🔴 PSICOLOGÍA DE LA GESTALT | TEORÍA Y LEYES DE LA GESTALT CON EJEMPLOS | MAX WERTHEIMER | RESUMEN
Introduction to "The Night Sky" painting
In this section, the speaker introduces the famous painting "The Night Sky" by Van Gogh and asks if there is any movement in the artwork.
Observing "The Night Sky"
- The painting is a masterpiece of Impressionism.
- There doesn't appear to be any movement in the painting.
- The viewers are asked to focus on a spiral for 20 seconds without diverting their gaze.
Illusion of Movement
The speaker discusses how the image of Van Gogh's painting did not change despite creating an illusion of movement. They mention a group of researchers who aimed to explain perception laws and challenge prevailing psychological theories.
The Gestalt Psychology Movement
- A group of enthusiastic researchers led by Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Köhler sought to explain perception laws.
- They aimed to counter structuralism and behaviorism.
- This marked the beginning of Gestalt psychology.
Introduction to Gestalt Psychology
The speaker introduces the topic of Gestalt psychology as a revolutionary movement in psychology that focuses on studying the whole rather than individual elements.
Welcome to "The Show of Psychological Theories"
- Max Wertheimer is one of the fathers of Gestalt psychology.
- "Gestalt" is a German expression that means "whole."
- Gestalt psychology emphasizes that wholes are more than just sums of their parts.
Understanding Gestalt Psychology
Max Wertheimer explains what Gestalt means and how it relates to studying the whole rather than individual parts.
The Concept Behind Gestalt Psychology
- Gestalt psychology focuses on studying the whole rather than individual elements.
- Christian Wolff Ehrenfeld, an Austrian psychologist, wrote about the perceptual qualities of form that cannot be divided into separate sensory elements.
- The qualities of form reside in the overall configurations of objects.
Examples of Gestalt Perception
The speaker provides examples to illustrate how perception is based on overall configurations rather than isolated elements.
Perception Based on Configurations
- The squareness of a square or the melody of a musical piece are not determined by their separate parts but by their total configurations.
- A square can be constructed from any group of four equal straight lines arranged in appropriate relationships.
- The melody of a song remains recognizable regardless of the tonality or instrument used.
Max Wertheimer's Experiment on Perceptual Phenomenon
Max Wertheimer explains his famous experiment on apparent motion and how it supports the idea that perception is based on wholes rather than isolated elements.
The Phenomenon of Apparent Motion
- Max Wertheimer and his colleagues studied visual perception of apparent motion, which refers to perceiving continuous movement when observing a sequence of slightly varying static images.
- They used a tachistoscope, a device that projects images for fractions of a second, to create an illusionary perception of motion.
- The observer perceived movement instead of two lights turning on and off.
Perception as Globality and Active Process
Max Wertheimer discusses how perception is characterized by globality and active engagement from individuals, contrasting with passive physiological explanations.
Characteristics of Gestalt Psychology
- Perception is characterized by globality, where the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
- Perception is an active process, and individuals decide where to focus their attention and what they want to perceive.
- Gestalt psychology challenges passive physiological explanations of perception.
Constant Identification of Totality
The speaker explains that the human perception process involves constant identification of wholes rather than isolated elements.
Human Perception and Organization
- Human perception tends to identify totalities above separate elements.
- The goal of human perception, according to Gestalt psychology, is mental order through organizing elements in the environment.
- Individuals play an active role in this perceptual process.
Conclusion on Gestalt Psychology
The speaker concludes by summarizing the key characteristics of Gestalt psychology and its departure from structuralism.
Key Characteristics of Gestalt Psychology
- Perception is characterized by globality, where the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
- Perception is an active process influenced by individuals' attention and focus.
- Gestalt psychology challenges passive physiological explanations and emphasizes mental organization.
The Nature of Perception
This section discusses the nature of perception and how it involves mental activity. It emphasizes that perception is not simply passive, but rather an active process where individuals selectively focus their attention on certain aspects of their environment.
Perception as Mental Ordering
- Perception is a mental activity that involves organizing and making sense of sensory information.
- The subject plays an active role in determining what to perceive and how to perceive it.
- The premise is that everything is more than just the sum of its parts, and human perception aims to understand the whole.
Laws of Gestalt Perception
- Colleagues focused on developing laws to explain how we perceive.
- Gestalt laws are principles of perceptual organization that describe how we organize visual stimuli.
- These laws include principles such as abstraction, movement, pregnance, proximity, similarity, homogeneity, closure, and figure-ground relationship.
Abstraction and Movement
- There is a tendency for individuals to perceive movement in objects based on the relationship between stimuli.
- Example: Seeing 12 points in different positions as moving.
Pregnance
- The tendency to mentally abstract or simplify stimuli by emphasizing regularity, symmetry, harmony, balance, and simplicity.
- Example: Easier to identify a triangle above three circles than three cut circles.
Proximity
- Objects physically close together are perceived as belonging to the same group.
- Distance between objects allows for perceptual organization.
- Example: Seeing a happy face and a letter above separate red circles.
Similarity
- Tendency to group elements with similar characteristics within a set of different elements.
- Perception classifies information based on the degree of similarity among stimuli.
- Example: Easily identifying red dots above black dots due to color similarity.
Homogeneity
-Tendency for frequently repeated information to be attended and captured more than diffuse and infrequent information.
- Example: Easier to see columns rather than alternating rows of X and O.
Closure
- The tendency to complete incomplete images by assigning relevant elements.
