University of Algiers 2 2022/2023

Department of English
Third Year-Groups: 1,2,11,12,13,14
Cognitive Psychology
Mrs. Mouhoubi

3-Influences on the Study of Cognition-Part Two

Gestalt psychology:

It is a school of thought that looks at the human mind and behaviour as a whole. When trying to make
sense of the world around us, Gestalt psychology suggests that we do not simply focus on every small
component. Instead, our minds tend to perceive objects as part of a greater whole and as elements of more
complex systems. This school of psychology played a major role in the modern development of the study of
human sensation and perception.

In the early part of the 20th century , the three main German theorists Wertheimer, Kohler, and Koffka
presented the Gestalt approach which was a holistic one and rejected the mechanistic perspectives of the
stimulus - response models (Behaviourism). Numerous new concepts and approaches emerged from this
different psychological perspective. This belief led to a new movement within the field of psychology
known as Gestalt psychology. The word gestalt literally means form or pattern.

The Gestalt Principles:

Gestalt psychology helped to introduce the idea that human perception is not just about seeing what is
actually present in the world around us; it is heavily influenced by our motivations and expectations.
For the Gestalts, the brain creates a perception that is more than simply the sum of available sensory inputs,
and it does so in predictable ways. Gestalt psychologists translated these predictable ways into principles by
which we organize sensory information. People tend to organize visual elements into groups or unified
wholes when certain principles are applied. These principles are:

1- Similarity : we tend to group similar items together. Unity occurs because the triangular shapes at
the bottom of the eagle symbol look similar to the shapes that stem from the sunburst.

2- Continuation : the points that are connected by straight or curving lines are seen in a way that
follows the smoothest path. Continuation occurs because the viewer's eye will naturally follow a line
or curve. The smooth flowing crossbar of the "H" leads the eye directly to the maple leaf.

3- Closure : if something is missing in an otherwise complete figure, we will tend to add to it. Closure
occurs when an object is incomplete or a space is not completely enclosed. People perceive the
whole by filling in the missing information.

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 4- Proximity :The law of proximity suggests that objects near each other tend to be viewed as a group.

5- Figure-ground : we seem to have an innate tendency to perceive one aspect of an event as the figure
or fore-ground and the other as the ground or back-ground. The eye differentiates an object from its
surrounding area.

According to Gestalt theorists, pattern perception, or our ability to discriminate among different figures
and shapes, occurs by following the principles described earlier. Perception accurately matches the real
world, but this is not always the case. Our perceptions are based on perceptual hypotheses: educated
guesses that we make while interpreting sensory information. These hypotheses are informed by a number of
factors, including our personalities, experiences, and expectations. We use these hypotheses to generate our
perceptual set.

Conclusion:

Gestalt theorists have been incredibly influential in the areas of sensation and perception. Gestalt
principles are all used to help explain how we organize sensory information. Our perceptions can be
influenced by different factors.