Gestalt psychology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search
Not to be confused with the psychotherapy of Fritz Perls, Gestalt therapy.
Part of a series on
Psychology

Outline History Subfields

Basic types[show]
Applied psychology[show]
Lists[show]
Psi2.svg Psychology portal
vte

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on
the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2016)
The neutrality of this article is disputed. (November 2016)
This article has an unclear citation style. (May 2019)
Gestalt psychology (/g?'?t�lt, -'?t??lt, -'?t??lt, -'st??lt, -'st??lt/ g?-
SHTA(H)LT, -?STAHLT, -?S(H)TAWLT,[1][2] German: [g?'?talt] (About this
soundlisten); meaning "form"[3]) or gestaltism is a German term interpreted in
psychology as "pattern" or "configuration".[4] It is a school of psychology created
by Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang K�hler, and Kurt Koffka.[4] The school emerged in
Austria and Germany in the early twentieth century.[4] Gestalt psychology was
formed after Wertheimer's discovery between 1910 and 1912 of the phi phenomenon
which focused on the illusion of motion.[5] The approach was based on a macroscopic
view of the psychological behaviors rather than a microscopic approach.[6]

Gestalt school is based on understanding and perceiving the whole sum of an object
rather than its components.[4] It was created against the atomistic concept of
psychology as well as the general intellectual climate, which was built on the
belief that scientific understanding is the result of lack of concern about the
basic human details.[3] Wertheimer defined a few principles that explain the ways
humans perceive objects. Those principles were based on similarity, proximity,
continuity.[7] The Gestalt concept is based on perceiving reality in its simplest
form.[8] 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.[9]

Contents
1 Origins
1.1 Gestalt therapy
2 Theoretical framework and methodology
3 Support from cybernetics and neurology
4 Properties
4.1 Reification
4.2 Multistability
4.3 Invariance
5 Pr�gnanz
6 Contributions of Gestalt Psychology
7 Criticisms
8 Gestalt views in psychology
8.1 Fuzzy-trace theory
9 Use in design
10 Music
11 Quantum cognition modeling
12 Theoretical explanation and physical mechanisms
13 See also
14 References
15 External links
Origins
The concept of gestalt was first introduced in philosophy and psychology in 1890 by
Christian von Ehrenfels (a member of the School of Brentano). The idea of gestalt
has its roots in theories by David Hume, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Immanuel Kant,
David Hartley, and Ernst Mach. Max Wertheimer's unique contribution was to insist
that the "gestalt" is perceptually primary, defining the parts it was composed
from, rather than being a secondary quality that emerges from those parts, as von
Ehrenfels's earlier Gestalt-Qualit�t had been.[citation needed]

Both von Ehrenfels and Edmund Husserl seem to have been inspired by Mach's work
Beitr�ge zur Analyse der Empfindungen (Contributions to the Analysis of Sensations,
1886), in formulating their very similar concepts of gestalt and figural moment,
respectively. On the philosophical foundations of these ideas see Foundations of
Gestalt Theory (Smith, ed., 1988).

Early 20th century theorists, such as Kurt Koffka, Max Wertheimer, and Wolfgang
K�hler (students of Carl Stumpf) saw objects as perceived within an environment
according to all of their elements taken together as a global construct. This
'gestalt' or 'whole form' approach sought to define principles of
perception�seemingly innate mental laws that determined the way objects were
perceived. It is based on the here and now, and in the way things are seen. Images
can be divided into figure or ground. The question is what is perceived at first
glance: the figure in front, or the background.

These laws took several forms, such as the grouping of similar, or proximate,
objects together, within this global process. Although gestalt has been criticized
for being merely descriptive,[10] it has formed the basis of much further research
into the perception of patterns and objects (Carlson et al. 2000), and of research
into behavior, thinking, problem solving and psychopathology.

