Running head: WOLFGANG KOHLER’S CONTRIBUTION TO PSYCHOLOGY 1 WOLFGANG KOHLER’S CONTRIBUTION TO PSYCHOLOGY 3 1ST Peer review Max Wertheimer was a resilient young man. His father ran a business college in Prague where him and his family lived without controversy. That was, until his family was forced out of Germany due to the growing threat of Nazism. Before this, though, Max was able to obtain a traditional education, against his fathers wishes, and take many classes before focusing on philosophy and psychology. When studying at the University of Berlin, Wertheimer worked in the Phonogram Archives. Which was basically a library of music samples recorded onto wax cylinders originating from a vast array of countries. Music had an immense influence on the establishment of Gestalt psychology because of the use of melodies to teach its concepts. For example, a melody exists due to the organization of the notes, not because of the notes on their own-a key theory in Gestalt psychology.  After conducting research on music produced by a Sri Lankan tribe, the effects of brain injuries on speech and language comprehension, and the mathematical thinking abilities of native peoples, Wertheimer moved on (largely by accident) to study apparent motion  This would not only make him famous, but shine light onto the legitimacy of Gestalt psychology. While traveling by train, he noticed that parts of the landscape that were further away appeared to be traveling with the train. He deduced that this perception of moving objects that were clearly not in motion had to be originating in his brain. He then set up shop at the University of Frankfurt where he invented a tachistoscope and tested this phenomenon, later dubbed the phi phenomenon. Thus, designating the official start of Gestalt psychology.  This discovery was much more than just that. Wertheimer attempted to find the physiological causation for the phenomenon and was able to rule out several, older previous explanations. Although the true reasoning behind the phi phenomenon has yet to be discovered, the research that took place in pursuit of that truth paved the way for the branch of psychology as a whole. It is interesting to think where (or if at all) Gestalt psychology would be today if Wertheimer had slept on that train and continued with his vacationing instead. References  Kardas, E. P. (2014). History of psychology: The making of a science. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning 2nd Peer review For our final Explore Discussion, I am choosing to write about Alfred Adler’s individual psychology. One of the most interesting things about Adler’s childhood is that he was a sickly child and almost died at age 4, which was actually the reason he chose to pursue a doctorate degree. “He did survive and vowed to become a better doctor than the one who treated him” (Kardas, 2014, p. 385). I thought this quote deserved recognition as it sho.

1. Running head: WOLFGANG KOHLER’S CONTRIBUTION TO
PSYCHOLOGY 1
WOLFGANG KOHLER’S CONTRIBUTION TO
PSYCHOLOGY 3
1ST Peer review
Max Wertheimer was a resilient young man. His father ran a
business college in Prague where him and his family lived
without controversy. That was, until his family was forced out
of Germany due to the growing threat of Nazism. Before this,
though, Max was able to obtain a traditional education, against
his fathers wishes, and take many classes before focusing on
philosophy and psychology. When studying at the University of
Berlin, Wertheimer worked in the Phonogram Archives. Which
was basically a library of music samples recorded onto wax
cylinders originating from a vast array of countries. Music had
an immense influence on the establishment of Gestalt
psychology because of the use of melodies to teach its concepts.
For example, a melody exists due to the organization of the
notes, not because of the notes on their own-a key theory in
Gestalt psychology.
After conducting research on music produced by a Sri Lankan
tribe, the effects of brain injuries on speech and language
comprehension, and the mathematical thinking abilities of
native peoples, Wertheimer moved on (largely by accident) to
study apparent motion This would not only make him famous,
but shine light onto the legitimacy of Gestalt psychology. While
traveling by train, he noticed that parts of the landscape that
were further away appeared to be traveling with the train. He
deduced that this perception of moving objects that were clearly
not in motion had to be originating in his brain. He then set
up shop at the University of Frankfurt where he invented a

2. tachistoscope and tested this phenomenon, later dubbed the phi
phenomenon. Thus, designating the official start of Gestalt
psychology.
This discovery was much more than just that. Wertheimer
attempted to find the physiological causation for the
phenomenon and was able to rule out several, older
previous explanations. Although the true reasoning behind the
phi phenomenon has yet to be discovered, the research that took
place in pursuit of that truth paved the way for the branch
of psychology as a whole. It is interesting to think where (or if
at all) Gestalt psychology would be today if Wertheimer had
slept on that train and continued with his vacationing instead.
References
Kardas, E. P. (2014). History of psychology: The making of a
science. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning
2nd Peer review
For our final Explore Discussion, I am choosing to write about
Alfred Adler’s individual psychology. One of the most
interesting things about Adler’s childhood is that he was a
sickly child and almost died at age 4, which was actually the
reason he chose to pursue a doctorate degree. “He did survive
and vowed to become a better doctor than the one who treated
him” (Kardas, 2014, p. 385). I thought this quote deserved
recognition as it shows Adler had determination to be great
from a very young age. The text states that Adler struggled with
school and his physical limitations, but preserved and became
one of the most well know psychologists of his time.
Adler was recognized by Sigmund Freud as a great mind. This is
shown in a quote from the text stating, “In 1902, Freud invited
[Adler] to join his Wednesday night meetings of the Vienna
Psychoanalytic Society” (Kardas, 2014, p. 385). Adler had very

