Gestalt Olsosn Lecture

An Introduction to
THEORIES of LEARNING
Ninth Edition
CHAPTER 10
Gestalt Theory
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition Copyright 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn All Rights Reserved
Max Wertheimer (18801943)
Considered Founder of Gestalt

Psychology
Experience Cannot Be Understood
by Analyzing its Parts
The phenomenological experience is
different from the parts that make it
up.
The phi phenomenon

A fine painting
A concert performance
Opposition to Voluntarism,
Structuralism, and Behaviorism
All making the same basic error in
using an elementistic approach.
Gestalt as Phenomenology:
A phenomenologist studies meaningful,
intact mental events without dividing
them for further analysis.
Gestalt
holistic
molar
subjective
nativistic
cognitive
Behavioristic
atomistic
elementistic
molecular
objective
empiricistic
behavioral
Major Theoretical Concepts
Field Theory
A field can be defined as a dynamic,
interrelated system, any part of which
influences every other part.
Nothing in it exists in isolation.
Kurt Lewin (18901947)
Levin and Field Theory
A psychological fact, according to

Lewin, is anything of which a person is
conscious.
A persons life space is the sum of all

of these psychological facts.
Levin and Field Theory
Only those things consciously

experienced can influence behavior.
A change in any psychological fact

rearranges the entire life space.
Nature versus Nurture

The Gestaltists assigned an active role
to the brain.
It is the nature of the brain to impose
organization and meaning on sensory
information.
Organizational abilities characterize any
physical system, the brain being but one
example.
Koffka (1963 [1935]) defined the Law

of Prgnanz as follows:
Psychological organization will always
be as good as the controlling
circumstances allow (p. 110).
Good = simple, complete, concise,

symmetrical, and harmonious.
Isomorphism
External stimulation causes reactions in
the brain.
We experience those reactions as they
occur in the brain.
Koffka (1963 [1935]) : motion of the
atoms and molecules of the brain are
not fundamentally different from
thoughts and feelings (p. 62).
Active Brain/Active Mind
Consider
Blind Spots in human visual field
Charles Bonnet Syndrome(complex
visual hallucination)
The Agnosias (cannot see but not due to
optical problem)
Geographical Environment versus

Behavioral Environment
We behave according to what we

believe to be true.
If you think there is no exam

tomorrow or no class, how will you
behave tonight?
Gestalt Principles of Learning
Learning, to the Gestaltist, is a

cognitive phenomenon.
The organism comes to see the

solution after pondering a problem.
When the solution comes, it comes

suddenly as an insight.
The Presolution Period

Trial-and-error that is cognitive rather
than behavioral.
When the correct strategy is discovered,
insight is said to have occurred.
Perhaps you can experience the Aha
that accompanies insightful learning by
trying to find the hidden Schnauzer in
the next slide.
GESTALT PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING
Insightful Learning Summarized

1. The transition from presolution to
solution is sudden and complete.
2. Performance based on a solution
gained by insight is usually smooth
and free of errors.
Insightful Learning Summarized

3. A solution to a problem gained by
insight is retained for a
considerable length of time.
4. A principle gained by insight is easily
applied to other problems.
Transposition
When a principle learned in one
problem-solving situation is applied to
the solution of another problem.
For example: Chickens were fed on a
dark shade of gray paper but not on a
lighter shade.
Given a choice between the two shades
of gray, they chooses the darker one.
The Transposition Problem
After preliminary training, the choice

was between the dark paper on which it
was trained and a still darker sheet.
Behaviorists predict that the animal

would approach the lighter of the two
shades of gray in the new situation
because it is the exact one that had
been reinforced.
Gestaltists predicted that what was a

relational principle; the animal learned
the principle of approaching the darker
of the two objects. This prediction was
generally correct.
Spences Behavioristic Explanation
Based on Generalization
Approach Generalization (solid line) minus Avoidance Generalization (dashed

line)
Between 160 sq and 100 sq m
Between 160 sq and 206 sq m
Between 256 sq m and 409 sq m

in here it is the smaller of the two
Spences Behavioristic Explanation
Explains relativistic transposition.
Also explains failure of transposition.
More widely accepted than the Gestalt

point of view.
The transposition breaks down at some
point.
Education and Productive Thinking
Wertheimer
When one acts on memorized facts or
rules without understanding them, one
can often make stupid mistakes.
Traditional approaches to teaching
inhibit development of understanding.
Those approaches: logic and
associationism.
Gestalt Psychology and
Reinforement
Gestaltists view unsolved problems as
creating ambiguity or an organizational
disbalance in the students mind.
Reduction of ambiguity can be seen as

the Gestalt equivalent to the
behaviorists notion of reinforcement
an intrinsic reinforcer.
Kurt Koffka (18861941)
Kurt Koffka and the Memory Trace
Current experience gives rise to what

he called a memory process.
When a process is terminated, a trace

of its effect remains in the brain.
Thereafter, all similar processes

interact with the memory trace.
Koffka (1963 [1935])

A trace exerts an influence on the
process in the direction of making it
similar to the process which originally
produced the trace (p. 553)
With repetition, the trace becomes

more and more influential over the
process.
Implies that immediate experience is
warped by memory.

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An Introduction to

Considered Founder of Gestalt

The phi phenomenon

Nothing in it exists in isolation.

A psychological fact, according to

A persons life space is the sum of all

Only those things consciously

A change in any psychological fact

Nature versus Nurture

Koffka (1963 [1935]) defined the Law

Good = simple, complete, concise,

Active Brain/Active Mind

Geographical Environment versus

We behave according to what we

If you think there is no exam

Learning, to the Gestaltist, is a

The organism comes to see the

When the solution comes, it comes

The Presolution Period

Insightful Learning Summarized

Insightful Learning Summarized

After preliminary training, the choice

Behaviorists predict that the animal

Gestaltists predicted that what was a

Approach Generalization (solid line) minus Avoidance Generalization (dashed

Between 256 sq m and 409 sq m

Explains relativistic transposition.

Also explains failure of transposition.

More widely accepted than the Gestalt

Reduction of ambiguity can be seen as

Current experience gives rise to what

When a process is terminated, a trace

Thereafter, all similar processes

Koffka (1963 [1935])

With repetition, the trace becomes

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