- Applies to images that do not have all the content.
- Example: Completing the image of a dog or a walker even when parts are missing.
Laws of Gestalt Perception (Continued)
This section continues discussing the laws of Gestalt perception, focusing on the principles of figure-ground relationship and how it complements the previous laws.
Figure-Ground Relationship
- The principle of figure-ground relationship is closely related to the concept of presence in perception.
- It explains how our brain separates important elements from the background for focused perception.
- Without a distinguishable background, we cannot apply the previously discussed laws effectively.
Figure and Background
- Figures are distinct elements that stand out due to contrast or disruption with the background.
- Background is a homogeneous element that provides constant and invariant information for easy sensory impression.
Examples:
- Park Scene:
- Assuming white as the background, figures would be people kissing.
- Assuming people kissing as the background, figure would be a dancer.
- Artwork "My Wife and My Mother-in-Law":
- Assuming one part as figure, we see a young woman looking sideways.
- Assuming another part as figure, we see an old woman looking down.
Principles of Organization
This section explores additional principles related to organization in perception, including closure and its distinction from pregnance. It also introduces the concept of figure-ground relationship and its role in grouping stimuli.
Tendency to Closure
- The principle relates closely to presence since individuals tend to complete images by assigning relevant elements.
- It applies to incomplete images that require closure.
- Distinguishes from pregnance, which emphasizes simplicity and regularity.
Examples:
- Dog and Walker Image:
- We tend to complete the image of a dog or a walker even when parts are missing.
- Artwork "My Wife and My Mother-in-Law":
- Assuming one part as figure, we see a young woman looking sideways.
- Assuming another part as figure, we see an old woman looking down.
Figure-Ground Relationship
- The principle explains how our brain separates important elements (figure) from the background.
- Background provides constant information for easy sensory impression.
- Organization of stimuli depends on the presence of a distinguishable background.
Figure-Ground Relationship
This section further explores the concept of figure-ground relationship, emphasizing the distinction between figure and background in perception.
Figure vs. Background
- Figures are distinct elements that stand out due to contrast or disruption with the background.
- Background is a homogeneous element that provides constant and invariant information for easy sensory impression.
Examples:
- Park Scene:
- Assuming white as the background, figures would be people kissing.
- Assuming people kissing as the background, figure would be a dancer.
- Artwork "My Wife and My Mother-in-Law":
- Assuming one part as figure, we see a young woman looking sideways.
- Assuming another part as figure, we see an old woman looking down.
The transcript does not provide timestamps beyond this point.
The Importance of Visual Perception
In this section, the speaker discusses the core concept of visual perception in Gestalt theory and highlights the need to consider other important contributions from the field. They introduce concepts such as thinking and learning, which are often overlooked.
Distinction between Reproductive and Productive Thinking
- Reproductive thinking refers to mechanical repetition of learned patterns, while productive thinking involves generating new ideas and creative responses.
- Productive thinking allows for multiple different responses to a problem, even when there is a learned response pattern.
- Insight plays a crucial role in productive thinking, referring to the ability to see within ourselves and reorganize our understanding of a given situation.
Insights from Monkey Experiments
- Insight was observed in experiments with monkeys conducted by Cola on Tenerife.
- Monkeys were presented with a scenario where they had to reach a banana hanging out of their reach.
- Initially, monkeys attempted to jump directly towards the banana but later showed insight by using boxes or stacking them to reach the banana more easily.
- These findings challenged behaviorist theories that relied solely on trial-and-error learning.
Critique of Trial-and-Error Learning
- The experiments with monkeys also criticized Thorndike's trial-and-error studies with cats, which formed the basis for Skinner's operant conditioning theory.
- Unlike monkeys, cats did not have additional space or stimuli for insights beyond their learned response patterns.
- While trial-and-error learning has its importance, it should not be considered as the sole explanation for diverse forms of learning in species.
Impact on Education and Other Fields
- The concepts of reproductive and productive thinking influenced educational practices that heavily relied on association and memorization.
- The Gestalt theory advocated for a more flexible and free-thinking approach in education, encouraging insights and generating a greater number of ideas in students.
- The influence of Gestalt theory extended beyond perception to areas such as neurology and neuropsychology, thanks to concepts like psychophysical isomorphism.
- Psychologist Kurt Goldstein further developed holistic therapy for brain damage based on these principles.
Gestalt Theory's Impact
This section explores the broader impact of Gestalt theory on psychology, including its influence on humanistic psychology, cognitive perspectives, neurosciences, and educational systems.
Influence on Humanistic Psychology
- Gestalt theory influenced emerging precursors of humanistic psychology like Gordon Allport and Abraham Maslow.
- It redefined basic psychological processes as active mental processes rather than passive consequences of physiological processes.
Influence on Cognitive Perspectives
- The contributions of Gestalt theory continue to influence various cognitive perspectives today.
- Its constant critique of behaviorism and localizationism in neuroscience and educational systems has shaped current understanding.
Holistic Approach in Neurosciences
- Kurt Goldstein coined the term "holistic" in relation to treating brain damage holistically rather than focusing solely on specific structures.
- This holistic approach also influenced subsequent humanistic theories.
Conclusion
The contributions of Gestalt theory revolutionized the study of basic psychological processes. Its emphasis on visual perception expanded into other domains such as thinking, learning, neurology, and education. By challenging traditional approaches and advocating for a holistic perspective, Gestalt theory continues to shape contemporary psychology.