īy 1914, the first published references to Gestalt theory could be found in a footnote of Gabriele von Wartensleben's application of Gestalt theory to personality. Both von Ehrenfels and Edmund Husserl seem to have been inspired by Mach's work Beiträge zur Analyse der Empfindungen (Contributions to the Analysis of Sensations, 1886), in formulating their very similar concepts of gestalt and figural moment, respectively. The idea of a Gestalt-qualität has roots in theories by David Hume, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Immanuel Kant, David Hartley, and Ernst Mach. It is this Gestalt-qualität that, according to von Ehrenfels, allows a tune to be transposed to a new key, using completely different notes, while still retaining its identity.
#Law of similarity psychology plus#
He called it Gestalt-qualität or "form-quality."įor instance, when one hears a melody, one hears the notes plus something in addition to them that binds them together into a tune – the Gestalt-qualität. Although in some sense derived from the organization of the component sensory elements, this further quality is an element in its own right. He claimed that, in addition to the sensory elements of the perception, there is something extra. Von Ehrenfels observed that a perceptual experience, such as perceiving a melody or a shape, is more than the sum of its sensory components. Von Ehrenfels introduced the concept of Gestalt to philosophy and psychology in 1890, before the advent of Gestalt psychology as such. Wertheimer had been a student of Austrian philosopher, Christian von Ehrenfels (1859–1932), a member of the School of Brentano. Gestalt theories of perception are based on human nature being inclined to understand objects as an entire structure rather than the sum of its parts. One could say that the approach was based on a macroscopic view of psychology rather than a microscopic approach. : 13 They argued that the psychological "whole" has priority and that the "parts" are defined by the structure of the whole, rather than vice versa. : 13 The Gestalt psychologists believed, instead, that the most fruitful way to view psychological phenomena is as organized, structured wholes. In contrast, the Gestalt psychologists believed that breaking psychological phenomena down into smaller parts would not lead to understanding psychology. The Gestaltists took issue with this widespread "atomistic" view that the aim of psychology should be to break consciousness down into putative basic elements. Together, these three theories give rise to the view that the mind constructs all perceptions and even abstract thoughts strictly from lower-level sensations that are related solely by being associated closely in space and time. "associationism," the view that more complex ideas arise from the association of simpler ideas."sensationalism," the view that the simplest constituents-the atoms of thought-are elementary sense impressions.
"atomism," also known as "elementalism," : 3 the view that all knowledge, even complex abstract ideas, is built from simple, elementary constituents.: 3 Structuralism was rooted firmly in British empiricism : 3 and was based on three closely interrelated theories: : 113–116 The dominant view in psychology at the time was structuralism, exemplified by the work of Hermann von Helmholtz (1821–1894), Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920), and Edward B. Max Wertheimer (1880–1943), Kurt Koffka (1886–1941), and Wolfgang Köhler (1887–1967) founded Gestalt psychology in the early 20th century. įurther information: History of psychology § Gestalt psychology Gestalt psychology was founded on works by Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler, and Kurt Koffka. The view is sometimes summarized using the adage, "the whole is more than the sum of its parts." : 13 Gestalt principles, proximity, similarity, figure-ground, continuity, closure, and connection, describe how humans perceive visuals in connection with different objects and environments. Gestalt psychologists emphasized that organisms perceive entire patterns or configurations, not merely individual components. Īs used in Gestalt psychology, the German word Gestalt ( / ɡ ə ˈ ʃ t æ l t, - ˈ ʃ t ɑː l t, - ˈ ʃ t ɔː l t, - ˈ s t ɑː l t, - ˈ s t ɔː l t/ gə- SHTA(H)LT, - STAHLT, - S(H)TAWLT, German: ( listen) meaning "form" ) is interpreted as "pattern" or "configuration". Gestalt psychology, gestaltism or configurationism is a school of psychology that emerged in the early twentieth century in Austria and Germany as a theory of perception that was a rejection of basic principles of Wilhelm Wundt's and Edward Titchener's elementalist and structuralist psychology.
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