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    What Is Gestalt Psychology

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    Farhad Ali Momand
    Gestalt psychology is a school of thought that believes objects and scenes can be observed in their simplest forms by focusing on the whole rather than individual parts. It proposes that observing the whole helps find order in chaos and unity among unrelated information. Gestalt psychology introduced principles of perceptual organization like proximity, similarity, and closure to explain how humans naturally perceive organized patterns. The central idea is that the mind forms a global whole through tendencies of self-organization. Gestalt therapy applies these principles by focusing on a client's present thoughts and behaviors rather than past experiences to increase self-awareness and acceptance.

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    What Is Gestalt Psychology

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    Farhad Ali Momand
    155 views4 pages
    Gestalt psychology is a school of thought that believes objects and scenes can be observed in their simplest forms by focusing on the whole rather than individual parts. It proposes that observing the whole helps find order in chaos and unity among unrelated information. Gestalt psychology introduced principles of perceptual organization like proximity, similarity, and closure to explain how humans naturally perceive organized patterns. The central idea is that the mind forms a global whole through tendencies of self-organization. Gestalt therapy applies these principles by focusing on a client's present thoughts and behaviors rather than past experiences to increase self-awareness and acceptance.

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    What is Gestalt Psychology

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    Gestalt psychology is a school of thought that believes objects and scenes can be observed in their simplest forms by focusing on the whole rather than individual parts. It proposes that observing the whole helps find order in chaos and unity among unrelated information. Gestalt psychology introduced principles of perceptual organization like proximity, similarity, and closure to explain how humans naturally perceive organized patterns. The central idea is that the mind forms a global whole through tendencies of self-organization. Gestalt therapy applies these principles by focusing on a client's present thoughts and behaviors rather than past experiences to increase self-awareness and acceptance.

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    155 views4 pages

    What Is Gestalt Psychology

    Uploaded by

    Farhad Ali Momand
    Gestalt psychology is a school of thought that believes objects and scenes can be observed in their simplest forms by focusing on the whole rather than individual parts. It proposes that observing the whole helps find order in chaos and unity among unrelated information. Gestalt psychology introduced principles of perceptual organization like proximity, similarity, and closure to explain how humans naturally perceive organized patterns. The central idea is that the mind forms a global whole through tendencies of self-organization. Gestalt therapy applies these principles by focusing on a client's present thoughts and behaviors rather than past experiences to increase self-awareness and acceptance.

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    What Is Gestalt psychology?

    Gestalt psychology or gestaltism ( from German: Gestalt [ɡəˈʃtalt] "shape, form") is a


    philosophy of mind of the Berlin School of experimental psychology. Gestalt psychology is an
    attempt to understand the laws behind the ability to acquire and maintain meaningful perceptions
    in an apparently chaotic world. The central principle of gestalt psychology is that the mind forms
    a global whole with self-organizing tendencies through the law of prägnanz.
    This principle maintains that when the human mind (perceptual system) forms a percept or
    "gestalt", the whole has a reality of its own, independent of the parts. The original famous phrase
    of Gestalt psychologist Kurt Koffka, "the whole is something else than the sum of its parts"[2] is
    often incorrectly translated[3] as "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts", and thus used
    when explaining gestalt theory, and further incorrectly applied to systems theory.[4] Koffka did not
    like the translation. "No, what we mean is that the whole is different from the sum of his parts," he
    said.[5] The whole has an independent existence.
    The principles of grouping (or Gestalt laws of grouping) are a set of principles in psychology,
    first proposed by Gestalt psychologists to account for the observation that humans naturally
    perceive objects as organized patterns and objects, a principle known as Prägnanz. Gestalt
    psychologists argued that these principles exist because the mind has an innate disposition to
    perceive patterns in the stimulus based on certain rules. These principles are organized into five
    categories: Proximity, Similarity, Continuity, Closure, and Connectedness
    Gestalt law of proximity
    The Gestalt law of proximity states that "objects or shapes that are close to one another appear
    to form groups". Even if the shapes, sizes, and objects are radically different, they will appear as
    a group if they are close.
    Principle of similarity
    The principle of similarity states that, all else being equal, perception lends itself to
    seeing stimuli that physically resemble each other as part of the same object, and stimuli that are
    different as part of a different object. This allows for people to distinguish between adjacent and
    overlapping objects based on their visual texture and resemblance.
    Principle of closure
    The principle of closure refers to the mind’s tendency to see complete figures or forms even if a
    picture is incomplete, partially hidden by other objects, or if part of the information needed to
    make a complete picture in our minds is missing.

    Principle of Connectedness
    The law of unified connectedness states that elements that are connected to each
    other using colors, lines, frames, or other shapes are perceived as a single unit when
    compared with other elements that are not linked in the same manner.

    What is the Gestalt Theory?


    Gestalt is a decisive trend in psychology history. It was born in Germany at
    the beginning of the 20th century. It was Christian von Ehrenfels, an
    Austrian philosopher, who gave this movement its name in The Attributes
    of Form, his most important work. There is no perfect English translation of
    the term “gestalt”. But we can interpret it as
    “totality”,”figure”,”structure”,”configuration” or “organized unity”.
    “The whole is more than the sum of its parts” is its maximum. The main
    authors of Gestalt proposed alternatives to the dominant psychological
    paradigms and made great contributions to cognitive psychology.
    This particular focus was a breath of fresh air and allowed people who did
    not feel represented by the main currents of psychology to find an
    alternative.

