Max Wertheimer Gestalt Theory - Report Example

Max Wertheimer – Gestalt Theory College Max Wertheimer – Gestalt Theory Max Wertheimer was one of the three psychologists who pioneered the Gestalt Theory. The other two were Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler. His professor, Christian von Ehrenfels, proposed a theory of ‘wholes’; it is something more than the part of or summation of their respective elements (Madsen, 1988). It is the Gestalt quality that converts a melody into a different key; the notes are changed but the Gestalt quality, the whole remains (Madsen, 1988). It is by definition against behaviorism and structuralism. The major contribution of Gestalt theory is to the field of learning. Learning and cognition are connected with perspective. It is one’s own ‘bias’ that gives the indication if something has been learnt or not. The holistic perception shapes an individual’s vision. Wertheimer started the cognitive school of psychology. He and his team were used to looking at all things (including cognition) in whole and not in parts. In principle, there are a few rules that can be applied to the progression of learning for applying Gestalt theory. For instance, the learner must spot the interconnectedness of things or how different elements come together. Moreover, it is not only dependent upon the learner to apply the Gestalt theory, the instructor needs to teach in a way that helps the learner engage in understanding and solving problems in a different way. Moreover, the design of the instructional material should be made in such a way that is based on Gestalt theory; problems should designed in such a way that make the learner look for similarities. In Gestalt psychology the behavior is intelligent; human behavior depends on individual goals (long term and short term) (Bevis, 1998). It does not imply that the individual will surely achieve the desired outcome but the behavior is shaped by the goals. In a strange example the whole theory can be explained as follows; one horse plus one horse equals two horses. Similarly one person plus one person make two persons. But, one horse plus one person might equal a rider (King & Wertheimer, 2005). The additional elements or the result of the rider cannot be simply explained by adding the horse and the person. Wertheimer argues that for determining the traits of aboriginal thought processes it is not sufficient to ask what numbers and operations of our mathematical system they use (King & Wertheimer, 2005). Such an approach would be too ethnocentric. A better approach to answer the same question would be what thought processes they use in their desire fields. There are certain theoretical and methodological principles associated with the Gestalt theory. Such frameworks are especially helpful in studying psychological research. Such methodologies are very different from the traditional scientific methodologies of the early 20th century. Such approach split the study into is constituent elements to be studied separately. The premise of this approach was that dividing a complex matter would make it simpler. Hence the following four models were proposed by the school of Gestalt; Principle of Totality Principle of psychophysical isomorphism Phenomenon experimental analysis Biotic experiment The basic theoretical concept related with gestalt theory is the ‘aha’ moment while solving a problem. One suddenly “sees the point” and the problem is solved (Willis D, 2013). Usually the classic textbooks do not provide much insight into this part of psychology. They do not provide the penetrative asnwers (Willis D, 2013). This is what makes Gestalt theory stand out from the rest of psychological theories that attempt to define and explain the cognitive functions of the brain. The theory penetrated the problem itself. It questions the fundamental assumptions of science. Scientific method breaks things into pieces in an attempt to simplify them but Gestalt theory determines the nature of these wholes. However, one must not think that gestalt approach is based on theoretical explanations of things. Concrete research goes into this theory; the theory is not the conclusion but a device to reach the conclusion. An example quoted in Ellis Willis D’s book A Source Book of Gestalt Psychology (2013) explains that a math teacher shows a proposition to a student and then starts classifying it. The student responds that the proposition is of this type or belongs to some category, but is that how mathematicians work? Most probably the math teachers will exclaim that the student has not grasped the thing at all. He will explain that this formula is not independent, hence cannot be dealt with or understood in isolation. One needs to see the dynamic functional relationship of a formula to the whole from which it is extracted. Only then the student can truly understand or ‘see the point’. The same theoretical principle applies to Gestalt theory. Disclosing the functional meaning of Gestalt’s formula is no less different than that of the math’s teacher. The same principle can be explained through music. When someone hears a melody is it only the sum of individual tones? Surely the sum principle is not as simple as it may seem. Each individual note does not just simply sum up in a melody, there is something more to it. The debate can be summed up in a hypothesis that the scientific study of perception cannot be grounded in a purely summative angle (Willis D, 2013). The total array of stimulus points to the total of sensations and the secondary factors needed to bind them into additive total (Willis D, 2013). Perception needs to be treated from the stimulus-constellation angle on one side while the mental Gestalt phenomenon needs to apply to the other. The cells of an organism constitute the part of the whole, therefore the excitations happening in them should be considered the part-processes that are functionally related to the whole-processes contributing to the function of the entire organism (Willis D, 2013). This approach is not in negation of the psychological approach, the way in emphasizing physiology the psychological treatment is usually excluded. The only thing repudiated is the piecewise approach for handling psychological data. The “completion of an incomplete experience” (Willis D, 2013, p. 16) gets affected by the operation of the whole-factors and not by the bare addition of arbitrary datum. Gestalt theory is also relevant in cognitive studies because memory is also primarily concerned with whole properties and the structural unity of whole the remembered things (Willis D, 2013). Memories and experiences do not consist in sequences of events where each event is alienated from the rest of the events (Willis D, 2013). The only exception is the contextual indifference in habit or the mechanical memory. There is still high relevancy of Gestalt theory, especially in education. Professional education programmers can benefit a great deal from this theory by structuring the learning process according to the concept of whole vs. parts (Gopee, 2011). The instructors can give the learners problems to resolve and the tools they can use are group discussions, trial and error and through analyzing ideas (Gopee, 2011). This way they can gain specific insights about the problem. Hence project work, peer learning and self-directed learning can apply Gestalt theory in the field of education. An example would be a teacher asking students to resolve a snapshot of a clinical situation, for instance, helping a partially paralyzed patient move from chair to bed (Gopee, 2011). Such approach offers innovative ways of thinking to the students. They are not limited to a narrow approach of solving a problem. References Bevis, E. O. (1998) Curriculum building in nursing: A process. MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Gopee, N. (2011) Mentoring and supervision in healthcare. London: SAGE. King, D. B. & Wertheimer, M. (2005) Max Wertheimer and Gestalt. NJ: Transaction Publishers. Madsen, K. B. (1988) A history of psychology in metascientific perspective. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Willis D, E. (2013) A source book of gestalt psychology. London: Routledge. Read More