Gestalt therapy
The founders of Gestalt therapy, Fritz and Laura Perls, had worked with Kurt
Goldstein, a neurologist who had applied principles of Gestalt psychology to the
functioning of the organism. Laura Perls had been a Gestalt psychologist before she
became a psychoanalyst and before she began developing Gestalt therapy together
with Fritz Perls.[11] The extent to which Gestalt psychology influenced Gestalt
therapy is disputed, however. In any case it is not identical with Gestalt
psychology. On the one hand, Laura Perls preferred not to use the term "Gestalt" to
name the emerging new therapy, because she thought that the gestalt psychologists
would object to it;[12] on the other hand Fritz and Laura Perls clearly adopted
some of Goldstein's work.[13] Thus, though recognizing the historical connection
and the influence, most gestalt psychologists emphasize that gestalt therapy is not
a form of gestalt psychology.

Mary Henle noted in her presidential address to Division 24 at the meeting of the
American Psychological Association (1975): "What Perls has done has been to take a
few terms from Gestalt psychology, stretch their meaning beyond recognition, mix
them with notions�often unclear and often incompatible�from the depth psychologies,
existentialism, and common sense, and he has called the whole mixture gestalt
therapy. His work has no substantive relation to scientific Gestalt psychology. To
use his own language, Fritz Perls has done 'his thing'; whatever it is, it is not
Gestalt psychology"[14] With her analysis however, she restricts herself explicitly
to only three of Perls' books from 1969 and 1972, leaving out Perls' earlier work,
and Gestalt therapy in general as a psychotherapy method.[15]

There have been clinical applications of Gestalt psychology in the

psychotherapeutic field long before Perls'ian Gestalt therapy, in group
psychoanalysis (Foulkes), Adlerian individual psychology, by Gestalt psychologists
in psychotherapy like Erwin Levy, Abraham S. Luchins, by Gestalt psychologically
oriented psychoanalysts in Italy (Canestrari and others), and there have been newer
developments foremost in Europe, e.g. Gestalt theoretical psychotherapy.

Theoretical framework and methodology

The school of gestalt practiced a series of theoretical and methodological
principles that attempted to redefine the approach to psychological research. This
is in contrast to investigations developed at the beginning of the 20th century,
based on traditional scientific methodology, which divided the object of study into
a set of elements that could be analyzed separately with the objective of reducing
the complexity of this object.

The theoretical principles are the following:

Principle of Totality�The conscious experience must be considered globally (by

taking into account all the physical and mental aspects of the individual
simultaneously) because the nature of the mind demands that each component be
considered as part of a system of dynamic relationships.
Principle of psychophysical isomorphism � A correlation exists between conscious
experience and cerebral activity.
Based on the principles above the following methodological principles are defined:

Phenomenon experimental analysis�In relation to the Totality Principle any

psychological research should take phenomena as a starting point and not be solely
focused on sensory qualities.
Biotic experiment�The school of gestalt established a need to conduct real
experiments that sharply contrasted with and opposed classic laboratory
experiments. This signified experimenting in natural situations, developed in real
conditions, in which it would be possible to reproduce, with higher fidelity, what
would be habitual for a subject.[16]
Support from cybernetics and neurology
In the 1940s and 1950s, laboratory research in neurology and what became known as
cybernetics on the mechanism of frogs' eyes indicate that perception of 'gestalts'
(in particular gestalts in motion) is perhaps more primitive and fundamental than
'seeing' as such:

A frog hunts on land by vision... He has no fovea, or region of greatest acuity in

vision, upon which he must center a part of the image... The frog does not seem to
see or, at any rate, is not concerned with the detail of stationary parts of the
world around him. He will starve to death surrounded by food if it is not moving.
His choice of food is determined only by size and movement. He will leap to capture
any object the size of an insect or worm, providing it moves like one. He can be
fooled easily not only by a piece of dangled meat but by any moving small object...
He does remember a moving thing provided it stays within his field of vision and he
is not distracted.[17]
The lowest-level concepts related to visual perception for a human being probably
differ little from the concepts of a frog. In any case, the structure of the retina
in mammals and in human beings is the same as in amphibians. The phenomenon of
distortion of perception of an image stabilized on the retina gives some idea of
the concepts of the subsequent levels of the hierarchy. This is a very interesting
phenomenon. When a person looks at an immobile object, "fixes" it with his eyes,
the eyeballs do not remain absolutely immobile; they make small involuntary
movements. As a result the image of the object on the retina is constantly in
motion, slowly drifting and jumping back to the point of maximum sensitivity. The
image "marks time" in the vicinity of this point.[18]
Properties
The key principles of gestalt systems are emergence, reification, multistability
and invariance.[19]

Reification
See also: Reification (fallacy)

Reification
Reification is the constructive or generative aspect of perception, by which the
experienced percept contains more explicit spatial information than the sensory
stimulus on which it is based.

