GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY:Max Wertheimer, Similarity, Proximity, Closure

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History and Systems of Psychology PSY502

Lesson 22

GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY

There were two major trends in psychology at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning

of the 20th century. In Europe, Wundt's structuralist psychology was the major influence, and in America

behaviorist psychology was the dominant trend. In 1912 three German psychologists located in and around

Frankfurt, Germany, independently of each other had come to the conclusion that in the past psychologists

had overlooked the linkage between consciousness and behavior. Therefore these psychologists started to

concert efforts to develop a system of psychology that took into view the unity of human beings. These

efforts laid the foundation of a new look called Gestalt psychology, the purpose of which was to avoid

piecemeal study of psychology and to present a holistic view. In other words, the Gestalt psychology

adopted both the behaviorist's views and the structuralists' views. Gestalt is a German word meaning

patterns. The structuralists were focusing on the consciousness as the key element in the study of

psychology while the behaviorists were focusing on the prediction and control of behavior. The group of

students and researchers related to this concept developed the Gestalt School.

Max Wertheimer

Max Wertheimer belonged to the Gestalt school of psychology. He was born in 1886 and died in

1943. He studied at the universities of Prague, Berlin. His original researches, while he was a professor at

Frankfurt and Berlin, placed him in the forefront of contemporary psychology. Wertheimer came to the

United States in 1933, shortly before the Nazis seized power in Germany. Wertheimer's discovery (1910

12) of the phi-phenomenon (concerning the illusion of motion) gave rise to the influential school of Gestalt

psychology. His early experiments, in collaboration with Wolfgang Köhler and Kurt Koffka, introduced a

new approach (macroscopic as opposed to microscopic) to the study of psychological problems. In the

latter part of his life he directed much of his attention to the problem of learning; this research resulted in a

book, posthumously published, called Productive Thinking.

One of the greatest contributions of Wertheimer is that he showed by his experiments that if two

lines are shown to a subject and the time period of exposure between these two lines is small, the subject

sees these two lines as one line moving from its position to the position of the other line. Wertheimer called

this phenomenon "Apparent movement" or phi-phenomenon. Therefore, according to Wertheimer, Phi-

phenomenon or apparent movement is when we see one image move from one place to another, when

physically there is no movement. In case of the lines shown by Wertheimer, the horizontal or the vertical

lines did not move at all, but instead, on line appeared after the other. The interval between the

disappearance and the appearance of the other line was so short that to the subjects it appeared that the

lines were moving from their positions into the other positions. The greatest impact of this discovery can be

seen in its application in the movie camera. When a movie is being played on a cinema screen it is actually

the phi-phenomenon which is working. The images of the movie are all still images captured by the camera

but the interval between the movements of the images is so short that the characters of the movie seem as

moving to the observer. Television is another example where the image is created by a small dot which

moves across the screen and the characters appear to be moving.

Wertheimer explained this phi-phenomenon as being due to a tendency on the part of human mind

to fill in the gaps. For further explanation, when the line which was perceived by the observer as moving is

analyzed, we see that the movement from the horizontal to the vertical or vice versa, has been developed by

the observer's brain, while there is no movement at all. Therefore human mind has the tendency to develop

something to fill into the gap. Based upon this tendency, Wertheimer discovered many factors which help

human beings to perceive things in patterns or Gestalts. He called these factors, the factors of organization.

They are factors that help us to perceive in patterns or Gestalts. Some of these factors are:

History and Systems of Psychology PSY502

Similarity

If you see many dots and small lines, you see dots as one group, pattern, gestalt etc. and lines as

another group. This is similarity leading to gestalts or patterns based on groups.

Proximity

If you see many dots close to each other, and then some dots separated, you see the closely located

dots as one group of gestalt. This is nearness or proximity leading to gestalt.

Closure

If a part of a familiar shape is missing we tend to fill it up, and see the shape as whole, this is

closure leading to gestalt. For example, if one of the corners of a star is missing, we tend to fill in

the missing part by ourselves and perceive the star as its complete shape. Therefore closure also

results in gestalt.

These are factors that are in the stimulus field that help us to perceive gestalts. There are some subjective

factors also that help in this whole perception. For example, mental set, or set is a subjective factor that

helps perceptual organization. Mental set of set can be explained with the help of the following examples: if

a person is taking a walk in a garden, and before he came here, he was warned by his friend that there were

snakes in the garden; his mental set would be to see snakes in the garden. Therefore, he is likely to confuse a

twig with a snake and be afraid of it. This is an example of mental set.

Habit or familiarity is another factor that leads to perceptual organization. For example, if a person is

familiar with certain objects he may be able to formulate a gestalt very quickly. Same is the case with habit.

Wertheimer, through his observation and experimentation discovered those factors that influence

perception.

Wertheimer also tried to discover what is creative thinking or problem solving thinking. Creative

thinking or problem solving thinking had become a subject of interest for psychologists at the turn of the

century since creative thinking was the key to development as newer fields of study were explored by

mankind. He observed young children and adults in his quest to determine what is creative or problem

solving thinking and how it takes place. He also interviewed one of the greatest minds of the 20th century,

Albert Einstein, to see how he produced his Theory of Relativity. Based upon these observations,

Wertheimer noted various operations related to creative or problem solving thinking. He said we should

avoid a piecemeal approach, not let our biases affect our thinking and should not blindly follow our habits.

In other words, he said that we should ensure that our dispositions do not affect our thinking and we are

able to concentrate on discovering new rather than analyzing new from the already existing point of views.

That is how we can become productive, creative thinkers.

Wertheimer is known as a Gestalt psychologist because he tried to determine the patterns of

perception that an individual follows.

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