Gestalt Psychology
Gestalt Psychology
Gestalt Psychology
PSYCHOLOG
Y
THE FOUNDERS
OF GESTALT
PSYCHOLOGY
(22 January 1887 – 11 June 1967)
WOLFGANG
KÖHLER He was a German Psychologist and phenomenologist who, like
Max Wertheimer, and Kurt Kofka, contributed to the creation of
Gestalt Psychology During the Nazi regime in Germany, he
protested against the dismissal of Jewish professors from
universities, as well as the requirement that professors give a
Nazi salute at the beginning of their classes. In 1935 he left the
country for the United States, where Swarthmore College in
Pennsylvania offered him a professorship. He taught with its
faculty for 20 years, and did continuing research.
(April 15, 1880 – October 12, 1943)
WERTHEIMER Wertheimer obtained his PhD in 1904 under Oswald Kϋlper, and
then began his intellectual career teaching in Frankfurt. For a
short time he left Frankfurt to work at the Berlin Psychological
Institute, but returned in 1929 as a full professor.
KOFFKA During the First World War, he worked for the Military in a
position that later lead him to a Professorship in Experimental
psychology.
PSYCHOLOG That is, the attributes of the whole are not deducible from
analysis of the parts in isolation. The word Gestalt is used in
Y
modern German to mean the way a thing has been “placed,” or
“put together.”
PSYCHOLOG
Y
The term Gestalt, means
“form” or
“configuration.”
Psychologists Max Wertheimer,
Wolfgang Kohler and Kurt
Koffka who studied perception,
concluded that;
Kurt Zadek
Lewin
He was a German American psychologist, known as one of the
modern pioneers of social, organizational, and applied
psychology in the United States.
Theory
Lewin is often recognized as the “founder of social psychology”
and was one of the first to study group dynamics and
organization al developments.
Ø Gestalt psychology is focused on the experience of contact that occurs in the here and now.
Relevance of
Gestalt Ø It takes interest in the complexity of experience, without neglecting anything, but accepting
and amplifying all that emerges.
according to
according to needs, purposes and meanings.
Marion Polito. Ø Autonomy and freedom of the student is stimulated by the teacher.
Ø The contact experience between the teachers and students is given value: an authentic
meeting based on sharing ideas and affections.
How to apply
Gestalt Theory in
Teaching and
Learning
• Gestalt is a theory of learning that
focuses on the minds perspective. It is
useful as a behavioral tool as it enables
the teacher to channel the pupil’s
energy into thinking of an item or
subject as parts of a whole, e.g. a car,
being metal, paint, wheels etc. By
thinking of components and breaking
down a situation it enables for a more
psychological process to take place
and over time will broaden a pupils
mind into thinking of the sum of the
whole rather than just a complete thing
of situation.
Reference/citations:
• Facilitating Learning: A Meta Cognitive
Process Lucas and Corpuz (Pages 106 –
109) Google Images Wikipedia.org
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Thank you!