For instance, a triangle is perceived in picture A, though no triangle is there. In

pictures B and D the eye recognizes disparate shapes as "belonging" to a single
shape, in C a complete three-dimensional shape is seen, where in actuality no such
thing is drawn.

Reification can be explained by progress in the study of illusory contours, which

are treated by the visual system as "real" contours.

Multistability

the Necker cube and the Rubin vase, two examples of multistability
Multistability (or multistable perception) is the tendency of ambiguous perceptual
experiences to pop back and forth unstably between two or more alternative
interpretations. This is seen, for example, in the Necker cube and Rubin's
Figure/Vase illusion shown here. Other examples include the three-legged blivet and
artist M. C. Escher's artwork and the appearance of flashing marquee lights moving
first one direction and then suddenly the other. Again, gestalt does not explain
how images appear multistable, only that they do.

Invariance

Invariance
Invariance is the property of perception whereby simple geometrical objects are
recognized independent of rotation, translation, and scale; as well as several
other variations such as elastic deformations, different lighting, and different
component features. For example, the objects in A in the figure are all immediately
recognized as the same basic shape, which are immediately distinguishable from the
forms in B. They are even recognized despite perspective and elastic deformations
as in C, and when depicted using different graphic elements as in D. Computational
theories of vision, such as those by David Marr, have provided alternate
explanations of how perceived objects are classified.

Emergence, reification, multistability, and invariance are not necessarily

separable modules to model individually, but they could be different aspects of a
single unified dynamic mechanism.[20]

Pr�gnanz
Main article: Principles of grouping
The fundamental principle of gestalt perception is the law of Pr�gnanz (in the
German language, pithiness), which says that we tend to order our experience in a
manner that is regular, orderly, symmetrical, and simple. Gestalt psychologists
attempt to discover refinements of the law of Pr�gnanz, and this involves writing
down laws that, hypothetically, allow us to predict the interpretation of
sensation, what are often called "gestalt laws".[21]

Law of proximity

Law of similarity
Law of closure

Law of Symmetry
A major aspect of Gestalt psychology is that it implies that the mind understands
external stimuli as whole rather than the sum of their parts. The wholes are
structured and organized using grouping laws. The various laws are called laws or
principles, depending on the paper where they appear�but for simplicity's sake,
this article uses the term laws. These laws deal with the sensory modality of
vision. However, there are analogous laws for other sensory modalities including
auditory, tactile, gustatory and olfactory (Bregman � GP). The visual Gestalt
principles of grouping were introduced in Wertheimer (1923). Through the 1930s and
'40s Wertheimer, Kohler and Koffka formulated many of the laws of grouping through
the study of visual perception.

Law of Proximity�The law of proximity states that when an individual perceives an

