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Gestalt psychology - Coggle Diagram
Gestalt psychology
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Modern applications
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Teachers can encourage their students to discover the relationship of the elements that make up a problem.
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History
Events
Originating in the work of Max Wertheimer, Gestalt psychology formed partially as a response to the structuralism of Wilhelm Wundt.
When the Nazis came to power in Germany in the 1930s, the Gestalt school disbanded, and its most prominent members immigrated to the United States
The development was influenced in part by Wertheimer's observations one day at a train station. He later proposed the concept of the Phi phenomenon in which flashing lights in sequence can lead to what is known as apparent motion.
Over the past 100 years or so, cognitive psychologists have carried out studies that have greatly increased our knowledge of the human memory system and the mental processes involved in problem solving.
The advent of the computer provided cognitive psychologists with a new way to conceptualize mental structures and processes, known as information-processing theory.
Influential figures
Kurt Koffka
Known as one of the three founders of Gestalt psychology, Kurt Koffka had diverse interests and studied many topics in psychology including learning, perception, and hearing impairments.
Wolfgang Köhler
Also a key founding figure in the history of the Gestalt movement, Kohler also famously summarized Gestalt theory by saying, "The whole is different than the sum of its parts." He was also known for his research on problem-solving, his criticisms of the introspection used by the structuralists to study the human mind, and his opposition to behaviorism.
Max Wertheimer
Regarded as one of the three founders of Gestalt psychology, Wertheimer is also known for his concept of the phi phenomenon. The phi phenomenon involves perceiving a series of still images in rapid succession in order to create the illusion of movement.
Phi phenomenon
Experiment
Two lightbulbs are placed a short distance apart in a dark room. The first light is flashed on and then turned off just as the second light is flashed on.
As this pattern of flashing the lights on and off continues, an observer sees what appears to be a single light moving back and forth from one position to another.
Conclution
The experiment is proof that people perceive wholes or patterns rather than collections of separate sensations.
What it is
Phi phenomenon is an optical illusion in which stationary objects shown in rapid succession, transcending the threshold at which they can be perceived separately, appear to move.
What it is
Gestalt psychology is a school of thought that looks at the human mind and behavior as a whole. It studies, how our minds tend to perceive objects as part of a greater whole and as elements of more complex systems.