9: Gestalt Flashcards
(16 cards)
What were Kant’s ideas that led to the foundation of gestalt psychology?
- Noumena: The things that exist in the world that are out there
- Phenomena: Our perception of things out there (noumena)
What is phenomenology?
Psychology can never understand things as they are, but only our perceptions of those things
Who was Carl Stumpf?
Stumpf was known for his work in the psychology of tones. He introduced phenomenology to teach his students in Berlin (who later produced gestalt psychology).
Who was Johannes Muller?
He introduced the law of specific nerve energies, which later influenced gestalt psychology,
What is the law of specific nerve energies?
It states that the nature of perception is defined by the pathway over which the sensory information is carried. So, the original sensation is not important. Thus, differences in sense perceptions are not caused by differences in stimuli but differences in nerve structures.
What is Gestalt?
A figure, configuration or form with “life” and meaning that we experience. It refers to a perceived totality that has an inherent organisation.
How did Gestalt psychology start?
With a protest movement against Wundt and Thorndike, where they argue that psychological facts are not the sum of some analyzable sensations.
Who was Christian Von Ehrenfels?
He was a pioneer in gestalt psychology who relates it to the perception of music. He argues that when we first listen to music, we first pay attention to the melody. It does not matter if the tone changes, the melody does not and thats what we pay attention to. We focus on the whole, where the melody can not be found in single notes, but by the bigger picture. Melody has form quality (gestalt).
Who were some of the formers of Berlin gestalt psychologists?
- Max Wertheimer
- Kurt Koffka
- Wolfgang Kohler
Who was Max Wertheimer?
He started gestalt psychology by examining the phi phenomenon. He argued that perceiving illusions are not a mistake of the mind, but explain how our mind perceives and works.
What is the phi phenomenon?
A visual illusion where stationary objects seem to move due to rapid succession.
What are the ideas of gestalt perception?
It has a principle of totality, where the whole is more than the sum of its parts. It is holsitic, nativisit and based in phenomenology.
What is holism?
The idea that our mind is always looking for meaningful “wholes” of elements of our surrounding.
Who was Wolfgang Kohler?
He studied at an free-range ape observation station in Tenerife. When he put a fence with an opening behind and food on the other side, hens would not take notice but would try to peck through the gate while apes went around; the movement of the ape was gestalt. He determined Einsicht. In another situation, apes tried to get bananas by stacking boxes. Sultan was the most intelligent, stacking sticks and taking tree branches to reach the bananas.
What is Einsicht?
When the subject suddenly works towards the solution after globally perceiving the situation. It does not just appear in the mind.
What was the historical context around early gestalt psychology?
After WW1, scientists were highly valued and placed in the empty palace of the Weimar Republic. Then, there was a crisis on inflation, protests and strikes. This lead to critiques and the anti-science (materialist and technology) movement. This made gestalt psychology popular by being holistic (anti-elementalism). later however, nazism was on the rise and Koffka and Wertheimer were jewish - halting gestalt psych. However, Kohler stood up against the nazis (although nobody joined him) and then he fled to the US.
