The German word gestalt has a meaning similar to the Russian words “form”, “structure”, “image”. Based on this, it becomes clear that the direction in psychology with a similar name gives priority to explaining the perception of the world around us by a person, considers the structure of the personality as a whole.
Definition of a concept
Gestalt psychology is a scientific field that studies the problems that arise in the integrity of perception, and deals with them in practice. The concept of gestalt in simple words is a method of studying consciousness and the psyche, in which all phenomena are considered as a whole, without separation.
Gestalt is also a unit of analysis. Consciousness in combination with the psyche in this direction of psychology is considered as a semblance of a dynamic field. It is similar to the fact that the term “field” is understood in physics. To study the mental field in the same way as this process occurs in the exact sciences, units of measurement were required. They also got the name Gestalt. In simple words, it is an electric point in the brain that interacts with others like that. This process provokes various subjective options for the perception of something.
Gestalt itself is a holistic structure. It cannot be deduced from the elements that formed it; it is considered separately.
What does Gestalt psychology study?
The subject of gestalt psychology is the study of the activity of the human brain by objective scientific methods. This is a rather unusual approach, the essence of which is in a combination of things that are considered completely different. The direction combines the spiritual and physiological components of the personality, more precisely, simply does not separate them.
In this science, the physiological activity of the brain and mental manifestations are considered as a single whole. One phenomenon gives rise to another. Together they form an endless chain of causes and effects. In this chain, each effect is simultaneously the cause, or vice versa.
The main ideas of Gestalt psychology, which distinguish it from other areas in the study of the human personality, are precisely in the basis of the idea of the integrity of physiology and spirituality. Physiological and mental processes are inextricable, they are connected by isomorphic connections.
It can be argued that the essence of this scientific direction is close to the meaning of the proverb that says about a healthy mind in a body that does not suffer from diseases or weaknesses, only the brain should be considered instead of the body.
The main principle of this area of psychology
The principles of gestalt psychology are not as diverse as in other areas of science that studies the personality of a person. In fact, the main principle is only one, and the rest of the theses regarding specific laws are its derivatives.
The basic basic principle is the following: analysis, cognition and study of the parts separately cannot lead to an understanding of the general. The whole (whether it is a process of consciousness, perception, or something else) is determined not at all by the sum of the components, but by their mutual dependence and connections.
Basic method of cognition
Not many techniques include gestalt psychology. Briefly and clearly the leading method can be formulated as follows: reasoning aloud. This is an experimental technique with which you can study the way of thinking of a person.
This method includes two concepts - insight and problematic situation. The problem situation is understood as the process of recognizing the fact of insufficient personal experience or information to perform a task (theoretical or practical). This is how Gestalt psychology deciphers its own concept. Briefly and clearly it looks on an example of life situations.
Suppose a city dweller who never went out into the country and did not take part in hiking trips, who did not go in for sports and did not lift anything heavier than his own telephone, was faced with the need to chop wood, cutting down a tree for this. Of course, the city dweller does not have enough life experience and the knowledge base to carry out such a task. At the same time, a causal relationship arises in the brain, which is expressed in a person’s understanding that he does not know how to cut trees and chop wood. This is the concept of a “problem situation” that is part of the research method of gestalt psychology.
The concept of insight is sudden insight. Gestalt psychology, the main provisions and concepts in which are associated with thought processes and their physiological essence, by this term means the sudden finding of a solution for a problem facing a person.
Thus, insight closes the problem situation. This is a kind of appearance of “good gestalt”. In this example, in which a city dweller must cut a tree and chop wood, an insight may be the decision to hire a team of loggers.
What other provisions are there in this science
Not only the method of experimental study of the way of thinking uses gestalt psychology. The main provisions of this direction include other concepts, for example, the Zeigarnik phenomenon.
This is the name of the emergence, the formation of a persistent need for new life experience or information. This need arises due to the presence of a process called a problem situation. It is realized, respectively, due to activity in cognition, manifested in the right direction.
However, the concept of the Zeigarnik phenomenon is somewhat broader. It includes not only the process of the emergence of subjective need for new information or experience. According to the definition, this concept also includes the fact that a person mainly remembers actions that did not lead to results.
This phenomenon, at first glance, seems to be complex, like the whole of gestalt psychology. The main provisions of this direction, its theses, are much easier to perceive with illustrative examples, and not in words.
Consider the situation. A woman wants to buy a specific dress that is too expensive. She is saving money, looking for part-time jobs. Every day examines a thing in a store window, passing by. When the required amount is collected, the woman comes to the outlet and finds out that the dress has already been bought by someone. The seller offers other things that are cheaper, look many times better, but they are not the original. A woman will remember that dress that she could not buy, all her life.
That is, an incompletely completed action, to the effectiveness of which efforts were made, is always a priority for human thinking.