assortment of objects, they perceive objects that are close to each other as
forming a group. For example, in the figure that illustrates the Law of proximity,
there are 72 circles, but we perceive the collection of circles in groups.
Specifically, we perceive that there is a group of 36 circles on the left side of
the image, and three groups of 12 circles on the right side of the image. This law
is often used in advertising logos to emphasize which aspects of events are
associated.[22][23]
Law of Similarity�The law of similarity states that elements within an assortment
of objects are perceptually grouped together if they are similar to each other.
This similarity can occur in the form of shape, colour, shading or other qualities.
For example, the figure illustrating the law of similarity portrays 36 circles all
equal distance apart from one another forming a square. In this depiction, 18 of
the circles are shaded dark, and 18 of the circles are shaded light. We perceive
the dark circles as grouped together and the light circles as grouped together,
forming six horizontal lines within the square of circles. This perception of lines
is due to the law of similarity.[23]
Law of Closure�The law of closure states that individuals perceive objects such as
shapes, letters, pictures, etc., as being whole when they are not complete.
Specifically, when parts of a whole picture are missing, our perception fills in
the visual gap. Research shows that the reason the mind completes a regular figure
that is not perceived through sensation is to increase the regularity of
surrounding stimuli. For example, the figure that depicts the law of closure
portrays what we perceive as a circle on the left side of the image and a rectangle
on the right side of the image. However, gaps are present in the shapes. If the law
of closure did not exist, the image would depict an assortment of different lines
with different lengths, rotations, and curvatures�but with the law of closure, we
perceptually combine the lines into whole shapes.[22][23][24]
Law of Symmetry�The law of symmetry states that the mind perceives objects as being
symmetrical and forming around a center point. It is perceptually pleasing to
divide objects into an even number of symmetrical parts. Therefore, when two
symmetrical elements are unconnected the mind perceptually connects them to form a
coherent shape. Similarities between symmetrical objects increase the likelihood
that objects are grouped to form a combined symmetrical object. For example, the
figure depicting the law of symmetry shows a configuration of square and curled
brackets. When the image is perceived, we tend to observe three pairs of
symmetrical brackets rather than six individual brackets.[22][23]
Law of Common Fate�The law of common fate states that objects are perceived as
lines that move along the smoothest path. Experiments using the visual sensory
modality found that movement of elements of an object produce paths that
individuals perceive that the objects are on. We perceive elements of objects to
have trends of motion, which indicate the path that the object is on. The law of
continuity implies the grouping together of objects that have the same trend of
motion and are therefore on the same path. For example, if there are an array of
dots and half the dots are moving upward while the other half are moving downward,
we would perceive the upward moving dots and the downward moving dots as two
distinct units.[25]

Law of good continuation

Law of Continuity�The law of continuity states that elements of objects tend to be
grouped together, and therefore integrated into perceptual wholes if they are
aligned within an object. In cases where there is an intersection between objects,
individuals tend to perceive the two objects as two single uninterrupted entities.
Stimuli remain distinct even with overlap. We are less likely to group elements
with sharp abrupt directional changes as being one object.[22]
Law of Good Gestalt�The law of good gestalt explains that elements of objects tend
to be perceptually grouped together if they form a pattern that is regular, simple,
and orderly. This law implies that as individuals perceive the world, they
eliminate complexity and unfamiliarity so they can observe a reality in its most
simplistic form. Eliminating extraneous stimuli helps the mind create meaning. This
meaning created by perception implies a global regularity, which is often mentally
prioritized over spatial relations. The law of good gestalt focuses on the idea of
conciseness, which is what all of gestalt theory is based on. This law has also
been called the law of Pr�gnanz.[22] Pr�gnanz is a German word that directly
translates to mean "pithiness" and implies the ideas of salience, conciseness and
orderliness.[25]
Law of Past Experience�The law of past experience implies that under some
circumstances visual stimuli are categorized according to past experience. If two
objects tend to be observed within close proximity, or small temporal intervals,
the objects are more likely to be perceived together. For example, the English
language contains 26 letters that are grouped to form words using a set of rules.
If an individual reads an English word they have never seen, they use the law of
past experience to interpret the letters "L" and "I" as two letters beside each
other, rather than using the law of closure to combine the letters and interpret
the object as an uppercase U.[25]
Contributions of Gestalt Psychology
Gestalt psychology made many contributions to the body of psychology, first to
perception, explained in Wertheimer's phi phenomenon,[26] which is how the human
eye perceives static objects displayed in a certain speed appear as if moving. The
second contribution is to the perceptual organization; Gestalt psychologists
believe that humans tend to perceive objects as complete rather than focusing on
the gaps that the object might contain.[27] For example, the shape of a circle is
called a good Gestalt in terms of completeness, although an incomplete figure will
also be preserved as complete, that tendency to complete shapes and figures is
called closure,[28] thus a curved line will be perceived as a circle.[28] The
perceptual field in Gestalt psychology is determined by the interactions in the
individual's environment.[28] Perceptual field is interpreted by the Gestalt
psychology as the entirety of the elements that take place in the individual's
surroundings, and the organization of those elements serves as a meaning for the
perceptual field, which can be explained by the structural organization of the
elements in order to be perceived as figures (standing out in the front of the
image) or the ground (receding behind the figure).[28] This predisposition to
perceive objects explains seeing figures prominent to their own background.[28] And
the third contribution is to problem solving[26] reflected in the thinking, Gestalt
psychologist proved that the approach to solve some problems can be reaches
throughout many mechanisms such as sudden reorganization, called insight [26] a
term that refers to the cognitive experience of sudden realization of a problem's
solution. For example, giving chimpanzees some boxes and placing the food in a high
place in the room, the chimpanzees realized that they can stack the boxes on top of
each other and reach the food.[26]