    Gestalt Theory: Characteristics


     Its main predecessors of gestalt theory are philosophers: Thinkers such
    as Kant, Descartes or Husserl developed the theoretic basis on which
    this school developed. The psychologists belonging to this current were
    able to take their ideas to the laboratory and obtain amazing results.
     We must treat people as a whole: We cannot explore the different
    dimensions that shape us in isolation. A holistic approach is needed
    when speaking about mental health. The complexity of the human mind
    cannot be reduced. Gestalt theory explores the dynamic relationships
    that connect the various elements of reality. Gestalt theory does not
    conceive separating processes such as learning from memory.
     We are active in understanding reality: We do not all perceive reality, in
    the same way, we have our own vision. Each one structures the
    information they receive according to their previous experiences. Our
    mental representations do not correspond completely with those that exist
    in reality, we construct them ourselves.We are also able to adapt our
    mental processes and contents as new situations arise.
     They opposed the predominant schools in their time: Gestalt theory
    psychologists did not agree with approaches such as behaviorism,
    which limits human behavior to associations between stigmas and
    responses. This perspective leaves mental processes aside and does
    not contemplate the potential of human intelligence. On the other
    hand, they did not adhere to psychoanalysts either, seeing people as
    passive agents without willpower.
     Gestalt theory’s main study area is perception: Gestalt theorist focused
    especially on seeking simple and natural explanations that could be
    adapted to our natural way of perceiving reality. Through perception,
    we are able to acquire knowledge of the world, interact with it and connect
    with others.
    Our senses and mental processes interact to allow us to perform tasks as
    varied as removing the hand from a burning surface or notice that the
    person speaking to us is upset by their frowning. Gestalt theory focuses on
    visual perception. However, their ideas have been adapted to fields such as
    music.

    Gestalt psychology is a school of thought that believes all objects and scenes can be observed
    in their simplest forms. Sometimes referred to as the 'Law of Simplicity,' the theory proposes that
    the whole of an object or scene is more important than its individual parts. Observing the whole
    helps us find order in chaos and unity among outwardly unrelated parts and pieces of
    information.
    Gestalt psychology, school of psychology founded in the 20th century that provided the
    foundation for the modern study of perception .Gestalt psychology proposes a unique
    perspective on human perception. According to Gestalt psychologists, we don't just see the
    world, we actively interpret what we see, depending on what we are expecting to see. A famous
    French author, Anaïs Nin, who was not a psychologist, framed that idea in an interesting way:
    'We do not see the world as it is; we see it as we are.'
    The goal of Gestalt therapy is to raise clients' awareness regarding how they function in
    their environment (with family, at work, school, friends). The focus of therapy is more on
    what is happening (the moment-to-moment process) than what is being discussed (the
    content).
    In Gestalt therapy, the therapist'saim is neither to interpret events or directly modify
    behavior. Instead, the goal is to raise clients' awareness of what they are thinking, feeling,
    doing and sensing in the moment.
    Gestalt therapy is used to treat and address a wide range of psychiatric disorders, life
    challenges, health-related issues (particularly those with a psychosomatic element) and
    other conditions and problems that people may encounter. Those that may benefit include
    (but are not limited to): Depression
    Gestalt experiments are ready-made techniques that are often used to evoke the expression
    of certain emotions. A current trend i Gestalt therapy is toward greater emphasis on the
    client/therapist relationship rather than on techniques. Gestalt therapists focus more on why
    clients are doing that what they are doing.
    Gestalt psychology encourages people to 'think outside of the box' and look for patterns let us
    explore the basic principles of Gestalt psychology and the laws of perceptual organization using
    examples.
    Gestalt therapy, developed by Fritz Perls, Laura Perls, and Paul Goodman in the 1940s, is
    an experiential and humanistic form of therapy that was originally designed as an alternative
    to conventional psychoanalysis. Gestalt therapists and their clients use creative and
    experiential techniques to enhance awareness, freedom, and self-direction. The word
    gestalt comes from the German word meaning shape or form, and it references the
    character or essence of something.

    PRINCIPLES OF GESTALT THERAPY


    At the core of gestalt therapy is the holistic view that people are intricately linked to and
    influenced by their environments and that all people strive toward growth and balance.
    Gestalt therapy is similar to person-centered therapy in this way, as well as in its emphasis
    on the therapist’s use of empathy, understanding, and unconditional acceptance of the
    client to enhance therapeutic outcomes.
    According to gestalt therapy, context affects experience, and a person cannot be fully
    understood without understanding his or her context. With this in mind, gestalt
    psychotherapy recognizes that no one can be purely objective—including therapists whose
    experiences and perspectives are also influenced by their own contexts—and practitioners
    accept the validity and truth of their clients’ experiences.

    Gestalt therapy also recognizes that forcing a person to change paradoxically results in
    further distress and fragmentation. Rather, change results from acceptance of what is.
    Thus, therapy sessions focus on helping people learn to become more self-aware and to
    accept and trust in their feelings and experiences to alleviate distress.

    Criticisms[
    Some of the central criticisms of Gestaltism are based on the preference Gestaltists are deemed
    to have for theory over data, and a lack of quantitative research supporting Gestalt ideas. This is
    not necessarily a fair criticism as highlighted by a recent collection of quantitative research on
    Gestalt perception.
    Other important criticisms concern the lack of definition and support for the
    many physiological assumptions made by gestaltists and lack of theoretical coherence in modern
    Gestalt psychology.
    In some scholarly communities, such as cognitive psychology and computational neuroscience,
    gestalt theories of perception are criticized for being descriptive rather than explanatory in nature.
    For this reason, they are viewed by some as redundant or uninformative. For example, Bruce,
    Green & Georgeson conclude the following regarding gestalt theory's influence on the study of
    visual perception:
    The physiological theory of the gestaltists has fallen by the wayside, leaving us with a set of
    descriptive principles, but without a model of perceptual processing. Indeed, some of their "laws"
    of perceptual organisation today sound vague and inadequate. What is meant by a "good" or
    "simple" shape, for example?

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