The Gestalt Revolt• Gestalt revolution in Germany took

place around the same time as– 1912: Watson begins attack on Wundt

and Titchener

– Thorndike and Pavlov: animal research having impact

– Psychoanalysis 10 years old

Gestalt and Behaviorist Revolutions were “friendly” at first:– Both opposed Wundt’s focus on sensory

elements, but when Wundt faded, ended up opposing each other

They eventually collided over consciousness:– Gestalt psychologists accepted it and criticized

attempts to reduce it to elements– Behavioral psychologists refused it entirely

Gestalt vs. Behaviorism

• A protest against Wundtian psychology

– Wundt’s psychology• Sensory elements as inert atoms combined

through mechanical associations

– Gestaltists criticized this as brick-and-mortar psychology: “We see whole objects like chairs and books, not sensory elements like brightness and hue.”

– The whole is different from the sum of its parts

Gestalt Origins

Gestalt Origins• More to perception than meets the eye

– Perception goes beyond the sensory elements

– These elements are only physical data coming to the sense organs

• The brain does more than just assemble the pieces

We’ve Heard this Before• Kant (1724-1804)

– The meaningful organization of sensory elements

– Is not a mechanical process of association

– Mind creates a unitary experience

• Brentano (1838-1917)– Psychology should study the act of

experiencing (Act Psychology)

Roots of Gestalt Psychology• Ernst Mach (1838-1916)

– A physicist! His work on Sensation influenced Gestalt Psychology

– Discussed spatial (geometric figures) and temporal (melodies) patterns• Considered them to be sensations

independent of their elements

Mach Bands

Roots of Gestalt Psychology• Christian von Ehrenfels (1859-1932)

– Psychologist: U. of Prague– Elaborated on Mach’s Ideas– Perceptions are often independent of

stimuli (Melodies)– Gestalt qualitäten: An experience that

cannot be explained by summing elements

Roots of Gestalt Psychology• Carl Stumpf (1848-1936)

– Appointed to professorship at the University of Berlin

– Wundt’s major rival– Two of his students founded

Gestalt Psychology• Kurt Koffka• Wolfgang Köhler

Werthheimer, Koffka, and Köhler

• Wertheimer, a student of von Ehrenfel• Koffka and Köhler with Stumpf's students

Phenomenology• University of Göttingen

– 1909-1915: phenomenological psychologists

• Phenomenology (Stumpf's introspective method)– “...an approach to knowledge based on an unbiased

description of immediate experience as it occurs, not analyzed or reduced to elements.”

– Uncorrected observation– Experience not analyzed into elements– Involves naïve experience (anyone can do it).

The Changing Zeitgeist in Physics

• Physics zeitgeist toward end 19th century moving away from atomism to force fields

• Fields of force: “regions or spaces traversed by lines of force, such as of a magnet or electric current.”

• Physicists’ descriptions of fields and organic wholes: authentication for:– Kohler: background in physics and studied

with Max Planck• Saw connection between field physics and Gestalt

wholes• Gestalt psychology as an application of field

physics to parts of psychology

The Changing Zeitgeist in Physics

The phi phenomenon: A challenge to Wundtian Psychology

• A product of Wertheimer's 1910 research– Developed riding a train while on

vacation– Involved seeing movement when

no actual physical motion occurs

The phi phenomenon

• Movement• Changing colors?• If lines are flashed at slower speeds

(200+ milliseconds between flashes) , the impression of movement is lost

• There is an optimum (60 milliseconds)• Wertheimer called it an “impression of

movement”

Describe What You Saw

The phi phenomenon• This movement cannot be explained with

traditional Wundtian methods• The brain is creating movement where none

actually exists• 1912: Wertheimer published results in

article “Experimental Studies of the Perception of Movement”

• Article indicates formal start of Gestalt school

Another Example

Food Food

Train an animal to find food behind an object:

Test: Which will it choose?

Max Wertheimer (1880-1943)• Background

– Attended lectures by von Ehrenfels– Studied philosophy and psychology at

University of Berlin– 1904: PhD from University of Würzburg

with Külpe• 1921: co-founded Psychological

Research • 1933: fled Germany top the New School

for Social Research in New York• “Laws of Organization…” is on line

Productive Thinking in Humans

• Based on book by Wertheimer published posthumously (1945)

• Thinking as done in terms of wholes– The learner regards the situation as a whole– The teacher must present the situation as a

whole– The whole problem must dominate the parts

• At different ages• At various levels of problem difficulty

Kurt Koffka (1886-1941)• Background

– 1909: PhD from university of Berlin with Stumpf

– 1910: began association with Wertheimer and Köhler at University of Frankfurt

• 1922: “Perception: an Introduction to Gestalt-Theorie” published in American journal Psychological Bulletin– Described Gestalt psychology’s basic concepts and

research results and implications– 1st introduction to Gestalt theory for U.S.

