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"The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of its Parts" - this saying has become the motto for Gestalt psychology. As Behaviorism and Introspection (other Psychological Schools of Thought) seemed to focus on analyzing basic parts, Gestalt psychology is more concerned with the big picture. Gestalt, which is a German word that means unified or meaningful whole, was created as an alternative view to these theories. Although the founding of Gestalt can be attributed to many philosophers and psychologists, Max Wertheimer is often noted as being the founder.

Gestalt psychology is based on the idea that we often experience things that are not a part of our simple sensations. When Max Wertheimer looked into the toy stroboscope he bought at the Frankfurt train station, he witnessed a series of individual sensory events, which being shown in rapid succession, appeared to be in motion. He saw the same effect when he experimented in his laboratory with individual lights, flashing a sequence of them one after another. People may often witness this illusion during the holidays when Christmas lights appear to encircle the tree or during a trip to Las Vegas where the numerous neon signs appear to move. The idea that we perceive motion when it is nothing but individual parts stringed closely together is called the phi phenomenon, and it is also the basic principle behind animated cartoons and motion pictures. In these instances, the theory "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" is true, as we are more concerned with the overall effect rather than the individual components that create it.

The Gestalt Laws of Organization

The phi phenomenon is just one of the few principles of organization that apply to Gestalt psychology. The most general law is the "Law of Pragnanz." Pragnanz, being the German word for pregnant, does not have the implication of pregnant with child, but rather pregnant with meaning. Basically this law implies that as people, we innately perceive and experience things in a regular, orderly, simple, symmetrical way.

"The Law of Closure" implies that if there is something missing in an otherwise complete image, we will automatically add it. For example, if there was a set of dots outlining the shape of a star, we will still perceive the figure as being a star, rather than a set of dots.

"The Law of Similarity" says that we naturally group objects that are similar to one another together when they are mixed with other objects in a larger formation. As a result we

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