Criticisms
Some of the central criticisms of Gestaltism are based on the preference
Gestaltists are deemed to have for theory over data, and a lack of quantitative
research supporting Gestalt ideas. This is not necessarily a fair criticism as
highlighted by a recent collection of quantitative research on Gestalt perception.
[29]

Other important criticisms concern the lack of definition and support for the many
physiological assumptions made by gestaltists[30] and lack of theoretical coherence
in modern Gestalt psychology.[29]

In some scholarly communities, such as cognitive psychology and computational

neuroscience, gestalt theories of perception are criticized for being descriptive
rather than explanatory in nature. For this reason, they are viewed by some as
redundant or uninformative. For example, Bruce, Green & Georgeson[10] conclude the
following regarding gestalt theory's influence on the study of visual perception:

The physiological theory of the gestaltists has fallen by the wayside, leaving us
with a set of descriptive principles, but without a model of perceptual processing.
Indeed, some of their "laws" of perceptual organisation today sound vague and
inadequate. What is meant by a "good" or "simple" shape, for example?

�?Bruce, Green & Georgeson, Visual Perception: Physiology, Psychology and Ecology
Gestalt views in psychology
Gestalt psychologists find it is important to think of problems as a whole. Max
Wertheimer considered thinking to happen in two ways: productive and reproductive.
[31]

Productive thinking is solving a problem with insight.

This is a quick insightful unplanned response to situations and environmental

interaction.

Reproductive thinking is solving a problem with previous experiences and what is

already known. (1945/1959).

This is a very common thinking. For example, when a person is given several
segments of information, he/she deliberately examines the relationships among its
parts, analyzes their purpose, concept, and totality, he/she reaches the "aha!"
moment, using what is already known. Understanding in this case happens
intentionally by reproductive thinking.

Another gestalt psychologist, Perkins, believes insight deals with three processes:

Unconscious leap in thinking.[21]

The increased amount of speed in mental processing.
The amount of short-circuiting that occurs in normal reasoning.[32]
Views going against the gestalt psychology are:

Nothing-special view
Neo-gestalt view
The Three-Process View
Gestalt psychology should not be confused with the gestalt therapy of Fritz Perls,
which is only peripherally linked to gestalt psychology. A strictly gestalt
psychology-based therapeutic method is Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy, developed
by the German gestalt psychologist and psychotherapist Hans-J�rgen Walter and his
colleagues in Germany, Austria (Gerhard Stemberger and colleagues) and Switzerland.
Other countries, especially Italy, have seen similar developments.

Fuzzy-trace theory
Fuzzy-trace theory, a dual process model of memory and reasoning, was also derived
from Gestalt psychology. Fuzzy-trace theory posits that we encode information into
two separate traces: verbatim and gist. Information stored in verbatim is exact
memory for detail (the individual parts of a pattern, for example) while
information stored in gist is semantic and conceptual (what we perceive the pattern
to be). The effects seen in Gestalt psychology can be attributed to the way we
encode information as gist.[33][34]

Use in design
The gestalt laws are used in user interface design. The laws of similarity and
proximity can, for example, be used as guides for placing radio buttons. They may
also be used in designing computers and software for more intuitive human use.
Examples include the design and layout of a desktop's shortcuts in rows and
columns.[35]

Music
An example of the Gestalt movement in effect, as it is both a process and result,
is a music sequence. People are able to recognise a sequence of perhaps six or
seven notes, despite them being transposed into a different tuning or key.[36]

