What was the Gestalt school about and how did it relate to other approaches in science and psychology?

In 1912, Wolfgang Köhler was in his 20s when he participated in Max Wertheimer’s phi-phenomenon experiment that can be used to trace the origins of the Gestalt school in psychology. Köhler went on to become a leading figure in European psychology but, like many academics of his generation, left Germany in the 1930s due to the social and political climate associated with the rise of the Nazi regime in Germany.

Köhler continued his academic career in the US and even became president of the American Psychological Association in 1959. That year, Köhler addressed the APA convention to provide an overview of the Gestalt school and its place in psychology.

Questions on the texts

Read Wolfgang Köhler’s address to the American Psychological Association (http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Kohler/today.htm, core reading) and try to answer the following questions:

1. Which areas of science does Köhler compare to Gestalt psychology?
2. What is Köhler’s opinion of the state of psychology in the 1950s?
3. What is Köhler’s suggestion for the role of the Gestalt school in the future of psychology?

Water can be said to be wet, but a single H2O molecule cannot – Köhler believed that physics teaches us that the combination of several elements can lead to the emergence of molar properties that go beyond those of its constituents. Gestalt psychologists used such arguments as inspiration (and justification) for investigating emergent properties that result from the combination of psychological elements.
(CC BY-SA 2.0; Davide Restivo)

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References

Köhler, W. (1959). Gestalt psychology today. American Psychologist, 14, 727-734. http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Kohler/today.htm

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