Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt Psychology

The following short excerpt discusses Gestalt psychology. Gestalt psychology refers to a psychological school of thought originating in Berlin, Germany. The theoretical body of knowledge concentrated greatly on the perception side of psychological enquiry, mostly attempting to explain the world in visual terms, as compared to alternative approaches in the field. Consequently, Gestalt means “shape” in German. Likewise, Gestalt theorists saw the mind holistically and believed in heuristics – rules of thumb, according to which comprehension is organized. Interestingly, such Prägnanz explains much of optical illusions, such as two lines of identical length appearing diverse because of surrounding effects. Also, they consist of the following perceptual laws: proximity, symmetry, common fate, continuity, similarity and closure.

By the same token, Gestalt psychologists detailed the world according to basic shapes and configuration. According to this theory, all objects in the visual world may be decomposed into these basic shapes, and conversely, the assortment of these figures generate all the objects one sees in the visual world. Alternatively, Gestalt theorists also contributed to the therapeutical approaches used in psychology, specifying a particular approach to relaxation and mediation. While the teachings of Gestalt theorists certainly has found some support in the literature, other therapies, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) remain preferred by practicians and clinical psychologists in today’s world. Therefore, the present abridged draft represents a concise introduction to the fascinating field of Gestalt psychology.

Gestalt psychology: An artist’s impression, science fictional scenario. All objects in the visual world may be decomposed into basic shapes… The sphere is a basic geometrical (round) form.  Photo: Megan Jorgensen (Elena)