1. What you see is not just parts!
The Gestaltists
What you see is not just parts!

2. The Oppositionists
Grew as a reaction against voluntarism, structuralism and behaviorism
Early 1910’s and 20’s and Watsonian behaviorism is hot
Still quite a bit of structuralism around, as well
Thought were missing something: how we put together the whole
Emphasized NOT concentrating on parts

3. The Oppositionists Kurt Wertheimer Phi Phenomenon = apparent movement
German
Phi phenomenon got him started
Phi Phenomenon = apparent movement
Why interesting? Not easily explainable by examining the “parts”
Gestaltists: although psychological experiences result from sensory elements, these experiences are different from the sensory elements themselves
The phenomenological experience is different from the sum of the parts
Gestaltists = Kantians
Organism adds something to experience that not contained in sensory data
That “something” = ORGANIZATION
Gestalt = configuratio or pattern

4. The Oppositionists
Gestalists major point: behaviorists, structuralists, etc. all making same fatal error: attempting to divide up subject matter into elements
Not reject introspectionist method, but rejected how deal with the data
Phenomenologists:
Studies the meaningful, intact, mental events without dividing them up for further analysis
Studies the phenomenon, not the parts
Are wholistic, molar, subjective, nativistic, and cognitive

5. Lewin’s Field Theory Kurt Lewin (1890-1947)
Theory of human motivation
Human behavior determined by total number of psychological facts being experiences at that time
Psychological fact = anything which a person is conscious of
Life space = sum of all psychological facts
Some psychological facts exert positive influence, some negative
Totality or sum of these facts that determine behavior
Important: must be conscious to be psychological fact
Thus: memories must be conscious
Behavior is dynamic because facts are dynamic
The “field” is always changing, but the whole determines the behaviora

6. Field Theory Used Field Theory from physics to apply to psychology
Field = dynamic, interrelated system
Any part of this system influences every other part
Gestalten = small fields
Perceived environment can = a field
Person = dynamic, interrelated system
What happens to a person influences whole person, not just one part

7. Nature versus Nurture Traditional behaviorists:
person is passive receiver of environment
Brain = switchboard processing experience
Gestaltists gave more active role
Brain ACTS on incoming sensory information
Gives meaning and organization
Not learned, but innate
Is a physical system

8. Law of Pragnanz
“psychological organization wil always be as gooda s the controlling circumstances allow”
“good” = simple, complete, concise, symmetrical, harmonious
Good figure, good perception, good memory = cannot be made more simple or organized through any perceptual shift

9. Gestalt Rules for Organization
Gestalt = configuration
Examine FIGURE versus GROUND
Figure = distinctive parts of array that you need to attend to
Ground = background
Interested in how people determined figure vs. ground
Total configuration critical: The WHOLE is GREATER than the SUM of its parts

10. Both of these figures have three elements
Both of these figures have three elements. The figure on the left is called a __________; but the figure on the right is called a _____________.

11. Rules of Organization
Proximity: things that are in proximity to one another belong together
Similarity: things that are similar to one another are judges as belonging to that group
Contrast: differences form edges or borders

14. Rules of Organization Good continuation: Closure:
Continuing a pattern makes sense
Otherwise, is a border or contrast
Number sequences, ordering and sets
Closure:
Closure is a contrast or edge
Brings the figure to an end
Should be natural or we finish it!

17. AbcAbcAbcAbcAbcAbcAbcAb____

18. Don’t you hate it when people don’t finish their !

19. Rules of Organization Good Figure or Pragnanz Common fate:
Nature is full of symmetry; we prefer symmetrical shapes and forms
Nonsense figures are changed to make sense
We finish a figure to make a sensible figure vs. ground
Common fate:
Using the gestalt rules of organization to “fix” the figure
Make a sensible figure and ground

22. Perceptual Constancies
Gestalt rules demonstrate perceptual constancies
What we see depends on our experience and the situation
What ground is the figure lying upon?

24. Perceptual Constancies
When we get into an ambiguous situation:
We must alter our preconceived ideas
Use knowledge about the world + the information about the present scene
Thus make sense of the visual image
We assume that the world stays constant:
People, animals and things stay the same size, color, shape
Thus, the relative brightness, color or shape is determined by the intensity of the object RELATIVE to other objects in the scene

25. We must make judgments about the world
One object in comparison to another
Which is bigger?
Which if brighter or redder or louder?
Use relationships within the image to determine size, color, shape, etc.

28. Visual Illusions Ambiguous figures Let’s see some examples
No clear figure versus ground
Must make a judgment using clues within the picture
Your own personal experience also plays a role
Let’s see some examples

37. Our abilities help us perceive some interesting phenomena:
Perceived movement:
Must determine if YOU or the ground is moving
Feeling like your car is rolling backward when the other car moves slightly forward at a stop light
Flicker fusion: ability to see movies as a moving picture, not a bunch of quick little pictures
Phi phenomenon: jumping of a light back and forth

39. Dynamic Qualities Gestalt rules apply to all our senses
Audition, somatosensory, thermoregulation
Why is it funny that “dry ice” burns?
Cross modalities, as well:
Consistencies and expectations across senses
Someone should look like they sound!

40. Dynamic Qualities
Which of these is a Molumba and which is a Takete?

41. Dynamic Qualities Which is the cheerleader and which is the nerd?
Bertha
Jennifer
Why is this important?
Names can influence how people think about you!
University of Chicago study: Traditional vs. African American names on resumes

42. Think Gestalt rules don’t influence your everyday behavior?

43. Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe and the biran fguiers it out aynawy.

44. The brain and conscious experience
Gestaltist solution to mind body problem
Behaviorists: ignored
Structuralists and voluntarists: epiphenomenalism:
Contencts of mind vary passively as function of sensory experience
Direct relation between body and ind
Gestaltists: isomorphism between psychological experience and processes in brain
External stimulation causes reactions in brain
Experience those reactions as they occur in brain
Brain actively, not passively, transforms sensory stimulation
Organizes and makes sense of info
Simplifies, completes, etc.
Brain does this before we are “aware” of it
In innate process
Why important?
Activities of brain correspond dynamically with content of thought
Brain actively transforms incoming sensory information, and it is transformed information that we are aware of!
Interestingly, neuroscience supports this idea

45. Subjective and objective reality
What determines behavior
Not environment, because we don’t perceive or are aware of raw environment
Must be consciousness or subjective reality
Geographical environment = objective or physical reality
Behavioral environment = psychological or subjective reality
This has important implications
Gestalt rules alter our “reality”
So do values, beliefs, etc.
Each person has unique view of world
This view shapes how we interact (indeed, it shapes what we perceive)
Beliefs, then, have strong influence on behavior!

46. Critique Contributions: Criticisms
Refuted both structuralism and simple behaviorism
Concepts of organization of physical/psychological experience
Rules of organization
Challenged rote learning models
Criticisms
Never attained mainstream acceptance
Difficult model to test
In many ways, were right in terms of organizational rules and idea of whole versus parts