Movement
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- Category: History: American
- Date Submitted: 01/28/2015 07:43 PM
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Write a 300- to 400-word reflection on the main influences on Gestalt psychology and how they contributed to its development. Include an example of each of the Gestalt Principles of Perceptual Organization.
influences
Kurt Koffka (1886–1941) was the most inventive of Gestalt psychology’s founders.
Max Wertheimer (1880–1943) During the 1920s at the University of Berlin, Wertheimer carried out some of his most productive work for the development of Gestalt psychology. One student recalled that the walls of Wertheimer’s office were painted bright red. Wertheimer apparently found bright colors stimulating. He felt that “if the walls of a room are gray or light green or some kind of dull color, one does not work as well as if they are painted in an exciting color such as red” (King & Wertheimer, 2005, p. 188).
Wolfgang Köhler (1887–1967) Wolfgang Köhler has been called the most prolific promoter of the Gestalt movement (see Mandler, 2007). His books, written with care and precision, became standard workson Gestalt psychology. Köhler’s training in physics with Max Planck persuaded him that psychology must ally itself with physics and that Gestalten (forms or patterns) occur not only in physics but in psychology as well. Köhler had no interest in training the apes he found living on the island. His goal was to observe them to see how they solved problems. He believed they were more intelligent than people thought and that they were capable of solving problems in much the same way humans did.
perceptual organization principles
1. Proximity
2. Continuity.
3. Similarity.
4. Closure.
5. Simplicity
6. Figure/ground.
influences
Kurt Koffka (1886–1941) was the most inventive of Gestalt psychology’s founders.
Max Wertheimer (1880–1943) During the 1920s at the University of Berlin, Wertheimer carried out some of his most productive work for the development of Gestalt psychology. One student recalled that the walls of Wertheimer’s office were painted bright red. Wertheimer apparently found bright colors stimulating. He felt that “if the walls of a room are gray or light green or some kind of dull color, one does not work as well as if they are painted in an exciting color such as red” (King & Wertheimer, 2005, p. 188).
Wolfgang Köhler (1887–1967) Wolfgang Köhler has been called the most prolific promoter of the Gestalt movement (see Mandler, 2007). His books, written with care and precision, became standard workson Gestalt psychology. Köhler’s training in physics with Max Planck persuaded him that psychology must ally itself with physics and that Gestalten (forms or patterns) occur not only in physics but in psychology as well. Köhler had no interest in training the apes he found living on the island. His goal was to observe them to see how they solved problems. He believed they were more intelligent than people thought and that they were capable of solving problems in much the same way humans did.
perceptual organization principles
1. Proximity
2. Continuity.
3. Similarity.
4. Closure.
5. Simplicity
6. Figure/ground.