Quantum cognition modeling

Main article: Quantum cognition � Gestalt perception
Similarities between Gestalt phenomena and quantum mechanics have been pointed out
by, among others, chemist Anton Amann, who commented that "similarities between
Gestalt perception and quantum mechanics are on a level of a parable" yet may give
useful insight nonetheless.[37] Physicist Elio Conte and co-workers have proposed
abstract, mathematical models to describe the time dynamics of cognitive
associations with mathematical tools borrowed from quantum mechanics[38][39] and
has discussed psychology experiments in this context. A similar approach has been
suggested by physicists David Bohm, Basil Hiley and philosopher Paavo Pylkk�nen
with the notion that mind and matter both emerge from an "implicate order".[40][41]
The models involve non-commutative mathematics; such models account for situations
in which the outcome of two measurements performed one after the other can depend
on the order in which they are performed�a pertinent feature for psychological
processes, as an experiment performed on a conscious person may influence the
outcome of a subsequent experiment by changing the state of mind of that person.

Theoretical explanation and physical mechanisms

The halo effect can be explained through the application of Gestalt theories to
social information processing.[42][9] The constructive theories of social cognition
are applied though the expectations of individuals. They have been perceived in
this manner and the person judging the individual is continuing to view them in
this positive manner.[9] Gestalt's theories of perception enforces that
individual's tendency to perceive actions and characteristics as a whole rather
than isolated parts,[9] therefore humans are inclined to build a coherent and
consistent impression of objects and behaviors in order to achieve an acceptable
shape and form. The halo effect is what forms patterns for individuals,[9] the halo
effect being classified as a cognitive bias which occurs during impression
formation.[42] The Halo effect can also be altered by physical characteristics,
social status and many other characteristics.[43] As well, the Halo effect can have
real repercussions on the individual's perception of reality, either negatively of
positively, meaning to construct negative or positive images about other
individuals or situations, something that could lead to self-fulfilling prophesies,
stereotyping, or even discrimination.[9]

