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often group similar shapes, patterns, and colors together just looking at them.

"The Law of Proximity" states that objects that are close together, belong together. For instance, if there is a sequence of objects, we tend to perceive it as being a line, instead of individual objects that are set side by side.

"The Law of Symmetry" causes us to view images that appear to be the reverse of one another as together as well.

"The Law of Continuity" makes us view an image of two lines intersecting on another as being two continuous lines rather than a series of angles that begin and end at certain points.

The "Figure-ground law" is another Gestalt psychology principle that says we have an innate tendency to see one aspect of an image to be the figure or fore-ground while the other as the ground of back-ground. This principle is shown with the classic black and white image that can be seen as either a black vase or two white faces looking at one another, depending on nothing but changing out attitude.

The Way We Learn

Gestalt psychology also theorized that learning is more effective when students learn generalizations and principles that can be applied to a variety of situations rather than simply rote memorization, which is more of a conditioned response than actual learning. This idea can not only be seen in humans, but in animals as well. While observing Sultan, a caged chimpanzee, Wolfgang Kohler, was amazed to see the chimp using sticks that he just discovered as a means to retrieve fruit that was out of reach. In another experiment, Kohler observed chickens that were trained to peck at a grey board. However, when the grey board was removed as and two new boards, a black and a white one, was replaced, the chickens instinctively began to peck at the white one. This shows that the chickens understood the relationship between the lighter board and the reward, corn. This generalization of knowledge and our ability to apply it to different circumstances is known as transposition.

Unfortunately, Gestalt psychology lost influence due to the Nazis coming into power in Germany while its founders and most influential psychologists were scattered across the globe. The fact that Behaviorism in the United States was too strong for Gestalt psychology to overcome ultimately led to its inactivity. However, the basic principles that this theory lived by continue to be valid and many psychologist today see the founders of Gestalt to be pioneers in their field.

Sources:

http://www.webre novators.com/psych/GestaltPsyc hology.htm
http://webspace.ship .edu/cgboer/gestalt.html

Learn more about this author, Sharon Stellarini.
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