Cognitive

Perspective
 Gestalt
Psychology
In this Module, challenge yourself to attain the following
learning outcomes:
• describe the different gestalt principles.
• list ways of applying gestalt psychology in the teaching-
learning process.
• demonstrate appreciation of the usefulness of gestalt
principles in the teaching-learning process.
 Introduction
Gestalt psychology was at the forefront of the
cognitive psychology. It served as the foundation of
the cognitive perspective to learning. It opposed the
external and mechanistic focus of behaviorism. It
considered the mental processes and products of
perception.
Is there the possibility
of you and me
together?
Do you see good or
evil?
 When you looked at the pictures in the activity, your mind
followed certain principles of perception. Gestalt psychology is
concerned with such principles. Gestalt theory was the initial
cognitive response to behaviorism. It emphasized the
importance of sensory wholes and the dynamic nature of visual
perception.
The term gestalt means "form' or
"configuration." Psychologists Max
Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler and Kurt
Koffka studied perception and concluded that
perceivers (or learners) are not passive, but Ma
rather active. They suggested that learners do
x
not just collect information as is but they
actively process and restructure data in order Wolfg
to understand it. ang

Kurt
This is the perceptual process. Certain factors impact on this
perceptual process. Factors like past experiences, needs,
attitudes and one's present situation can affect, their
perception. One may have difficulty perceiving both the words
"you" and "me" in the first picture in the activity if one is trying
to forget an ex-sweetheart who caused pain; or simply because
he was looking on the foreground not the background.
 Gestalt
Principles
Law of Proximity. Elements that are
closer
together will be perceived as a coherent
object. On the left, there appears to be
three
columns, while on the right, there
appears to
be three horizontal rows. When objects
we are perceiving are near each other,
we perceive them as belonging together.
 Gestalt
Principles
Law of Similarity. Elements that
look similar will be perceived as
part of the same form. There
seems to be a triangle in the
square. We link similar elements
together
 Gestalt
Principles
Law of Closure. We tend to fill
the gaps or "close" the figures we
perceive. We enclose a space by
completing a contour and ignoring
gaps in the figure.
Gestalt
Principles
 Gestalt
Principles
Law of Good Continuation.
Individuals have the tendency
to continue contours whenever
the
elements of the pattern
establish an implied direction.
People tend to draw a good
continuous line.
Gestalt
Principles
Gestalt
Principles
 Gestalt
Principles
Law of Good Pragnanz. The stimulus
will be organized into as good a figure
as possible. In this example, good refers
to symmetry, simplicity and regularity.
The figure is perceived as a square
overlapping a triangle, not a
combination of several complicated
shapes. Based on our experiences with
perception, we "expect" certain patterns
and therefore perceive that expected
pattern.
Gestalt
Principles
 Gestalt
Principles
Law of Figure/Ground. We tend
to pay attention and perceive
things in the foreground first. A
stimulus will be perceived as
separate from its ground.
(Figures designed by Jenny Fultz
of Anderson University)
 Insight Learning
Gestalt psychology adheres to the idea of learning taking place by discovery or insight.
The idea of insight learning was first developed by Wolfgang Kohler in which he
described
experiments with apes where the apes could use boxes and sticks as tools to solve
problems.
 Insight Learning
In the box problem, a banana is attached to the top of a chimpanzee's
cage. The banana is out of reach but can be reached by climbing on and
jumping from a box. Only one of Kohler's apes (Sultan) could solve this
problem.
A much more difficult problem which involved the stacking of boxes was
introduced by Kohler. This problem required the ape to stack one box
on another, and master gravitational problems by building a stable
stack. Kohler also gave the apes sticks which they used to rake food into
the cage. Sultan, Kohler's very intelligent ape. was able to master a
two-stick problem by inserting one stick into the end of the other in order
to reach the food.
Analysis Phase Strategy Development
• Analyze sales performance, • Create new strategies using Implementation Plan
• Create a timeline with
market trends, and consumer marketing, sales promotions,
milestones
behavior. • Customer engagement to
• And responsibilities. Set
• Conduct a SWOT analysis of leverage strengths and
KPIs to measure success.
existing sales strategy. opportunities.
In each of these problems, the important aspect of learning was
not reinforcement, but the coordination of thinking to create
new organizations (of materials). Kohler referred to this
behavior as insight or discovery learning.
Kohler proposed the view that insight follows from the
characteristics of objects under consideration. His theory suggested
that learning could occur when the individual perceives the
relationships of the elements before him and reorganizes these
elements and comes to a greater understanding or insight. This could
occur without reinforcement, and once it occurs, no review, training or
investigation is necessary. Significantly, insight is not necessarily
observable by another person.
 Gestalt Principles and the Teaching-
Learning Process
The six gestalt principles not only influence perception but they also
impact on learning. Other psychologists like Kurt Lewin expounded on
gestalt psychology. His theory focusing on "life space" adhered to gestalt
psychology. He said that an individual has inner and outer forces that
affect his perceptions and also his learning. Inner forces include his
own motivation, attitudes and
feelings. Outer forces may include the attitude and behavior of the
teacher and classmates. All these forces interact and impact on the
person's learning.
Thank
you