Cognitive (Insight, Gestalt) Theory of Learning

After J. B.Watson, behaviorism became the prominent among American

psychologist. The behaviorist (skinner, Hull) attacked on introspective method of
Wundt. At same time, a group of German psychologists began attaching on
behaviorism in Germany. This group called themselves Gestalt psychologists.

Max Wertheimer is considered the official fonder of Gestalt psychology. Wolfgang

Kohler and Kurt KOFFKA was cofounder of this new movement .Gestalt
movement started as the result of an insight while Max Wertheimer was riding a
train. It occurred to him that if two adjacent, stationary light blink on and off at a
certain rate, the observer experiences the illusion of motion between them.
Wertheimer called this illusion of motion as the phi phenomenon. The
importance of the phi phenomenon is that it is different from the elements that
cause it. The sensation of motion cannot be explained by analyzing the two lights
flashing on and off. The experience of motion emerges from the combination of
the elements. For this reason, Gestalt school believed that although psychological
experiences result from sensory elements, they are different from the sensory
elements themselves. In other words, the phenomenological experience is
different from the parts that make it up. Gestalt is the German word for
configuration or pattern. Gestaltist believed that we experience the world in
meaningful wholes. We do not see isolated stimuli. We experience meaningful
configuration or Gestalten (plural of Gestalt). We see people, chairs, cars, trees
and flowers. We do not see lines and contours and patches of colour. Our
perceptual field is a composition of organized whole or Gestalten. This is the basic
subject matter of psychology for Gestaltists. Slogan of Gestaltist is “the whole is
different from the sum of its parts”. We cannot enjoy the music by analyzing the
separate tones of musicians. The music comes from the orchestra is different
from the sum of the notes played by the various musicians. The melody has an
emergent quality, which is something different from the sum of the parts.

Theoretical Concepts
Gestalt psychology attempted to apply field theory from physics to the problems
of psychology. A field can be declined as dynamic, interrelated system, any part of
which influences every other part. The important thing about a field is that
nothing in it exists in isolation. Gestalt psychologist believed that whatever
happens to a person influence everything else about that person. For them, the
emphasis is always on a totality or whole and not on individual parts. Gestaltists
believed that human behavior at any given time is determined by total number of
psychological facts being experienced at that time. A psychological fact is anything
of which a person is conscious like being hungry, a memory of a past event. A
person’s life space is the sum of all of these psychological facts. Some facts exert a
positive influence on person’s behavior and some a negative influence. Totality of
these facts determines the behavior of person at any given time. Only those
things consciously experienced can influence behavior. A change in any
psychological fact rearranges the entire life space. The causes of behavior are
continually changing, they are dynamic. The person exists in a continually
changing field of influence. This is the psychological field theory.

Nature versus Nurture

For behaviorist, brain is the passive receiver of sensations that in turn produce
response. The brain is a complex switchboard. Human nature is determined by
what we experience. Gestaltists assigned a more active role to the brain. For
Gestaltists, the brain is not a passive receiver and storehouse of information from
the environment. The brain acts on incoming sensory information and makes it
more meaningful and organized. It is the ‘nature’ of the brain to impose
organization and meaning on sensory information. The brain creates a field that
influences information entering it, like a magnetic field influences metal particle.
What we experience consciously is sensory information. Brain’s ability to organize
experience is not derived from experience. The behaviorists postulated a passive
brain that responded to and stored sensory information, and the Gestaltists
postulated an active brain that transformed sensory information.

LAW of PRAGNANZA

The Gestalt psychologists’ main concern was with perceptual phenomena.

There is one principle that is applied to all mental events. This is the law of
Pragnanz (essence). The law of Pragnanz suggests the direction of events.
Psychological organization tends to move in one general direction rather than in
other direction, always towards the state of Pragnanz, towards the “good”
gestalt. Kofka defined the law of Pragnanz as follows “psychological organization
will always be as good as the controlling circumstances allow”. By “good” meant
as simple, complete, concise, symmetrical, and harmonious. In other words, there
is a tendency for every psychological event to be meaningful, complete, and
simple. The law of Pragnaz and four laws of organization (the laws of similarity,
proximity, closure and good continuation) were used by the Gestaltist as their
guiding principle while studying perception, learning, and memory.

The law of similarity-the law of similarity or of equality is the principle of

determining the formation of group in perception, such as group of lines or dots.
Similar items tend to form group in perception. Kohler showed that homogeneous
pairs were much more readily learned than heterogeneous ones.

The law of proximity- perceptual groups is favored according to the nearness

of the parts. If parallel lines are spaced unevenly on a page, those nearer together
will tend to form groups against a background of empty space. The law of
proximity becomes also a law of recency.

The law of closure- closed areas is more stable than unclosed ones and
therefore more readily form figures in perception. The principle of closure states
that we have a tendency to complete incomplete experience. For instance, if a
person looked at a curved line that is almost circular except for a small gap, the
person will tend to fill in the gap perceptually and respond to the figure as
complete circle.

a part circle as a circle, and so on, even though many other kind of perceptual
structuring would be possible.

SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE REALITY-

What determines behavior? For the Gestalt theorists, it is consciousness or
subjective reality that determines behavior. The law of Pragnanz is not the only
thing that transform and gives meaning to what we experience physically. Things
such as belief, values needs and attitude also embellish what we experience
consciously. It means that people in the same physical environment will vary in
their interpretation of that environment and different how they react to it. To
clear this point, Kofka distinguished between the geographical environment
(objective or physical reality) and the behavioral environment (subjective or
psychological reality). Kofka believed that to understand why people act as they
do, it is more important to know their behavioral environment than their
geographical environment. Kofka said that we behave according to what we
believe to be true, not according to what is objectively true. So , we live and act in
our behavioral environment regardless of physical truth in the geographical
environment.

GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY ON REINFORCEMENT

Gestaltists emphasize on intrinsic reinforcement as opposed to extrinsic
reinforcement. Intrinsic reinforcement appears when learner gained an insight
into the solution of the problem. Unsolved problems create ambiguity or an
organizational disbalance in the student mind. Student confronts with the
problem and seeks new information or rearrange old information until he gain
insight into the solution. The solution is as satisfying to the problem solver. The
reduction of ambiguity is the intrinsic reinforcement. Learning is personally
satisfying and no need to external reinforcements. The Gestalt-oriented
classroom would be characterized by a give-and-take relationship between
students and teacher.

GESTALT PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING

KOFKA did a significant work on learning and summarized his findings in the
mentality of Apes. Gestalt psychologists were field theorists interested in
perceptual phenomena. They assumed that when an organism is confronted with
a problem, a state of cognitive disequilibrium is set up and continues until the
problem is solved. To the Gestalt psychologist, cognitive disequilibrium has
motivational properties that cause the organism to attempt to regain the balance
in its mental system. According to the law of Pragnanz, cognitive balance is more
satisfying than cognitive disbalance. Learning to the Gestaltists is a cognitive
phenomenon. Organism reaches to solution after pondering a problem. Learner
thinks about necessary points to solve the problem and puts them together one
way and then another until the problem is solved. Solution comes suddenly, and
organism gains an insight into the solution of a problem. The problem can exist in
only two states, unsolved and solved. There is no state of partial solution in
between. Behaviorists believed that learning was continuous; it increased
systematically in small amounts. The Gestaltists believed that learning was
discontinuous.

THE PRESOLUTION PERIOD-

A lengthy period of time elapses before an insightful solution to a problem is
reached. What happen during this period? .The organism runs through a number
of effective ways to solve the problem. Organism thinks different possible
solutions until it reached on final solution behaviorally. When correct strategy is
discovered, insight is to have occurred.

TRANSPOSITION- When a principle learned in one problem-solving situation is

applied to the solution of another problem, the process is referred to as
transposition.

PRODUCTIVE THINKING: GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY ON EDUCATION-

Max –Wertheimer applied Gestalt principle to education in his book (Productive
Thinking). He contrasted rote memorization with problem solving based on
Gestalt principles. In rote memorization, the learner learns facts and rules without
understandining them. Such learning is rigid and easily forgotten and can be
applied only to limited circumstances. Memorization sometimes tends to narrow
rather than to increase the range of problem solving. Accordance with Gestalt
principle, learning is based on an understanding of underlying nature of the
problem. Such learning comes from within the individuals and is not imposed by
someone else. Learning with understanding not only improves retention of that
which is learned, but better qualifies the learner to move forward to new
learning. Thus understanding is important for transfer. It is easily generalized
and remembered for a long time. When we, memorized facts without
understanding them, we often make stupid mistake, such as when a nurse while
making rounds on the night shift, wakes up patient to give them sleeping pills.
There is a real difference in what happens when meaningless memorization goes
on and when learning takes place with understanding. He believes that two kinds
of learning are genuine and should be distinguished. The advantages of learning
by understanding are that meaningful learning is applicable to new situation and
a more enduring. He insisted that a traditional approach to teaching actually
inhibits the development of understandining. The first is teaching that emphasize
the importance of logic. Both inductive and deductive logics have relevance for a
narrow range of problem. They do not facilitate problem solving ability. Reaching
on understanding involves many aspect of learner, such as their emotion, attitude
and perception as well as their intellects. In gaining insight into the solution to a
problem, a student need not be logical. The student should cognitive, arrange and
rearrange the component of the problem until a solution based on understanding
is reached. The second teaching strategy that inhibits understandining of learner
is the doctrine of associationism. This strategy emphasizes learning connect S-R
connection through drill, memorization and external reinforcement. Learning
does not occur under these circumstances. These are trivial compared to
insightful learning. Max Wertheimer believed that any teaching strategy based on
logic or association could do little to enhance understanding but could do great
deal to inhibit it.
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