptual organization. For example, if a person is
familiar with certain objects he may be able to formulate a gestalt very quickly. Same is the case with habit.
Wertheimer, through his observation and experimentation discovered those factors that influence
perception.
Wertheimer also tried to discover what is creative thinking or problem solving thinking. Creative
thinking or problem solving thinking had become a subject of interest for psychologists at the turn of the
century since creative thinking was the key to development as newer fields of study were explored by
mankind. He observed young children and adults in his quest to determine what is creative or problem
solving thinking and how it takes place. He also interviewed one of the greatest minds of the 20th century,
Albert Einstein, to see how he produced his Theory of Relativity. Based upon these observations,
Wertheimer noted various operations related to creative or problem solving thinking. He said we should
avoid a piecemeal approach, not let our biases affect our thinking and should not blindly follow our habits.
In other words, he said that we should ensure that our dispositions do not affect our thinking and we are
able to concentrate on discovering new rather than analyzing new from the already existing point of views.
That is how we can become productive, creative thinkers.
Wertheimer is known as a Gestalt psychologist because he tried to determine the patterns of
perception that an individual follows.

Wolfgang Kohler

Wolfgang Kohler was born in 1880 and he died in 1943. He was a German but is known mostly as
an American psychologist because he worked in America. From 1913 to 1920 he was director of a research
station at Tenerife, Germany. Later he served as both professor of psychology and director of the
Psychology Institute, Berlin. He came to the United States in 1934, where he became professor of
psychology at Swarthmore College. Köhler is best known for his experiments with problem-solving in apes
at Tenerife and the influence of his writings in the founding of the school of Gestalt psychology. His
writings include Gestalt Psychology and The Mentality of Apes.
Kohler’s main contribution in the Gestalt School is his discovery of learning by insight. He
conducted experiments on monkey and saw that monkeys were able to solve their problems through
insight. He saw that monkeys were able to attach sticks together to reach far off objects which they thought
was food. They would also pile up boxes to reach high places if they wanted to. Kohler concluded that
learning takes place by insight. Monkeys thought about what to do first and then performed the action.
Based on this observation, Kohler concluded trial and error as a method of learning.
Kohler also postulated the concept of isomorphism which means that there is kind of a mental map
of the objects in environment, and this mental map helps in learning by insight. This means that in the mind
of individuals, there is a map which according to him is the explanation of the things around him. In other
words, the map is the individual’s perception about the world around him. This concept was called
isomorphism by Kohler. These were some of the contributions of Wolfgang Kohler.

Kurt Koffka
The other prominent contributor in the Gestalt school was Kurt Koffka who was born in 1886 and
died in 1941. He was an American psychologist but was born in Germany. Before settling permanently in
the United States in 1928 as a professor at Smith, he taught at Cornell and at the Univ. of Wisconsin. With
Max Wertheimer and Wolfgang Köhler he is credited with developing the theories that gave rise to the
school of Gestalt psychology. His book Growth of the Mind (1924) was considered responsible for
awakening much interest in Gestalt concepts.
Koffka’s concept of field theory was an important concept of the Gestalt school. He distinguished
between the geographical field and the field of experience. Geographical field is the actual environment
while the field of experience is the mindset of the observer. Humans react to the field of experience and not
to the geographical field. The geographical field is the actual field which represents the real world around.
The field of experience represents the experiences or the dispositions of the person who experiences the
field. For example, if a person goes for a walk in the garden and he knows that there have been witnesses of
snakes in that garden, he is quite likely to confuse a twig with a snake. This means that the person has
actually considered only the field of experience and ignored the geographical field or the reality. This is what
Koffka tried to explain. In his views, an individual tends to ignore the geographical field in face of the field
of experience which dominates his understanding or perceptions. The field of experience in the above
example may have been established by someone telling the person that there are snakes in the garden or
some previous incidents of snake sighting that the person might have heard of. These were some of the
contributions of Kurt Koffka.

Productive or Problem Solving Thinking:

Mihály Csíkszentmihályi
Productive thinking or problem solving thinking and learning by insight has been explained very thoroughly
by two psychologists, one in America and the other in the European Continent. Mihály Csíkszentmihályi,
born in 1934, is a psychology professor at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California and is
the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago. He is noted for his work in
the study of happiness, creativity, subjective well-being, and fun, but is best known as the architect of the
notion of flow and for his years of research and writing on the topic. He is the author of many books and
over 120 articles or book chapters. He interviewed and studied over two thousand creative people and
discovered some common elements in them. Some of those were; smart and naïve, playful and disciplined,
humble and proud, having great physical energy etc. Martin Seligman, former president of the American
Psychological Association, described Csikszentmihalyi as the world's leading researcher on positive
psychology. He is one of the most widely cited psychologists today, in a variety of fields related to
psychology and business.

