Gestalt psychology

• It was the forefront of the cognitive psychology. It served as the

foundation of the cognitive perspective to learning. It opposed
the external and mechanistic focus of behaviorism. It
considered the mental process and products of perception.
• “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” expresses an
important principle of the Gestalt movement.

Gestalt theory
• It emphasized the importance of sensory wholes and the
dynamic nature of visual perception.
• The term Gestalt, means form or configuration.
• Gestalt psychology adheres to the idea of learning taking place
by discovery or insight. The idea of insight learning was first
developed by Wolfgang Kohler in which he described
experiments with apes were the apes could used boxes and
sticks as tools to solve problems.

Experiment of Kohler:

In the box problem, a banana is attached to the top of a

chimpanzee’s cage. The banana is out of reach but can be
reached by climbing upon and jumping from a box. Only one of
Kohler’s apes (Sultan) could solve this problem. A much more
difficult problem which involved the stacking of boxes was
introduced by Kohler. This problem required the ape to stack one
box on another, and mater gravitational problems by building a
stable stack. Kohler also gave the apes sticks which they used to
rake food into the cage. Sultan, Kohler’s very intelligent ape, was
able to master a two-stick problem by inserting one stick into the
end of the other in order to reach the food.

Kohler proposed the view that insight follows from the

characteristics of object under consideration. His theory suggested
that learning could occur when the individual perceives the
relationships of the elements before him and reorganizes these
elements and comes ton a greater understanding or insight.
Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, Kurt Koffka

• They studied perception and concluded that perceivers were

not passive but rather active.
• They suggested that learners do not just collect information as
is but they actively process and restructure data in order to
understand it. This is the perceptual process.
• Factors like past experiences, needs, attitudes and one’s
present situation can affect his perception.

Example as a Scenario:

Jessie had a painful experience with his ex-boyfriend. One day,

she saw his boyfriend with other woman. She confronted him, but his
bf did not say anything, instead, he was pretending that he did not
know Jessie. It was a very painful experience for her.

Gestalt theory in related to Education.

Gestalt theory is focused on the experience of the contact that

occurs in the here and now. It considers with the interest the life
space of teacher as well as the students. It takes interest in the
complexity of the experience, without neglecting anything, but
accepting and amplifying all that emerges. It stimulates learning as
experience and the experience as a source of learning. It appreciates
the affections and the meaning that we attribute to what we learn.
Knowledge is conceives a continous organization and rearrangement
of information according to needs, purposes, and meanings. It
asserts that learning is not accumulation , but stimulated by teacher.
The time necessary for assimilation and for cognitive and existential
remodeling is respected. The contact experience between teachers
and students is given value: an authentic meaning based on sharing
ideas and affections.