3. different ideas from Freud and a completely different approach
to psychology. He disagreed with many of Freud’s ideas,
including his personality divisions of the id, ego, and superego.
Adler’s individual psychology, as suggested in the name, is
focused completely on the individual. “Adler’s approach to
personality and psychotherapy focused on human uniqueness,
the interaction of people with their environment, feelings of
inferiority, and pursuit of… goals” (Kardas, 2014, p. 387). It is
both a type of therapy and a section of psychology. This
psychology also focused on social aspects of an individual’s
life. Adler introduced birth order as an indicator of personality.
One of Adler’s main ideas was called the inferiority complex.
This can be described as an extreme state of feeling socially
inferior. This diagnoses often led to therapy to help address why
these patients felt so inadequate. I chose to talk about this main
idea of Adler because I think it is extremely relevant in society
today, especially with the increased use of social media. I think
that the inferiority complex is so real and affects many people
today. Social media is a big reason for this. People can share
the best parts of their life with the world without ever showing
the bad. This can make others feel inadequate about their own
lives. Adler had many great contributions to the field of
psychology and many of these ideas are still relevant in society
today.
References
Kardas, E. (2014). History of Psychology: The Making of a
Science. Belmont, CA; Wadsworth
Cengage Learning.
3RD Peer Review
This week’s article I went with what about our Dreams which
Freuds mentioning that dreams are the road to our unconscious
thoughts. I came I have always been intrigued by my dreams
and sometimes wondered is it that our dreams sometimes tell us
something about ourselves or something to be in our life. so,

4. when Freud talks about dreams and the content that they may
have its interesting to me, so I looked up information about
what dreams meant for Freund. I came across this article called
Dream treatment: On Sitting Down to Read a Letter from Freud.
In the article in mentions what Freud’s thoughts were on
Dreams, then the narrator goes on to describe a dream she’s
been having but can’t really grasp the concept of what the
dream means. The narrator mentions that the dream is based off
Freud sends him a letter explain the notion of dreams. It
describes many ways on how dreams are perceived and view
thru many individuals’ eyes. One part of the article mentions
how dreams can be a gate way to the unforeseen world.
According to Royle (2017), “Dreaming is the element most
receptive to mourning, to haunting, to the spectrally of all
spirits and the return of the ghost (…) The dream is also a place
that is hospitable to the demand for justice and to the most
invincible of messianic hopes” (p.3). I found this quote
fascinating for a very long time I dreamt with my brother who
had passed on, carrying full conversations that felt so real and
vivid. It always took place in the same area and always around
the same time, I get up and I fully remember everything we
talked about and I felt a sense of peace. I strongly believe in
dreams and that there is meaning towards them, just not sure at
times what it is. Overall this article is a good read, then again
when it involves Sigmund Freud and his wild thoughts is always
a great read. How do you all feel about the notion of Dreams,
can they mean something could they be telling us something?
Reference:
Royle, N. (2017). Dream Treatment: On Sitting Down to Read a
Letter from Freud. Paragraph, Vol. 40 Issue 3. Pages 399-405.
Retrieved
from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthT
ype=sso&db=aph&AN=125967208&site=eds-live&custid=083-
900

5. 4TH Peer review
Individuals that suffer from what Psychologists now recognize
as Substance Abuse Disorder often suffer from a multitude of
other mental ailments and disorders. This makes treatment for
these individuals quite difficult. The consequences of the type
of lifestyle led by those that suffer from Substance Abuse
Disorder often involves difficulties with relationships and
financial hardship. Proper treatment for these individuals would
include an improvement in their quality of life as well as
overcoming their addiction.
The article that I found provided a study that aims to determine
alternate therapeutic interventions to approach the broad range
of illnesses often suffered by those with Substance Abuse
Disorder. The term “lose our mind and come to our senses” is a
trademark of Gestalt Psychology, urging followers to leave
behind the concepts and ideals of life and find their own
awareness. By using Gestalt Therapy concepts, researchers
provided therapy to a m an named Ilan that suffered from
Substance Abuse Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and
Anti-Social Personality Disorder. Ilan came from a loving home
but did not have a relationship with his father. He enlisted in
the Army at 18 and soon after lost his mother to Cancer. Ilan
was discharged a few years later after he witnessed the death of
his Commander during a terrorist attack. Once home, Ilan
suffered from PTSD and turned to drugs to help him, leading to
his dependency.
The goal of using the Gestalt Therapy with Ilan was to get him
to recognize the “here and now’ of his life, while dealing with
his past and moving forward to the future. The article provided
goes in to great detail about the Gestalt Therapy techniques
used and discusses actual sessions with Ilan and his road to
recovery. Ilan did recover, at least to the extent of the research

6. conducted. I found this article very interesting and it provided
great details into the mind of someone that suffers from
Substance Abuse Disorder.
References:
Dominitz, V. A. (2016). Gestalt Therapy Applied: A Case Study
with an Inpatient Diagnosed with Substance Use and Bipolar
Disorders. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy,24(1), 36-47.
doi:10.1002/cpp.2016