Gestalt Psychology is a psychological movement, started in Germany around the time of WWI, that advanced the understanding of perception.  Gestalt psychologists suggested that we perceive whole units rather then pieces of sensation; that the whole of a sensation is more than its parts.  There are two principles of Gestalt psychology -- closure (the tendency to organize perceptions so that they make sense) and figure-ground relationship (perceiving selected parts of a stimulus to stand out [figure] from other parts [background]).

  1. A Source Book of Gestalt Psychology, edited by Willis D. Ellis with an introduction by Kurt Koffka. Originally published in 1938, it was the first extensive English language introduction to the work of the German Gestalt psychologists from 1912 to 1935. This important book bridged the gap between the English-speaking readers and the main works of the Gestalt psychologists until then available only in German.

   2. Gestalt Psychology - Founded by Max Wertheimer (1880-1943), Gestalt psychology surfaced as a theoretical school in Germany early in the 20th century. Gestalt psychology was based on the belief that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts (Gestalt is German for "form" or "shape").  An example of this fundamental principle is provided by the phi phenomenon, first described by Wertheimer (1912) . The phi phenomenon is the illusion of movement created by presenting visual stimuli in rapid succession.

    3. Comments On The Concept Of Closure - Closure was considered as only one of several Gestalt principles of organization, all assuming to be operating in the direction of Prägnanz, a word used by Wertheimer to denote a tendency for organization to be as "good" (as clear, as stable) as is possible under prevailing conditions. Specifically, the principle of closure refers to the tendency towards greater perceptual stability possessed by closed areas as compared with enclosed ones, and hence to the tendency for closed areas to be more readily attained and maintained in perception.

    4. This article, abstracted from the Grolier Encyclopedia, discusses Gestalt psychology, a movement in experimental Psychology, which originated just prior to World War I. German
researchers such as Kurt Koffka, Wolfgang Kohler, and Max Wertheimer began studying the ways
in which perceptions are formed and how the processes are determined by context, configuration,
and meaning rather than by the simple accumulation of sensory elements. Gestalt is a German
word that may be translated as "configuration."

Contact Robby Thompson for any further questions.