Gestalt psychology focuses on the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It was developed in 1910 by Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, and Kurt Koffka. Some key principles of Gestalt psychology include the laws of proximity, similarity, closure, good continuation, pragnanz (good form), and figure/ground. These laws describe how humans naturally perceive and group visual elements as a whole. Gestalt psychologists also studied insight learning through Wolfgang Kohler's experiments with apes solving problems using tools.

2. Gestalt psychology
• Gestalt is a German word that means “shape”,
“form”, or “whole”.
• Gestalt is a psychology term which means
"unified whole".
• It was developed about 1910by Max Wertheimer
and carry on by Wolfgang Kohler and Kurt Koffka
at Frankfurt University.
• Max Wertheimer – developed Gestalt principles
• Kurt Koffka – developed laws of perception
• Wolfgang Kohler – worked with apes on insight

3. Gestalt psychology
Gestalt focuses on the belief that human
consciousness cannot be broken down
into its elements.
Gestaltists pointed out that perception
has meaning only when it is seen as a
whole
Perceptions are shaped by our thoughts

4. Perceptual process
learners do not just collect information as
is but they actively process and
restructure data in order to understand it.
This is the Perceptual Process
Certain factors impact on this
perceptual process.
Factors like past experiences, needs,
attitudes and one’s present situation can
affect his perception

5. Gestalt Principles
• They believed learning is the result from
good perception, which enable an
individual to form correct concept in their
mind. Later on they proposed the
principles or law for perceptual
organization
1. Law of Proximity
2. Law of Similarity
3. Law of Closure
4. Law of Good Continuation
5. Law of Good form or Pragnanz
6. Law of Figure/Ground

6. Law of Proximity

7. Law of Proximity
Proximity means nearness in space,
time, or relationship
The law of proximity states that when
objects appear close to one another they
tend to be perceived as a group .Things,
which are close together in space or
time, tend to be perceived as grouped
together
Thus, if you want to perceive two ideas
as associated, present them in close
proximity.

8. • In the Food mobile logo we can see a
group of single objects, representing
types of food (bread, fish, vegetables are
clearly recognizable) which, grouped for
proximity, create a car shape

9. Law of Similarity

10. Law of Similarity

11. Law of Similarity
• The law of similarity captures the idea that
when we look at objects that are similar to
each other, we tend to group them together.
Our brains quickly identify patterns faster
than the separate parts of the pattern.
1. The way we group things together based on
similar aspects (look, sound, texture, taste,
etc.)
2. We group things that are alike.
3. We tend to group similar shapes together
and often times, we try to attach some
type of meaning to them

12. Law of Closure
Words and
shape

13. Law of Closure
The law of closure captures the idea that
when we see incomplete elements in a
visual, our brains tend to fill in the gaps
and see it as a whole.
For example When an object is not
complete, but there is still enough
information for the shape to be indicated,
the brain will complete the missing info.
The brain does this in order to increase
consistency

14. Law of Good Continuation
• Continuation occurs in the example
below, because the viewer's eye will
naturally follow a line or curve. The
smooth flowing crossbar of the "H" leads
the leaf directly

15. Law of Good Continuation
• Continuity: To
maintain order, the
brain will carry on
any visual patterns .
Also, continuation
happens when the
viewer’s eye moves
(whether smoothly or
disjointedly) through
an object into
another

16. Law of Good Continuation
• When you see a figure
like this, you are much
more likely to see it as
consisting of two lines
(1a)rather than of the
two shapes(1b).
• This is the Gestalt
principle of continuity
which saw a single
unbroken line is likely
to be seen as an
entity.

