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| Gestalt Psychology |
The
word “Gestalt” is a Gernman word which means form or configuration. Sometimes,
the Gestalt psychology is called configuration psychology. The Gestalt School
developed in Germany around the year 1912 under the guidance of Max Wertheimer,
Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Kohler.
This school
(Gestalt school) had its inception as a result of Wertheimer’s interest in the
phi-phenomenon, an illusion of movement. Wertheimer was interested in the
perception of movement and he conducted a large number of experiments on “phi-phenomenon”.
In one
such experiment, Wertheimer exposed a vertical line followed by a horizontal
line with a very short interval of time (say, fraction of a second). The subjects
should have perceived them as two different lines exposed one after the other. But
they perceived only one line.
The
Gestalt School of psychology developed as a revolt against the structuralism
and associationism. But when it gained momentum, it also protested against
Watson’s Behaviorism. It must be noted here that both behaviorism and Gestalt
psychology developed about the same time in two different countries, but
neither party had any knowledge of the other’s development.
Silent features:
Behaviorism
abandoned the study of conscious experiences. It confined itself to the study
of overt behavior only. But Gestalt psychology proposed to continue the study
of experiences. According to its founders, excellent psychological data can be
obtained from direct experiences. Experience is an important object of study in
psychology. Thus, Gestalt psychology aimed at studying both overt behavior and
experiences.
Behaviorism
opposed the analysis of the structure of conscious into its component elements.
It emphasized the association of stimulus and response in behavior. It reduced
behavior to S-R (Stimulus-Response) units. Gestalt psychology was opposed to
analysis altogether. It was opposed to reductionism. According to Gestalt
school of psychology, every experience carries with it a quality of wholeness. The whole dominates over its
parts.
Behaviorism
rejected introspection as a method of investigation. But Gestalt psychologists
did not reject introspection altogether. They favored phenomenological
introspection.
Behaviorism
rejects sensation because of methodological difficulties in studying sensory
process. Gestalt psychology rejected sensation because sensations are atoms or
elements of experiences.
Behaviorists
ignored the study of perception. But the study of perception was the very heart
of Gestalt psychology. Perhaps, no other school of psychology contributed so
much to the study of perception as the Gestalt school.
The analysis
of behavior by behaviorists is a molecular one. But the explanation of behavior
by Gestalt psychology is a molar one. It must be mentioned here that molecular
behavior occurs in the organism in a given geographical environment. But according
to Gestalt psychologists, behavior occurs in a given geographical environment
which is regulated by behavioral environment. They, therefore, differentiated
between geographical environment and the behavioral environment. The environment
as it exists in reality is the geographical environment. But the environment as
perceived by the individual is the behavior environment.
Watson’s
behaviorism reduced thinking to laryngeal habits. Watson identified thought
with implicit speech movements. He interpreted thinking in the light of
peripheral theory and psychological orientation. But Gestalt psychology
discarded Watson’s explanation of the thought process. Gestalt psychologists
presented a psychological approach to the study of the thought process. Gestalt
psychologists were opposed to the association theory of thinking or piecemeal
thinking. They insisted on the fact that when confronted with a problem, the
individual must understand the essential structure of the whole situation and
make an appropriate response. The individual must be able to organize or
reorganize the materials so as to produce some results. These psychologists
favor productive thinking.
Perception:
For structuralists
and functionalists like Wundt and Titchner, perception was a crucial problem.
Watson ignored perception. But the Gestalt psychologists want to make the study
of the perceptual process the very heart of their system.
There is
a general agreement among contemporary psychologists that the Gestalt school
exerted a greater influence of the evolution of modern perceptual psychology
that any other group.
Gestalt
psychology is “form” psychology. According to its proponents, our perceptual
experiences arise as Gestalten or molar configurations which are not mere
aggregations of sensations but organized and meaningful whole.
Gestalt
psychologists apply the total approach as opposed to the part approach and say
that individual perceives objects as “whole” and not part by part. The whole
approach provides meaningful perception because the whole is greater than the
sum of its parts. For example, when we perceive a table, we perceive it as a
molar object, not a collection of color patches, four legs, nuts, bolts and the
like.
After innumerable experiments on perception, these psychologists were
able to formulate certain laws which govern the organization of perception. These
laws are the following:
·
The law of proximity
·
The law of similarity
·
The law of closure
·
The law of good figure
·
The law of continuation
·
The principle of figure and ground
