Chapter 14-Gestalt Psychology Flashcards
The type of psychology that studies whole, Intact segments of behavior and cognitive experience
Gestalt psychology
Specify what Gestalt psychologists sought to study, what they favored in psychology, and what they opposed
Studied the meaningful, intact, conscious experience.
Were opposed to any type of element is I’m in psychology. The attempt to reduce either consciousness or behavior to the basic elements is called the molecular approach to psychology.
The Gestaltists argued that a molar approach should be taken. Taking the molar approach and studying consciousness would mean concentrating on phenomenological experience, mental experience as it occurred to the naïve observer without further analysis.
Phenomenology, the technique used by the Gestaltists, is the study of that which naturally appears in consciousness. Taking this approach while studying behavior means concentrating on goal-directed or purposive behavior
What do you did Kant and the Gestaltists agree upon?
Kant believed that conscious experience is the result of the interaction between sensory stimulation and the actions of the faculties of the mind, or the mind add something to our conscious experience that sensory stimulation does not contain. If the phrase faculties of the mind is replaced by characteristics of the brain, there is considerable agreement between him and the Gestaltists.
Both believed that conscious experience cannot be reduced to sensory stimulation, and for both conscious experience is different from the elements that compose it. Therefore, looking for a one to one correspondence between sensory events and conscious experience is doomed to failure
Describe the Gestalt position with respect to problem-solving as reflected in Wertheimer’s book productive thinking
Contrasted learning according to Gestalt principles with rote memorization governed by external reinforcement and the laws of association. The former is based on an understanding of the nature of the problem. As we have seen, the existence of a problem create a cognitive disequilibrium that lasts until the problem is solved. The solution restores a cognitive harmony, and this restoration is all the reinforcement the learner needs. Because learning and problem-solving are personally satisfying, they are governed by intrinsic reinforcement rather than extra and sick reinforcement. He thought that we are motivated to learn and to solve problems because it is personally satisfying to do so, not because someone or something Else reinforces us were doing so. Because learning governed by Gestalt principles is based on an understanding of the structure of the problem, it is easily remembered and generalized to other relevant situations
An early Gestaltist who sought to explain human behavior in terms of the totality of influences acting on people rather than in terms of the manifestation of inner essences. He was mainly responsible for applying Gestalt principles to the topics of motivation and group dynamics
Kurt Lewin
Describe Lewins position with respect to Aristotelian and Galilean science
He distinguished between Aristotle’s view of nature, which emphasizes inner essences and categories, and Galileo’s view, which emphasizes outer causation and the dynamics of forces.
According to Leew in, Galileo revolutionized science when he changed its focus from inner causation to a more comprehensive notion of causation. For Galileo the behavior of an object or organism is determined by the total forces acting on the object or organism at the moment and causation springs not from inner essences but from physical forces; thus, he eliminated the idea of distinct categories characterized by their own essences and their own associated inward drives
In psychology, switching from an Aristotelian to a Galilean perspective would mean deemphasizing such notions as instincts, tights, and even averages and emphasizing the complex, dynamic forces acting on an individual at any given moment. For Lewin, these dynamic forces-and not any type of inner essences-explain human behavior
According to Lewin, the totality of the psychological facts that existing ones awareness at any given moment
Consists of all influences acting on a person at a given time
Life space
According to Lewin, those things of which a person is aware at any given moment
Psychological facts
Consists of an awareness of internal events such as hunger, Payne, and fatigue, external events such as restaurants, restrooms, other people, stop signs, and angry dogs, and recollections of prior experiences such as knowing that a particular person is pleasant or unpleasant.
According to Lewin, psychological rather than biological needs
Quasi needs
Describe Lewins position with respect to motivation
He believed that people seek a cognitive balance. Both biological and psychological needs cause tension in the life space, and the only way to reduce the tension is through satisfaction of the need. Psychological needs, which Leew and called quasi-needs, include such intentions as wanting a car, wanting to go to a concert, or wanting to go to medical school
According to Lewin, the type of conflict that occurs when a person is attracted to two goals at the same time
Approach-approach conflict
For example, needing to choose from two attractive items on a menu
According to Lewin, the type of conflict that occurs when a person is repelled by two goals at the same time
Avoidance-avoidance conflict
For example, when one must get a job or not have enough money
According to Lewin, the type of conflict that occurs when a person is attracted to and repelled by the same at the same time
Approach-avoidance conflict
For example, when having a T-bone steak is an appealing idea but it is one of the most expensive items on the menu
Lewins extension of Gestalt principles to the study of group behavior
Group dynamics
Describe Lewins position with respect to group dynamics
A group can be viewed as a physical system just as the brain can be. In both cases, the behavior of individual elements is determined by the configuration of the existing field of energy. The nature or configuration of a group will strongly influence the behavior of its members. Among the members of each group, there exists what Lewin called a dynamic interdependence