Edward De Bono
The European who is famous in this regard is Edward De Bono (born in May 19, 1933) who was at
Cambridge University and developed his theory of Lateral Thinking which is akin to creative or problem
solving thinking. He developed some exercises to inculcate lateral thinking. Some of his exercises are,
“question” “rotate,” discover “dominant idea” etc. Edward de Bono is a psychologist and physician. De
Bono writes prolifically on subjects of lateral thinking, a concept he is believed to have pioneered. De Bono
is also a consultant who has worked with companies such as Coca-cola and Ericsson. In 1979 he cofounded
the School of Thinking with Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson.

Kurt Lewin
Kurt Lewin was born in 1890 and died in 1947. He worked and taught with other prominent
Gestalt psychologists in Berlin until 1932, when he immigrated to USA and joined the University of Iowa.
Later, Lewin set up the Research Centre for Group Dynamics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
One of the contributions of Kurt Lewin is his theory which he called the Field Theory. The field
theory concept was also given by another Gestalt psychologist by the name of Kurt Koffka, but, Lewin’s
theory was different from the one given by Koffka. According to Lewin’s theory, the field, or the
environment around the individual has many attractions which may be positive or negative. The positive
attractions may be to achieve a goal in life or to help some one in trouble. On the other hand, negative
attraction may be to take undue advantage of someone in trouble. These attractions may also be called
positive or negative opportunities. According to Lewin’s theory, because of these positive and negative
opportunities, conflicts arise in the mind of individuals who have the chance to avail either of the two
opportunities. Often both the opportunities may result in significant good for the individual while the
negative one may offer more value. Therefore, the conflict arises in the mind of the individual whether to
go for the positive opportunity with lesser good and satisfaction through doing the right thing, or to go for
the negative opportunity.
Lewin is a prominent Gestalt psychologist for his contribution in discovering the kinds of mental
conflicts that result in frustration and are responsible for a number of problems in people’s lives. He
proposed three kinds of conflicts that a person may be faced with:

i. The approach-approach conflict
The approach-approach conflict is a sort of conflict in which an individual is faced with the
challenge of liking between two things. He may only be able to approach one at time and the choice
creates the conflict. While choosing one of the options he foregoes the other one and the
approach-approach conflict comes up.

ii. Approach-avoidance conflict
The approach-avoidance conflict refers to when the individual is faced with the choice of avoiding
something or approaching something. This is the simplest of the three conflicts and the most
common one, where something attractive might have to be avoided because of an ethical reason.
For example making money through gambling is although attractive but avoiding it or approaching
it presents a conflict to the mind, since it is not ethically correct in our society to make money
through gambling.

iii. Avoidance-avoidance conflict
Avoidance-avoidance conflict refers to the conflict which arises because the individual faces the
challenge of which thing to avoid out of the options which all need to be avoided. For example, if a
sick person has to take bitter medicine, he would certainly want to avoid it. But on the other hand,
he is left with the other choice of accepting the sickness, which he would again want to avoid.
Therefore, the avoidance-avoidance conflict refers to the condition in which the mind has a conflict
because of two things which need to be avoided.
The other important contribution that came out of Lewin’s work at University of Iowa is his theory
of leadership; and the measurement of leadership phenomenon. He recognized three different styles of
leaders:

i. Authoritarian
As the name implies, an authoritarian leader is the one who intends to make use of his
authority to carry out the decision making process. He likes little sharing of his power and
depends more on his own instincts and thoughts.

ii. Democratic
A democratic leader is the one who believes in considering the thoughts and opinions of others
for decision making. He lets others share their thoughts and make decisions based upon
consensus.

iii. Laissez-faire
A laissez-faire leader is the one who is willing to delegate power and authority to others for
making decisions. He lets other decide on some matters and leads more from the back seat.
Although Lewin started as a Gestalt psychologist in Germany but after migrating to the USA he
became more involved in group dynamics and there he set up a center which provided some very important
contributions in the field of group dynamics. Group dynamics is the study of behavior of individuals in
groups and the behavior of groups as a whole.

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Born with personality is an accident but dying as a personality is an achievement.