See also
Psychology portal
Amodal perception
Cognitive grammar
Fuzzy-trace theory
Gestaltzerfall
Graz School
Hans Wallach
Hermann Friedmann
Important publications in Gestalt psychology
James J. Gibson
James Tenney
Kurt Goldstein
Laws of association
Mereology
Optical illusion
P�l Schiller Harkai
Pattern recognition (machine learning)
Pattern recognition (psychology)
Phenomenology
Principles of grouping
Rudolf Arnheim
Solomon Asch
Structural information theory
Topological data analysis
Wolfgang Metzger
Augusto Garau
References
Wells, John (3 April 2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Pearson
Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
"gestalt". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
"Gestalt". The Columbia Encyclopedia. Columbia University Press. 2018. ISBN
9781786848468.
"Gestalt psychology". Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Encyclopaedia Britannica,
Inc. 2008-05-01. p. 756. ISBN 9781593394929.
Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia (May 2019). "Max Wetheimer". EBSCOhost. Missing
or empty |url= (help)
Verstegen, Ian (2010). "Gestalt Psychology". Credo. Retrieved 2019-07-01.
Craighead, W. Edward; Nemeroff, Charles B. (2004-04-19). "Gestalt psychology". The
Concise Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science. John Wiley &
Sons. pp. 401�404. ISBN 9780471220367.
Reber, Arthur S. (1985). "Gestalt psychology". The Penguin Dictionary of
Psychology. Viking. ISBN 9780670801367.
Pohl, R�diger F. (2016-07-22). Cognitive Illusions: Intriguing Phenomena in
Judgement, Thinking and Memory. Psychology Press. ISBN 9781317448280.
Bruce, V., Green, P. & Georgeson, M. (1996). Visual perception: Physiology,
psychology and ecology (3rd ed.). LEA. p. 110.
Bernd Bocian: Fritz Perls in Berlin 1893�1933. Expressionism � Psychonalysis �
Judaism, 2010, p. 190, EHP Verlag Andreas Kohlhage, Bergisch Gladbach.
Joe Wysong/Edward Rosenfeld (eds): An Oral History of Gestalt Therapy, Highland,
New York 1982, The Gestalt Journal Press, p. 12.
Allen R. Barlow, "Gestalt-Antecedent Influence or Historical Accident", The
Gestalt Journal, Volume IV, Number 2, (Fall, 1981)
Mary Henle 1975: Gestalt Psychology and Gestalt Therapy; Presidential address to
Division 24 at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago,
September 1975. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences 14, pp 23-32.
See Barlow criticizing Henle: Allen R. Barlow: Gestalt Therapy and Gestalt
Psychology. Gestalt � Antecedent Influence or Historical Accident, in: The Gestalt
Journal, Volume IV, Number 2, Fall, 1981.
William Ray Woodward, Robert Sonn� Cohen � World views and scientific discipline
formation: science studies in the German Democratic Republic : papers from a
German-American summer institute, 1988
Lettvin, J.Y., Maturana, H.R., Pitts, W.H., and McCulloch, W.S. (1961). Two
Remarks on the Visual System of the Frog. In Sensory Communication edited by Walter
Rosenblith, MIT Press and John Wiley and Sons: New York
Valentin Fedorovich Turchin � The phenomenon of science � a cybernetic approach to
human evolution � Columbia University Press, 1977
Steven., Lehar (2003). The World in your Head: A Gestalt View of the Mechanism of
Conscious Experience. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers. ISBN
0805841768. OCLC 52051454.
"Gestalt Isomorphism". Sharp.bu.edu. Archived from the original on 2012-02-17.
Retrieved 2012-04-06.
Sternberg, Robert, Cognitive Psychology Third Edition, Thomson Wadsworth� 2003.
Stevenson, Herb. "Emergence: The Gestalt Approach to Change". Unleashing Executive
and Orzanizational Potential. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
Soegaard, Mads. "Gestalt Principles of form Perception". Interaction Design.
Retrieved 8 April 2012.
"Why Your Brain Thinks These Dots Are a Dog". Gizmodo UK. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
Todorovic, Dejan. "Gestalt Principles". Scholarpedia.org. Scholarpedia. Retrieved
5 April 2012.
Gobet, Fernand (2017), "Entrenchment, Gestalt formation, and chunking.",
Entrenchment and the psychology of language learning: How we reorganize and adapt
linguistic knowledge, American Psychological Association, pp. 245�267,
doi:10.1037/15969-012, ISBN 3110341301
Hamlyn, D. W. (2017-03-27). The Psychology of Perception.
doi:10.4324/9781315473291. ISBN 9781315473291.
Brennan, James F.; Houde, Keith A. (2017-10-26). History and Systems of
Psychology. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781316827178. ISBN
9781107178670.
J�kel, F., Singh, M., Wichmann, F. A., & Herzog, M. H. (2016), "An overview of
quantitative approaches in Gestalt perception.", Vision Research, 126: 3�8,
doi:10.1016/j.visres.2016.06.004, PMID 27353224
Schultz, Duane (2013). A History of Modern Psychology. Burlington: Elsevier
Science. p. 291. ISBN 978-1483270081.
Sternberg, Robert, Cognitive Psychology Fourth Edition, Thomas Wadsworth� 2006.
