2. OBJECTIVES:
After the discussion, the students will be able to:
• understand Gestalt Psychology;
• determine the principles of Gestalt Psychology and;
• know the importance of Gestalt Psychology.
4. • Gestalt is a German word that roughly means “configuration”
or the way things are put together from a whole object.
• Gestalt Psychology is a school of thought that looks at the
human mind and behavior as a whole.
• Our minds tend to perceive objects as elements of more
complex systems.
• Helps us understand human perception and sensation.
5. MAX WERTHEIMER
› Wertheimer developed
Gestalt Psychology after
observing what he called
the phi phenomenon while
watching alternating lights
on a railway signal.
› Phi phenomenon refers to
our tendency of sensing
movement where there is
actually none.
April 15, 1880 – October 12, 1943
8. SIMILARITY
It’s human nature to group like things together. In gestalt,
similar elements are visually grouped, regardless of their proximity to
each other. They can be grouped by color, shape, or size.
9. CONTINUITY
It posits that the human eye will follow the smoothest path
when viewing lines, regardless of how the lines were actually drawn.
10. CLOSURE
It’s the idea that your brain will fill in the missing parts of a
design or image to create a whole. In its simplest form, it allows your
eye to follow something like a dotted line to its end.
11. PROXIMITY
It refers to how close elements are to one another. The
strongest proximity relationships are those between overlapping
subjects, but just grouping objects into a single area can also have a
strong proximity effect.
12. FIGURE/GROUND
It is similar to closure principle in that it takes advantage of the
way the brain processes negative space. Your brain will distinguish
between the objects it considers to be in the foreground of an image
and the background. Where things get interesting is when the
foreground and background actually contain two distinct images.
13. SYMMETRY AND ORDER (PRÄGNANZ)
The law of symmetry and order is also known as prägnanz, the
German word for “good figure” Your brain will perceive ambiguous
shapes in as simple a manner as possible.
14. COMMON FATE
It is not originally included in gestalt psychology, it has since
been added. This principle states that people will group together
things that point to or are moving in the same direction.
15. WHY GESTALT
PSYCHOLOGY
IMPORTANT?
Gestalt psychology has
influenced how we study perception
and sensation. It also increases our
understanding of how our cognitive
processes influence the way we
behave socially.
HOW IS GESTALT
PSYCHOLOGY USED
TODAY?
Some therapists use Gestalt
psychology to help patients focus on
the present over the past. Designers
and product developers also use
Gestalt to make their creations more
appealing or to draw focus to certain
elements over others. Educators may
also use Gestalt principles to help
their students learn.