Psychologists– “Perception” in title led to misunderstanding that was

the sole interest of Gestaltists– Gestalt movement actually had a broader concern

• Problems of thinking and learning• Ultimately: with all aspects of conscious experience

Kurt Koffka (1886-1941)

Wolfgang Köhler (1887- 1967)• Trained in physics with Max Planck • Convinced that

– Gestalten occur in psychology as well as in physics

– Psychology must become allied with physics

• 1909: Ph.D. From university of Berlin with Stumpf

Wolfgang Köhler (1887- 1967)• 1913-1920: unable to leave Canary

Islands during WWI

• Studies the behavior of chimpanzees

• 1917: The Mentality of Apes

• 1922: succeeded Stumpf at U. of Berlin– Static and Stationary Physical

Gestalts (1920) Suggested Gestalt theory as general law of nature

• 1935: left Germany due to anti-nazi activities– Criticized regime in classroom lectures

– Leaders of the German psychological society went even further, firing Jewish journal editors, lauding Hitler, and proclaiming the Jews “evil influence”

• Emigrated to U.S. To teach at Swarthmore college

Wolfgang Köhler (1887- 1967)

Gestalt Principles of Perceptual Organization

• 1923: Wertheimer's Article– Perceive wholes, not clusters of sensations– Perceptual organization occurs instantly and is

spontaneous and inevitable– Brain as a dynamic system; All active elements

interact– Organizing principles not dependent on either

higher mental processes or past experience

Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization

• Pragnanz (good figure): Stimulus patterns are seen in such a way that the resulting structure is as simple as possible.

Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization

• Similarity: Similar things appear to be grouped together.

Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization

• Good Continuation: Points forming smooth paths are usually components of the same object

Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization

• Proximity/Nearness

Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization

• Common Fate

Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization

• Meaningfulness: Sensations are more likely to be grouped if the group creates a meaningful object.

Isomorphism• Theory about neurological correlates of

perceived Gestalts– Gestalt: view the cortex as a dynamic system– Associationists: brain is

• Passive• Incapable of actively organizing sensory

elements received• Incapable of modifying sensory elements

received

Anatomy and Gestalt Psychology

Faces

LGN

CORTEX

Retina

Reticular Formation

Vase

The spread of Gestalt psychology

• Mid-1920’s – A coherent and dominant school in

Germany

– Koffka and Köhler: many lectures in the United States

• 1933 Nazi regime: shift of Gestalt psychology to the United States

• Slow acceptance in the United States– Behaviorism was at its peak– A language barrier– Belief that Gestalt psychology dealt solely

with perception– Wertheimer, Köhler, and Koffka at small

colleges without graduate programs, thus no graduate research assistants

– Gestalt focus of protest (Wundt) no longer of concern in U.S.

The Battle with Behaviorism

• Gestalt criticisms of its new target– Reductionistic and atomistic– Deals with artificial abstractions (S-R units)– Denies the validity of introspection– Eliminates consciousness– Would make psychology no more than a

collection of animal research– Conflicts between proponents of the two

schools: increasingly emotional and personal

Field Theory: Kurt Lewin (1890-1947)

– The trend in late 19th-century science– Term as associated with Lewin’s work:

“Lewin’s system using the concept of fields of force to explain behavior in terms of one’s field of social influences.”

– Extended beyond the orthodox Gestalt framework to include human needs, personality, and social influences on behavior

Extending the Boundaries• Kurt Lewin (1890-1947)

– A German War Hero WWI

– Exiled by Nazis in 1933

• Field Theory B = f (p,e)– Behaviors must be considered within the

contexts of time and space

– Objects within the “life space” are assigned valences and their influence determines the individual’s resulting position within the life space

Extending the Boundaries• Kurt Lewin (1890-1947)

– Field Theory as a foundation for understanding conflict

– Tension systems affect recall• Zeigarnik Effect: Recall for an

interrupted task is better than that of a completed task

• Study sessions should end with questions

– Deutsch and Collins (1951) segregated/desegregated housing

Extending the Boundaries• Group behavior: function of the total

field situation at a given time • Effects of authoritarian, democratic,

and laissez-faire leadership styles on behavior of boys

• Authoritarian style: aggressive behavior

• Democratic style: friendly with more tasks completed

Criticisms of Gestalt psychology• Basic criticisms

– Organization of perceptual processes accepted as fact rather than studied scientifically

– Gestalt position is vague– Basic concepts and terms are not defined with sufficient rigor– Too preoccupied with theory at the expense of research and

empirical support– Research lacks adequate controls– Its unquantified data elude statistical analysis– Gestalt experimental work is inferior to that of the behaviorists – Insight learning: not replicable – Poorly defined physiological assumptions

Gestalt Rebuttals– A young science’s explanation and definitions are

necessarily incomplete– Incomplete is not the same vague– Has from the beginning emphasized

experimentation– Has engendered a considerable amount of research– Qualitative results take precedence over quantitative

ones– Gestalt research is exploratory– Gestalt research is within a different framework

than the behaviorists’– Gestalt speculations about physiological assumptions

are a tentative but useful adjunct to their system

Contributions of Gestalt psychology

• Permanent imprint on psychology

• Influenced work in “perception, learning, thinking, personality, social psychology, and motivation

• Retained its identity, not absorbed by the mainstream as was behaviorism

Focus on consciousness• Fostered interest in consciousness as a legitimate

problem for psychology• Centered on phenomenology, not on the

Wundt/Titchener elements of consciousness• Recognizes consciousness cannot be studied with the

precision and objectivity the behaviorists demand• Phenomenological approach to psychology accepted

more by European than by U.S. Psychologists• This phenomenology influenced humanistic

psychology movement in U.S.