Gestalt psychology Explained.

Introduction.

"The whole is different from the sum of its parts". This sentence is the exact illusion of the Gestalt school of psychology.

The founder was Max Wertheimer and co-founder were Kurt Kofka and Wolfgang. They were also students of Max Wertheimer. It is a school of thought that sees the human mind and behaviour as a whole. It says, " We tend to see the object, as a whole while making sense of the environment, not only their individual components."

This school of thought plays a major role in studying human sensation and perception. We have all witnessed the application of Gestalt psychology on the internet through following images.

People believe that Gestalt psychology was founded in response to the structuralism, which is totally opposite of it, they believe in details to make sense of human behaviour.

Key Elements.

The key explanation of Gestalt psychology is that we humans tend to focus on bigger picture; for example, the founders performed an experiment using three lights in dark....

All three lights are placed in a triangular pattern. When one light is turned on and the other two are off then, it's time to turn on the second light, while the first and third are off, and then it's time to turn on the third one, while the first and second are off.

When repeating this process at accelerating speed. Our brain will perceive, this whole process as one light moving in a triangular pattern at rapid speed.

Why did the Gestalt Phenomenon 

happened?

The fusion of components into a single image is explained by Gestalt, who argues that brain contain structural fields of electrochemical forces that exist prior to the sensory stimulating upon entering such as field. Sensory data both modify the structure of the field and are modified by it. What we experience consciously results from the interaction of the sensory data and the force fields in the brain.

The situation is similar to one in which metal particles are placed into a magnetic field.The nature of the field will have a strong influence on how particles are distributed but the characteristics of the particles will also influence the distribution. For example, larger more numerous particles will be distributed differently within the field, than smaller less numerous particles. In the case of cognitive experience , the important point is that the field of brain's activity transform the sensory data and give it dark characteristics that it wouldn't otherwise possess.

According to the analysis ,the whole exists prior to the parts which are those individual sensations and it's this the whole that gives meaning to the parts that helps us to interpret them.

Gestalt phenomenon shouldn't be confused with the Gestalt therapy, which is a different thing

The Seven principles of Gestalt 

Psychology.

Each of these principles express a unique way  a human mind processes and interpretes complex visual elements into more understanding patterns

1. Similarity.

Our minds look for the similarity and group like-minded objects together, whether they are similar in shape, size , colour, pattern etc. lt makes it easy for our brains to comprehend things.

2. Continuity

You have seen this phenomenon in many brand's logos. It explains how our brain perceives visual stimulations and makes its own interpretations. We patterned the objects of an image, which does look similar and perceived  it as a single object, rather than a different object. For example take a look at the Amazon and Coca cola brand logos, Instagram stories, navigation maps. It is an important phenomenon used in digital marketing, web designs, etc.

3. Proximity

Widely used in motion pictures, without you even realizing it. When we used principles of human visual perception deliberately, you would see differences in your work. 

" Proximity principle states that we tend to group objects that are placed close to each other.  Regardless of their shape, sizes or even colour. Take example of a menu card of restaurant. In 1920, the movie named The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a prime example of the proximity principle, in the way its scenes were shot.

4. Closer.

The principle states, that people will fill in the blanks between dashes, to complete their visual experiences. For example, see the dotted circles in the soccer ball and the image of the panda given below. The brain focuses on the whole to form an image rather than contemplating  different components. 

The components should look similar and form a pattern that indicates the object, we have seen in the past. It is because our brain tries to simplify the complicated stimulus to help us make sense of the world.

5. Pragnanz.

Also known as the  law of the good figure or the law of simplicity. It prevents us from becoming overwhelmed by stimulus. The Human mind grasps simplistic ideas to quickly make judgements. We connect the dots to make a speedy interpretation. You must have seen examples of this principle on social media. 

The above image shows various lines and curves. When a person looks at this image, it will be difficult to make an interpretation but due to the Pragnanz principle our mind makes haste to make an interpretation. 

6. Figure and Ground.

People see images as figures and ground. The figure represents the central object and the ground is background. There could be more than one exposition of the images, basd on your own understanding of the stimulus. These images often appear in black and white. The classic example is the face- and-vase illusion. The exposition depends on whether we perceive it as black or white. 

7. Common Region.

It stated that when elements are group to form a boundary or marking, the elements are considered to be similar to each other, even if they are not. It is much indistinguishable from the similarity principle but the presence of a boundary is a necessary condition in common region. The greatest example of it is the Venn diagram. I am sure you all heard of it in the mathematics class in elementary school. 

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