When did this trend in psychology appear
It is generally accepted that the time of the appearance of gestalt psychology is considered to be the beginning of the past century, more precisely, 1912. The founders of this area of psychology are Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Köhler.
However, these scientists only put together in a single whole those ideas that already existed at the end of the century before last and the beginning of the past century. At that time, many theoretical psychologists and philosophers discussed the principles of the integrity of thinking and physiology. For example, the Austrian Christian von Ehrenfels put forward a theory that the whole is a reality that is significantly different from the individual parts that make it up.
The main difference from traditional psychology
The Gestalt psychology of Koffka, Köhler and Wertheimer opposes the traditional ideas of dividing the stream of human consciousness into separate elements with the further building of complex chains from them.
In the interpretation of German scientists, everything that surrounds a person or happens to him is perceived by him as a whole, and not as a combination of components. This means that a person’s feelings take something in the form of a fused phenomenon and immediately, but do not reduce it to the sum of the properties and qualities of the constituent elements.
Thus, the concept of gestalt can be represented as a special structure, an integral function of which is the ordering of the variety of the environment.
Principles, qualities, properties
The above concepts and terms are what Gestalt psychology is based on. The main provisions of science from a practical point of view are the properties of perception, their principles and qualities.
The main properties of human perception in this science have the following names that most accurately reflect their essence:
- Figure.
- Constant.
- Background.
These properties are in constant interaction, provide orderliness, form and integrity of human perception.
The principles on which gestalt psychology is based are in the following concepts:
- Zone of general perception. Everyday emotions are formed on the basis of existing knowledge and experience, taking into account newly acquired information and anticipating anything expectations.
- Adjacency. The proximity of objects in space or in time determines their awareness.
- Closure. The trend of the mind complements or completes the figure in such a way that it turns out something one.
- Integrity. A feature of the brain is to simplify the perceived as much as possible by connecting fragments and details.
- Similarity. Objects that do not differ dramatically in color, shape, size and smell are recognized together.
- Proximity Objects or phenomena that are located nearby and have a common characterizing attribute are accepted by consciousness as one.
Qualities are formed gestalt. They have their own priorities of importance and uniform laws. The indestructible and fundamental laws of perception include the thesis that the properties of a figure in any situation are more priority than the quality of the background. In principle, this is what Gestalt psychology is based on. Humanistic psychology, like personality analysis techniques, is based on other basic theses.
Examples of some principles
A graphic example of the foregoing can be any graphic image in which the geometric figure is drawn not by one solid line, but by many small segments. A person will immediately see a figure and only then will he discern its segments. This is an example of the principle of isolation. Graphically, you can imagine any of the basic principles in this direction of psychology.
The zone of general perception can well be illustrated by any ordinary situation. Suppose a person uses public transport every day. He rides on a red tram. Arriving at the bus stop, he will be waiting for the red tram. If a blue or green wagon arrives, a person will feel bewildered and will begin to look with his eyes for a sign with the number plate of the route, although he will sit down in red immediately without looking at it.
Pros and cons of this area of psychology
Like any other humanitarian discipline, gestalt psychology the pros and cons has quite arbitrary. That is, a disadvantage from the point of view of some people becomes a virtue for others.
For this reason, when wondering about flaws, one should try to avoid subjectivity in the assessment. Although this quality is a feature of human nature, but in the analysis of something it is not entirely appropriate.
The objective drawback of this area of psychology can be considered only one thing - incompleteness. The development of science stopped with the death of one of its founders - Wolfgang Köhler. This happened at the end of the last century in the United States, where scientists fled from the fascist regime at the beginning of the twentieth century.
The theoretical theses that underlie gestalt psychology at first glance seem obvious and indisputable. However, the possibility of their practical application is significantly limited.
Suppose a person suffers from a neurosis. How to help him with the help of gestalt psychology techniques? There is no answer to this question. It is in the limited practical use that the only objective shortcoming of this area of psychology is concluded.
The advantages of this area of science are the obvious correctness of its theses derived from experiments and observations. In other words, Gestalt psychology is not a dead end in the humanities, but a promising area for research. Especially often they began to recall it in connection with the development of neurochemistry, which in many respects echoes Gestalt psychology and confirms a number of its principles.
In practice, the principles of this direction are used in the creation of illusions, graphic tests and interiors.
Where the ideas of gestalt psychology are in demand
The ideas formulated by German scientists at the beginning of the twentieth century formed the basis of transpersonal humanistic psychology. The most prominent representative of this area is Abraham Maslow. This is a famous American scientist, author of the diagram "Pyramid Maslow", representing human needs.
The ideas of German scientists also underlie the gestalt therapy of F. Perls, which in fact is an alternative to the method of personality analysis. This psychologist has done a lot to develop the basic principles of gestalt psychology, using them not only in understanding cognitive processes, but also in the overall attitude.