Gestalt psychology

Gestalt Psychology Founder

Late 19th century Europe produced scientists who depended on empirical evidence to conclude facts. In the field of psychology, such viewpoints gave birth to structuralism by Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener. They concluded that human behaviors are a consequence of the interaction between the mental elements and generally have fixed patterns. This idea was opposed by the Austrian psychologist Wertheimer who proposed Gestalt psychology. He tried to explain the theory by saying that visual, hearing, taste, or other elementary sensory components create a perception that is something extra to the perceived senses. Gestalt – qualitat summed up his verdict when it was proved that hearing music includes the distinct notes coupled with something surplus that banded together as a tune to the listener. An expert in physical acoustics, Wolfgang Kohler and Koffka served as associates to Wertheimer in the study of rhythm. Gestalt psychology explains the drastic changes in the assimilation of information when each component is manipulated as a psychical whole. 

Max Wertheimer’s contribution 

Austrian psychologist Max Wertheimer introduced the theory of Gestalt psychology to elaborately define the idea of perception. In course of time, this principle came to be known as isomorphism. Wertheimer came across the sight of moving lights at a railway station which seemed like an illusion of a moving train. His studies on this spectre introduced the Phi phenomenon to this world. Later on, he received two master assistants named Wolfgang and Kohler from the University of Frankfurt who served him for their entire life. The last 30 years of their work permanently eradicated the elementalism of structuralism psychology. The Gestalt psychology believers break down mental processes into minute parts that contribute to the greater picture.

Gestalt Psychology Principles

Gestalt meaning in psychology calls attention to the several ways the human brain perceives individual parts of a whole object compared to the object as a whole. The seven gestalt psychology principles are discussed below:

Principle of proximity: This principle is established when we notice objects that are located close to each other. They tend to share a more direct relation between themselves when compared to objects that are placed far away from each other. This principle is well used in the marketing campaign of the Univer Company that uses the signature ‘U’ shaped logo which includes 25 different icons. We neglect these smaller components but perceive the logo as a whole.

Principle of closure: Our brain always tries to organize information rationally. Thus the priority of human minds lies in simplifying complex patterns and designs into simpler segments. This formulates the principle of closure. Even if we miss bits and pieces that are compulsory to construct a predictable pattern, our brain pictures them automatically. An example of gestalt psychology of this stature is observed when our brain perceives a triangle drawn with broken lines as a regular triangle version. 

Principle of similarity: This principle comes into play when someone sees shapes or objects that are identical to one another. We tend to assume that these things must serve the same function. This behavior is used to categorize materials present in a group by representing them with distinct colors, clubbing, or sub-grouping techniques. An example in the real world can be taken from a person’s manner of organizing his study table. He probably keeps his books on a separate shelf and notebooks inside the drawer as the two things serve separate functions. 

Principle of continuity: This principle of gestalt psychology explains the human mindset of believing things that are arranged in a continual line or curve are related to one another to form a compound. Music videos on YouTube are an ideal illustration of this principle. Our mind gets a soothing effect after perceiving the collective feeling of small video fragments with the song that keeps on progressing fast until the end. 

Principle of perception: This principle determines the base of our logical reasoning behind stating the components of a picture as the focal point and the background. When living and nonliving things are present in a single frame, our mind tries to create uncomplicated relationships between each of them depending on their size and position. Sometimes, we can be creative in using this principle to draw the attention of our target audience.

Principle of organization: This principle is composed of five sub-groups: uniform connectedness, common regions, synchrony, focal point, and parallelism. Uniform connectedness creates a correlation between objects that are attached. Common region gestalt psychology principles relate items that share a common space. Synchrony is established when objects move in the same direction instead of opposite paths. Parallelism connects parallel texts or images to create a complete sense. 

Principle of symmetry: People assume that symmetrical elements club together to build a common structure. The arrangement of symmetrical objects helps to create a sense of order and formal organization. Examples of this visual display can be noticed in colleges, schools, hospitals, and government buildings that are familiar to a formal environment.

Conclusion

Gestalt psychology teaches us that the entire component is more significant than the single units of that component in terms of the perception of human minds. This concept surfaced in the psychology field in the early 20th century. Gestalt meaning in psychology refers to the shape of something. In the modern-day world, gestalt therapy is used to execute numerous marketing campaigns to attract the target audience.