Langley& associates, 1987; Perkins, 1981; Weisberg, 1986,1995"
Reyna, Valerie (2012). "A new institutionism: Meaning, memory, and development in
Fuzzy-Trace Theory". Judgment and Decision Making. 7 (3): 332�359. PMC 4268540.
PMID 25530822.
Barghout, Lauren (2014). "Visual Taxometric Approach to Image Segmentation Using
Fuzzy-Spatial Taxon Cut Yields Contextually Relevant Regions". Information
Processing and Management of Uncertainty in Knowledge-Based Systems. Communications
in Computer and Information Science. 443: 163�173. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-08855-
6_17. ISBN 978-3-319-08854-9.
Soegaard, Mads. "Gestalt principles of form perception". Interaction-design.org.
Retrieved 2012-04-06.
Ellis, Willis D. (1999). A source book of Gestalt psychology (Vol 2 ed.).
Psychology Press.
Anton Amann, The Gestalt problem in quantum theory: Generation of molecular shape
by the environment. Synthese, October 1993, Volume 97, Issue 1, pp 125�156; Das
Gestaltproblem in der Chemie: Die Entstehung molekularer Form unter dem Einflu� der
Umgebung, Gestalt Theory, 1992, 14(4), 228-265.
Conte, Elio; Todarello, Orlando; Federici, Antonio; Vitiello, Francesco; Lopane,
Michele; Khrennikov, Andrei; Zbilut, Joseph P. (2007). "Some remarks on an
experiment suggesting quantum-like behavior of cognitive entities and formulation
of an abstract quantum mechanical formalism to describe cognitive entity and its
dynamics". Chaos, Solitons & Fractals. 31 (5): 1076�1088. arXiv:0710.5092.
Bibcode:2007CSF....31.1076C. doi:10.1016/j.chaos.2005.09.061.
Elio Conte, Orlando Todarello, Antonio Federici, Francesco Vitiello, Michele
Lopane, Andrei Khrennikov: A Preliminary Evidence of Quantum Like Behavior in
Measurements of Mental States, arXiv:quant-ph/0307201 (submitted 28 July 2003)
B.J. Hiley: Particles, fields, and observers, Volume I The Origins of Life, Part 1
Origin and Evolution of Life, Section II The Physical and Chemical Basis of Life,
pp. 87�106 (PDF)
Basil J. Hiley, Paavo Pylkk�nen: Naturalizing the mind in a quantum framework. In
Paavo Pylkk�nen and Tere Vad�n (eds.): Dimensions of conscious experience, Advances
in Consciousness Research, Volume 37, John Benjamins B.V., 2001, ISBN 90-272-5157-
6, pages 119-144
Nauts, Sanne; Langner, Oliver; Huijsmans, Inge; Vonk, Roos; Wigboldus, Dani�l H.
J. (2014). "Forming Impressions of Personality: A Replication and Review of
Evidence for a Primacy-of-Warmth Effect in Impression Formation". Social
Psychology. 45 (3): 153�163. doi:10.1027/1864-9335/a000179. ISSN 1864-9335.
Sigall, Harold; Ostrove, Nancy (1975). "Beautiful but dangerous: Effects of
offender attractiveness and nature of the crime on juridic judgment". Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology. 31 (3): 410�414. doi:10.1037/h0076472. ISSN
0022-3514.
Carlson, Neil R. and Heth, C. Donald (2010) Psychology the Science of Behaviour
Ontario, CA: Pearson Education Canada. pp 20�22.
Heider, Grace (1977). More about Hull and Koffka. American Psychologist 32(5): 383.
Smith, Barry (ed.) (1988) Foundations of Gestalt Theory, Munich and Vienna:
Philosophia Verlag, 1988.
External links
Library resources about
Gestalt psychology
Resources in your library
Gestalt psychology on Encyclop�dia Britannica
Gestalt principles article in Scholarpedia, by Dejan Todorovic
Journal "Gestalt Theory - An International Multidisciplinary Journal" in full text
(open source)
International Society for Gestalt Theory and its Applications � GTA
Embedded Figures in Art, Architecture and Design
On Max Wertheimer and Pablo Picasso
On Esthetics and Gestalt Theory
The World In Your Head � by Steven Lehar
Gestalt Isomorphism and the Primacy of Subjective Conscious Experience � by Steven
Lehar
The new gestalt psychology of the 21st century
The Pennsylvania Gestalt Center
Ecological Approach to Visual Perception
James J. Gibson in brief
vte
Psychology
Authority control Edit this at Wikidata
GND: 4020725-0 NDL: 00565401
Categories: PerceptionBranches of psychologyPsychological schoolsCognitive
psychologyHolismGraphic design
Navigation menu
Not logged inTalkContributionsCreate accountLog inArticleTalkReadEditView
historySearch
Search Wikipedia
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
In other projects
Wikimedia Commons
Wikiquote
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
???????
Deutsch
Espa�ol
Fran�ais
??????
Bahasa Indonesia
Portugu�s
???????
??
38 more
Edit links
This page was last edited on 7 September 2019, at 16:03 (UTC).
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License;
additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and
Privacy Policy. Wikipedia� is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation,
Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policyAbout WikipediaDisclaimersContact WikipediaDevelopersCookie
statementMobile viewWikimedia Foundation Powered by MediaWiki