The term “Gestalt” is a German word. The word by itself means “form” or “sharp.” In English, it refers to the aspect of holism, which is defined as “all, whole, entire and total.” The origin of Gestalt psychology started during 1920’s and 1930’s, the psychologists were dominated by the study of visual perception. According to Gestalt Principles, it states that “Gestalt is also known as the "Law of Simplicity" or the "Law of Pragnanz" (the entire figure or configuration), which states that every stimulus is perceived in its most simple form.” Pragnanz is a German term means pregnant; Dr. C. George Boeree states that it is in sense of pregnant with meaning, rather than pregnant with child. Gestalt psychologists believed the basic principle that the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts. In other words, the whole was perceived differently and had greater meaning than its individual components.
The three founders of Gestalt theory are Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, and Kurt Koffka. According to Dr. C. George Boeree, “Gestalt psychology is based on the observation that we often experience things that are not a part of our simple sensations. The original observation was Wertheimer’s, when he noted that we perceive motion where there is nothing more than a rapid sequence of individual sensory events.” In perception, there are many principles explain how people visualize parts and comprehend the parts into a whole. There principles are called Gestalt Laws. The most general principle is the Law of Pragnanz as mentioned above. This law says that “we are innately driven to experience things in as good a gestalt as possible” (Gestalt Psychology). In the quote, the “Good” has a broad meaning, such as regular, orderly, simplici...
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The first, which he refers to as the “weak view” (5), is that we simply perceive with different sense modalities (e.g. touch, taste, vision, etc.). But, this view appears inadequate in the face of physiological and experiential evidence. O’Callaghan points out that neurological pathways activate in unison, and that our perception appears to us as one continuous experience, rather than subdivided into individual experiences of each different sense. (6) O’Callaghan admits that the senses often outwardly appear to be unimodal, experience does not seem broken up into different senses but appears continuous. He then goes on to support this claim with evidence from psychological
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...visual information is processed to extract identity, location, and ways that we might interact with objects. A prominent anatomical distinction is drawn between the "what" and "where" pathways in visual processing. However, the commonly labeled "where" pathways is also the "how" pathway, at least partially dedicated to action.
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Gestalt therapy is also similar to the psychoanalytic perspective because they both belief that different defense mechanisms influence a person’s relationship with others. It is also similar with the concept that dreams contain messages about a person’s life. Overall, this therapy wants the client to not look so much into what they “should” do, but to live fully without expectations or past habits being an influence (Daniels, 2005). Gestalt therapy does not explore the idea that a person’s thinking as something that needs to be changed (Brownell, 2010).
Waiten,W., (2007) Seventh Edition Psychology Themes and Variations. University of Nevada, Las Vegas: Thomson Wadsworth.
In the year 1896, a new term “theory of psychoanalysis” was invented by Sigmund Freud in which “it refers to all the processes that take place in our mind of an unconscious way and to a form of treatment of the nervous disorders” (Rodriquez). Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, was an Austrian neurologist who created and developed an entirely new approach to discover about the personality and the subconscious of the human. His creation in the psychology field was “at once a theory of the human psyche, a therapy for the relief of its ills, and an optic for the interpretation of culture and society” (Jay). Sigmund Freud is regarded as one of the most influential and controversial characters of the twentieth century due to his discoveries in many aspects of the field of psychology included Freud’s self-analysis that he left behind.
In “The Anatomy of Judgmen”t, M. L. J. Abercrombie discusses how information is gained through our perception. Abercrombie claims that interpretation is a very complicated task that people have been learning to exercise since birth. Each person has a different way of interpreting the objects or situations they see, because people often relate their own past experiences. She also explains two important concepts: schemata and context. She defines schemata as a way our mind functions by understanding new things perceived through sight, by relating it to an individual’s past experiences. Past experiences help interpret what is seen further, if the object fits one’s expectation or their schemata, and not something different from their past experiences. Her fundamental insight is that seeing is more complex than just passively registering what is seen, and consists of a form judgment for...
Freud, Sigmund. New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis. Ed. James Strachey. Trans. James Strachey. Standard. Vol. 22. London: Hogarth Press, 1964.
iv[iv] As quoted by in a lecture on Sigmund Freud, available at http://www.bham.ac.uk/english/bibliography/CurrentCourses/Freud/FreudLecture.html, 12 December 2001.
Merleau-Ponty distinguishes three aspects of the psychological process; basic sensations, perception, and the associations of memory (Merleau-Ponty, 1994). Basic sensations receive raw information from the world and transduce them for our perceptual processes. Perception unifies the infinite amount of information about our environment, from our environment, into a meaningful structure. Perception is interpretive, but its presentation of the world is as distal and objective. There are three central features of perception for Merleau-Ponty. First, perception is synthesized independently by the body and not by the mind (consciousness).
Gestalt therapy is existential, phenomenological, and process-based approach created on the premise that individuals must be understood in the context of their ongoing relationship with the environment. Awareness, choice and responsibility are the cornerstone of practice (Corey, 2013).
A severe economic depression, as well as the beginning of psychology as a social science, marked the 1890’s. Paranoia is known to be a thought process, heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid beliefs can also be associated with the feelings of powerlessness and victimization. When Christian von Ehrenfels founded gestalt psychology, William James also published “Principles of Psychology”, which introduces readers to four methods of psychology: analysis, introspection, experiment, and statistical studies. This period experienced a tremendous amount of growth within the scientific studies of the psychological mind, and can be known as the experimental stage of social sciences.
Gestalt and TA concept have been widely recognized for their role in psychotherapy. In this context, they provide the therapist with a framework which can be used to help their patients overcome mental problems and issues. As result, personal growth and development is likely to be attained. Their significance is illuminated by the fact that both of them encourage the patient’s ‘here and now’ awareness, which is fundamental in personal development (Brenner 2000).