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Questions and Answers
According to Gestalt Psychology, learners are passive in the perceptual process.
False
The term 'Gestalt' means change or transformation.
False
The Law of Proximity states that elements closer together will be perceived as separate objects.
False
Gestalt Theory focused mainly on the mechanistic aspects of behaviorism.
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According to Gestalt Psychology, elements that look similar will be perceived as part of different forms.
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According to Gestalt psychology, individuals have the tendency to continue contours whenever the elements of the pattern establish an implied direction.
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The Law of Good Pragnanz states that the stimulus will always be organized into the most complicated figure possible.
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Insight learning, according to Wolfgang Kohler's experiments with apes, emphasizes the importance of reinforcement in problem-solving.
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Kurt Lewin's theory of 'life space' was unrelated to gestalt psychology according to the text.
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According to Mario Polito, gestalt psychology has no relevance to education.
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Study Notes
Gestalt Psychology
- Served as the foundation of the cognitive perspective to learning, opposing the external and mechanistic focus of behaviorism.
- Emphasized the importance of sensory wholes and the dynamic nature of visual perception.
- The term "Gestalt" means form or configuration.
Key Psychologists
- Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, and Kurt Koffka studied perception and concluded that learners are not passive, but rather active processors of information.
- Wolfgang Kohler developed the idea of insight learning, which occurs when the individual perceives relationships between elements and recognizes a greater understanding.
Gestalt Principles
- Law of Proximity: Elements 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: People tend to fill gaps or "close" figures to perceive them.
- 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, based on symmetry, simplicity, and regularity.
- Law of Figure/Ground: People tend to pay attention and perceive things in the foreground first, separating the stimulus from its ground.
Insight Learning
- Learning takes place by discovery or insight, rather than reinforcement.
- Insight learning involves the coordination of thinking to create new organizations of materials.
- Insight follows from the characteristics of objects under consideration, and can occur without reinforcement.
Gestalt Principles and the Teaching-Learning Process
- The six Gestalt principles influence not only perception but also learning.
- Psychologists like Kurt Lewin and Mario Polito expanded on Gestalt psychology, applying it to education and "life space".
- Inner forces (motivation, attitudes, feelings) and outer forces (teachers' and classmates' attitudes and behavior) interact and impact on an individual's learning.
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Description
Test your knowledge on Gestalt Psychology, a foundational theory in cognitive psychology that emphasized sensory wholes and visual perception. Learn about how it shaped the cognitive perspective to learning and its contrast with behaviorism.
