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GESTALT THEORY (GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY)

The Gestalt Principles are a set of laws arising from 1920s’ psychology, describing how humans
typically see objects by grouping similar elements, recognizing patterns and simplifying complex images.

The Gestalt Principles of grouping (“Gestalt” is German for “unified whole”) represent the
culmination of the work of early 20th-century German psychologists Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka and
Wolfgang Kohler, who sought to understand how humans typically gain meaningful perceptions from
chaotic stimuli around them. Wertheimer and company identified a set of laws addressing this natural
compulsion to seek order amid disorder, where the mind “informs” what the eye sees by making sense of
a series of elements as an image, or illusion.

The main premise of Gestalt education theory is that the “whole is greater than the sum of its
parts.” In a Gestalt approach, it is believed students are able to comprehend a concept in its entirety
rather than broken down into segments.

“A person’s ability to organize and transform what is taught into a general pattern (or Gestalt).
They believed that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and breaking the behavior into its
components; generally destroy the whole concept of behavior” Aliakbari, Parvin, Heidari, & Haghani
(2015).

Gestalt theory can be considered part of the phenomenology approach to education in that the
learner comes with perceptions and relates to past experiences which have a significant impact on their
approach to learning. Education is delivered with relation to the learners real life experiences and this is
when learning happens best. The Gestalt theory of learning presents information or images that contain
gaps and elements that requires the learner to use critical thinking and problem solving skills.

GESTALT THEORY IN HEALTHCARE


“This implies that clinicians have the ability to indirectly make clinical decisions in absence of
complete information and can generate solutions that are characterized by generalizations that allow
transfer from one problem to the next. In essence, clinical gestalt is pattern recognition and is
characterized as a heuristic approach to decision-making” (Cook, 2009). Gestalt Theory could be
considered clinical judgment and decision making process.

LAWS OF GROUPING IN GESTALT THEORY


1. LAW OF SIMILARITY
The law of similarity suggests that things similar things tend to appear grouped together.
Grouping can occur in both visual and auditory stimuli. In the image below, for example, you
probably see the groupings of colored circles as rows rather than just a collection of dots.

2. LAW OF PROXIMITY

According to the law of proximity, things that are near each other seem to be grouped
together. In the below image, the circles on the left appear to be part of one grouping while those
on the right appear to be part of another. Because the objects are close to each other, we group
them together.

3. LAW OF CONTINUATION

The law of continuity holds that points that are connected by straight or curving lines are
seen in a way that follows the smoothest path. Rather than seeing separate lines and angles, lines
are seen as belonging together.
4. LAW OF CLOSURE

According to the law of closure, things are grouped together if they seem to complete
some entity. Our brains often ignore contradictory information and fill in gaps in information. In
the image below, you probably see the shapes of a circle and rectangle because your brain fills in
the missing gaps in order to create a meaningful image.

5. LAW OF 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. This law holds that
objects in the environment are seen in a way that makes them appear as simple as possible. You
see the image below as a series of overlapping circles rather than an assortment of curved,
connected lines.
6. LAW OF FIGURE-GROUND

Figure-Ground is defined as the ability to separate the figure in a picture from the
background. The Rubin Goblet - if black region is recognized as foreground then two faces are
recognized, if white region is recognized as foreground then a goblet is recognized, but the two
can never be recognized simultaneously.

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