17. Law of Good form or Pragnanz

18. Law of Good form or Pragnanz
• The word pragnanz is a German term meaning
"good figure." The law of Pragnanz is sometimes
referred to as the law of good figure or the law of
simplicity, which says that we tend to order our
experience in a manner that, is regular, orderly,
symmetric, and simple our perceptions are
influenced by our past experiences. This principle
is also called Pragnanz Law. (Tan Oon Seng et
al., 2003).
• This law holds that objects in the environment are
seen in a way that makes them appear as simple
as possible

19. Law of Good form or Pragnanz

20. Law of Figure/Ground
Figure 1 two faces or a vase? (From
spooncer, 1992 p.35)

21. Law of Figure/Ground
• Figure–ground organization is a type of
perceptual grouping which is a vital
necessity for recognizing objects through
vision.
• This law explains that the source of a
message determines one’s perception.
• The concept of figure-ground perception
is often illustrated with the classic "faces
or vases" illusion, also known as the
Rubin vase.

22. Law of Figure/Ground
• we see the two forms
of equal importance.
The problem here is
a confusion of figure
and ground.
Young Lady or Old Lady? (From Spooncer,
1992 p.35)

23. Insight Learning
• Wolfgang kohler was the first
psychologist who developed the insight
learning in which he described an
experiment with apes that could use
boxes and sticks as tools to solve the
problem

24. Insight Learning
• In his experiment, Kohler hung a piece of
fruit just out of the reach of each chimp. He
then provided the chimps with either two
sticks or three boxes, then waited and
watched. Kohler noticed that after the
chimps realized they could not simply reach
or jump up to retrieve the fruit, they stopped
and thought about how they might solve the
problem. Then after a few moments, the
chimps stood up and proceeded to solve the
problem

25. Insight Learning
• In the first scenario, the
problem was solved by
placing the smaller
stick into the longer
stick to create one
very long stick which
could be used to
knock the hanging fruit
down

26. Insight Learning
• In the second scenario,
the chimps would solve
the problem by stacking
the boxes on top of
each other, which
allowed them to climb to
the top of the stack of
boxes and reach the
fruit.

27. Insight Learning
• Insight learning is the abrupt realization
of a problem's solution. Insight learning is
not the result of trial and error It is a
completely cognitive experience, which
requires the ability to visualize the problem
and the solution internally, in the mind,
before giving a behavioral response.
• The important aspect of learning was
not reinforcement, but the coordination
of thinking to create new organizations.
Kohler referred to this behavior as
insight or discovery learning.

28. Implications of the Gestalt principles
in the teaching and learning process
1. Law of Proximity
Related concepts or lessons
should be taught aligned or closely
to each other.
This is the reason why subtraction is
taught after addition, multiplication after
subtraction then division after
multiplication

29. 2. Law of Similarity
• Similar lessons or contents should be grouped
together to make learners develop Understanding
more efficiently and effectively.
• This is the reason why lessons are Grouped into
units: Unit I is for human body, Unit II is for
energy and motion, So on and so forth.

30. 3. Law of Closure
When a concept or topic is incomplete thus
isn't "closed", incomplete information May
make
learners want to discover what’s missing,
rather
than concentrating onThe given instruction.
If students find a math algorithm confusing
because a certain Question is left
unanswered or a step isn't clear, they will
tend to concentrate on That confused part of
the process rather than the total process as
a whole. This is why students get
"lost". Thus, make the lesson complete.
Present it clearly, Simply and always be
ready for students' clarifications.

31. 4. Law of Good
Continuation
Lessons should be presented in such a
way that learners will see these as
connected
an
d continuous.
Now you know why we have the "review"
part
of the lesson plan. This way, students will
realize that their new lesson actually has
continuity and isrelated to what they

32. 5. Law of
Pragnanz
Pragnanz states that when things are
grasped as wholes, the minimal amount
of energy is exerted in thinking. In short,
make your lesson holistic, complete and
most of all simple.

33. 6. Law of
Figure/Ground
• For a figure to be perceived, it must stand out from
the background.
•Emphasis should be done on important aspects of
the lesson. For example, teachers should vary the
tone of their voice or write boldly or underline the
important key words of the lesson.