What Is Gestalt psychology?

Gestalt psychology or gestaltism ( from German: Gestalt [ɡəˈʃtalt] "shape, form") is a

philosophy of mind of the Berlin School of experimental psychology. Gestalt psychology is an
attempt to understand the laws behind the ability to acquire and maintain meaningful perceptions
in an apparently chaotic world. The central principle of gestalt psychology is that the mind forms
a global whole with self-organizing tendencies through the law of prägnanz.
This principle maintains that when the human mind (perceptual system) forms a percept or
"gestalt", the whole has a reality of its own, independent of the parts. The original famous phrase
of Gestalt psychologist Kurt Koffka, "the whole is something else than the sum of its parts"[2] is
often incorrectly translated[3] as "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts", and thus used
when explaining gestalt theory, and further incorrectly applied to systems theory.[4] Koffka did not
like the translation. "No, what we mean is that the whole is different from the sum of his parts," he
said.[5] The whole has an independent existence.
The principles of grouping (or Gestalt laws of grouping) are a set of principles in psychology,
first proposed by Gestalt psychologists to account for the observation that humans naturally
perceive objects as organized patterns and objects, a principle known as Prägnanz. Gestalt
psychologists argued that these principles exist because the mind has an innate disposition to
perceive patterns in the stimulus based on certain rules. These principles are organized into five
categories: Proximity, Similarity, Continuity, Closure, and Connectedness
Gestalt law of proximity
The Gestalt law of proximity states that "objects or shapes that are close to one another appear
to form groups". Even if the shapes, sizes, and objects are radically different, they will appear as
a group if they are close.
Principle of similarity
The principle of similarity states that, all else being equal, perception lends itself to
seeing stimuli that physically resemble each other as part of the same object, and stimuli that are
different as part of a different object. This allows for people to distinguish between adjacent and
overlapping objects based on their visual texture and resemblance.
Principle of closure
The principle of closure refers to the mind’s tendency to see complete figures or forms even if a
picture is incomplete, partially hidden by other objects, or if part of the information needed to
make a complete picture in our minds is missing.

Principle of Connectedness
The law of unified connectedness states that elements that are connected to each
other using colors, lines, frames, or other shapes are perceived as a single unit when
compared with other elements that are not linked in the same manner.

What is the Gestalt Theory?

Gestalt is a decisive trend in psychology history. It was born in Germany at
the beginning of the 20th century. It was Christian von Ehrenfels, an
Austrian philosopher, who gave this movement its name in The Attributes
of Form, his most important work. There is no perfect English translation of
the term “gestalt”. But we can interpret it as
“totality”,”figure”,”structure”,”configuration” or “organized unity”.
“The whole is more than the sum of its parts” is its maximum. The main
authors of Gestalt proposed alternatives to the dominant psychological
paradigms and made great contributions to cognitive psychology.
This particular focus was a breath of fresh air and allowed people who did
not feel represented by the main currents of psychology to find an
alternative.

Gestalt Theory: Characteristics

 Its main predecessors of gestalt theory are philosophers: Thinkers such
as Kant, Descartes or Husserl developed the theoretic basis on which
this school developed. The psychologists belonging to this current were
able to take their ideas to the laboratory and obtain amazing results.
 We must treat people as a whole: We cannot explore the different
dimensions that shape us in isolation. A holistic approach is needed
when speaking about mental health. The complexity of the human mind
cannot be reduced. Gestalt theory explores the dynamic relationships
that connect the various elements of reality. Gestalt theory does not
conceive separating processes such as learning from memory.
 We are active in understanding reality: We do not all perceive reality, in
the same way, we have our own vision. Each one structures the
information they receive according to their previous experiences. Our
mental representations do not correspond completely with those that exist
in reality, we construct them ourselves.We are also able to adapt our
mental processes and contents as new situations arise.
 They opposed the predominant schools in their time: Gestalt theory
psychologists did not agree with approaches such as behaviorism,
which limits human behavior to associations between stigmas and
responses. This perspective leaves mental processes aside and does
not contemplate the potential of human intelligence. On the other
hand, they did not adhere to psychoanalysts either, seeing people as
passive agents without willpower.
 Gestalt theory’s main study area is perception: Gestalt theorist focused
especially on seeking simple and natural explanations that could be
adapted to our natural way of perceiving reality. Through perception,
we are able to acquire knowledge of the world, interact with it and connect
with others.
Our senses and mental processes interact to allow us to perform tasks as
varied as removing the hand from a burning surface or notice that the
person speaking to us is upset by their frowning. Gestalt theory focuses on
visual perception. However, their ideas have been adapted to fields such as
music.

