Gestalt Psychology, founded by Max Wertheimer, was to some extent a rebellion against the molecularism of Wundt’s program for psychology, in sympathy with many others at the time, including William James. In fact, the word Gestalt means a unified or meaningful whole, which was to be the focus of psychological study instead.

It had its roots in a number of older philosophers and psychologists:

The theory of gestalt psychology is based on the idea that we perceive the world in meaningful wholes(gestalts). There are rules of gestalt such as

  • law of pragnanz: we are driven to see things bearing(pregnant) organization, symmetry, regular and so on.
  • law of closure: we are tended to complete the missing parts and see things complete.
  • law of similarity: we tend to group similar items.
and so on. There are other gestalt laws that enhance us to see the world as wholes.

According to gestalt psychology learning is not literally understanding the very things around us but perceiving the relations in between. That is why the theory is known as contending an insight learning concept.They say that the world out there is meaningfully organized and learning takes place when we start to perceive these organizations.

Türkçe

Gestalt Psikolojisi
Eğitim psikolojisini uzun yıllar omuzlayan kuramlardan bir taneside gestalt kuramıdır. Max Wertheimer tarafından geliştirilen bu teori Wundt'un psikolojideki molekülercilik akımına bir tepki olarak ortaya çıkmıştır. Kökenleri eski düşünce ve filozoflara dayanan bu yaklaşımda evreni anlamlı(organize) bütünler olarak algıladığımız savunulur. Buna göre öğrenme gestalt kanunlarına göre(gebelik kanunu, yakınlık kanunu, benzerlik kanunu vb.) çevremizdeki organize bütünler arasındaki bağıl ilişkileri çözmek ile gelişirki buna sezgisel öğrenme adını vermişlerdir. Ancak buradaki sezgiden kasıt ilhamlar değil algılardır.