GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY

Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt Theory
Gestalt Principles/Laws of Perceptual Organization
-Law of Proximity
-Law of Similarity
-Law of Closure
-Law of Good Continuation
-Law of Good Pragnanz
-Law of Figure/Ground
Insight Learning
Gestalt Principles and the Teaching-Learning Process
 Gestalt Psychology

Forefront of the cognitive psychology

Served as the foundation of the cognitive perspective
to learning
Considered the mental processes and products of
perception
 Gestalt Theory

Gestalt means form or configuration

Emphasized the importance of sensory wholes and
the dynamic nature of visual perception.
Guiding Principle:
The whole is greater than the sum of its
parts.
Individuals tend to see objects or patterns as whole
units rather than individual parts.
 Founders of Gestalt Theory

Max Wertheimer Wolfgang Kohler Kurt Koffka

(1880-1943) (1887-1967) (1887-1941)
 Law of Proximity

Elements that are closer together will be perceived as

a coherent object.
 Law of Similarity

Elements that look similar will be perceived as part

of the same form.
 Law of Closure

We tend to fill the gaps or close the figures we

perceive.
 Law of Good Continuation

Individuals have the tendency to continue contours

whenever the elements of the pattern establish an
implied direction.
 Law of Good Pragnanz

The stimulus will be organized into as good a figure

as possible.
 Law of Figure/Ground

We tend to pay attention and perceive things in the

foreground first.
Law of Figure/Ground
Thank You!