Gestalt psychology is a school of thought that believes all objects and scenes can be observed
in their simplest forms. Sometimes referred to as the 'Law of Simplicity,' the theory proposes that
the whole of an object or scene is more important than its individual parts. Observing the whole
helps us find order in chaos and unity among outwardly unrelated parts and pieces of
information.
Gestalt psychology, school of psychology founded in the 20th century that provided the
foundation for the modern study of perception .Gestalt psychology proposes a unique
perspective on human perception. According to Gestalt psychologists, we don't just see the
world, we actively interpret what we see, depending on what we are expecting to see. A famous
French author, Anaïs Nin, who was not a psychologist, framed that idea in an interesting way:
'We do not see the world as it is; we see it as we are.'
The goal of Gestalt therapy is to raise clients' awareness regarding how they function in
their environment (with family, at work, school, friends). The focus of therapy is more on
what is happening (the moment-to-moment process) than what is being discussed (the
content).
In Gestalt therapy, the therapist'saim is neither to interpret events or directly modify
behavior. Instead, the goal is to raise clients' awareness of what they are thinking, feeling,
doing and sensing in the moment.
Gestalt therapy is used to treat and address a wide range of psychiatric disorders, life
challenges, health-related issues (particularly those with a psychosomatic element) and
other conditions and problems that people may encounter. Those that may benefit include
(but are not limited to): Depression
Gestalt experiments are ready-made techniques that are often used to evoke the expression
of certain emotions. A current trend i Gestalt therapy is toward greater emphasis on the
client/therapist relationship rather than on techniques. Gestalt therapists focus more on why
clients are doing that what they are doing.
Gestalt psychology encourages people to 'think outside of the box' and look for patterns let us
explore the basic principles of Gestalt psychology and the laws of perceptual organization using
examples.
Gestalt therapy, developed by Fritz Perls, Laura Perls, and Paul Goodman in the 1940s, is
an experiential and humanistic form of therapy that was originally designed as an alternative
to conventional psychoanalysis. Gestalt therapists and their clients use creative and
experiential techniques to enhance awareness, freedom, and self-direction. The word
gestalt comes from the German word meaning shape or form, and it references the
character or essence of something.

PRINCIPLES OF GESTALT THERAPY

At the core of gestalt therapy is the holistic view that people are intricately linked to and
influenced by their environments and that all people strive toward growth and balance.
Gestalt therapy is similar to person-centered therapy in this way, as well as in its emphasis
on the therapist’s use of empathy, understanding, and unconditional acceptance of the
client to enhance therapeutic outcomes.
According to gestalt therapy, context affects experience, and a person cannot be fully
understood without understanding his or her context. With this in mind, gestalt
psychotherapy recognizes that no one can be purely objective—including therapists whose
experiences and perspectives are also influenced by their own contexts—and practitioners
accept the validity and truth of their clients’ experiences.

Gestalt therapy also recognizes that forcing a person to change paradoxically results in
further distress and fragmentation. Rather, change results from acceptance of what is.
Thus, therapy sessions focus on helping people learn to become more self-aware and to
accept and trust in their feelings and experiences to alleviate distress.

Criticisms[
Some of the central criticisms of Gestaltism are based on the preference Gestaltists are deemed
to have for theory over data, and a lack of quantitative research supporting Gestalt ideas. This is
not necessarily a fair criticism as highlighted by a recent collection of quantitative research on
Gestalt perception.
Other important criticisms concern the lack of definition and support for the
many physiological assumptions made by gestaltists and lack of theoretical coherence in modern
Gestalt psychology.
In some scholarly communities, such as cognitive psychology and computational neuroscience,
gestalt theories of perception are criticized for being descriptive rather than explanatory in nature.
For this reason, they are viewed by some as redundant or uninformative. For example, Bruce,
Green & Georgeson conclude the following regarding gestalt theory's influence on the study of
visual perception:
The physiological theory of the gestaltists has fallen by the wayside, leaving us with a set of
descriptive principles, but without a model of perceptual processing. Indeed, some of their "laws"
of perceptual organisation today sound vague and inadequate. What is meant by a "good" or
"simple" shape, for example?