COGNITIVE

PERSPECTIVE
GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY
REJOICE A. SUAREZ
GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY
–The term Gestalt (ge-SHTALT) is a German
word roughly means “form” or “configuration”,
“shape”, “essence”, or “whole”
–The primary focus of this theory is on
perception and how people assign meaning to
visual stimuli.
–The whole is more than the sum of all its parts.
FOUNDERS OF GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY

WOLFGANG KOHLER MAX WERTHEIMER KURT KOFFKA

GESTALT PRINCIPLES
According to Gestalt psychologist, the way we form our
perceptions are guided by certain principles or laws. These
principles or laws determine what we see or make of things or
situation.

1. Law of proximity
2. Law of Similarity
3. Law of Closure
4. Law f Good Continuation
5. Law of Good Pragnanz
6. Law of Figure/Ground
1. LAW OF PROXIMITY
When objects we are perceiving are near each other, we
 Related concepts or lessons should be taught aligned perceive
them as belonging together.
or closely to each other.
 This is the reason why subtraction is taught after
addition, multiplication after subtraction then
division after multiplication. Imagine teaching
addition then jumping directly to polygons
2. LAW OF SIMILARITY
Elements that look similar will be perceived as part of the same form.
 Similar lessons or contents should be grouped
We are prone to notice matching shapes, colors, and forms ( as opposed to looking for
what isn’t similar.
together o make learners develop understanding
more efficiently and effectively.
 This is the reason why lessons are grouped into units:
 Unit 1 is for Human body. Unit II is for energy and
motion, so on and so forth.
1. LAW OF CLOSURE
When we see incomplete elements in a visual, our brains tend to fill
 Incomplete information may make learners want to
in the gaps and see it as a whole.
discover what’s missing, rather than concentrating on
the given instruction.
 If a certain question is left unanswered or a step isn’t
clear, they will tend to concentrate on that confused
part of the process than the total process as a whole.
1. LAW OF GOOD CONTINUATION
– We perceive based on the patterns that establish implied direction
– Lesson should be presented in such a way that the
The mind continuous visual patterns. The eye continuous the direction
learners
it is going will see these as connected and continuous.

 “REVIEW” part of the lesson.

 This way the students will realize that their new
lesson actually has continuity and related to what
the already know or to the previous lesson.
1. LAW OF GOOD PRAGNANZ
– German term meaning “good figure” (law of good figure or aw of simplicity”
– Pragnanz states that when things are grasped as
Objects in the environment are seen in a way that makes them appear as
wholes, the minimal amount of energy is exerted in
simple as possible

thinking.
 In short, make your lesson holistic, and most of all
simple.
1. LAW OF FIGURE/GROUND
–For
We tend to pay
a figure to perceived, it must stand out from the
attention and
background.
perceive things in
 EMPHASIS
the foreground should be done on important aspects of
the
first.lesson.
A stimulus will
be perceived as
 For example,
separate from its
teachers should vary the tone of their
voice
grounds.or write boldly or underline the important key
words of the lesson.
 INSIGHT LEARNING

 The important aspect of learning was not

reinforcement, but the coordination of thinking to
create organization.
 Kohler’s theory suggested that learning could occur
when an individual perceives the relationships of the
elements before him and reorganize these elements
and come to a greater understanding or insight.
 HOW TO APPLY GESTALT THEORY
INTEACHING AND LEARNING
It is useful as a behavioral tool as it enables the teacher
to channel the pupil’s energy into thinking of an item or
subject as parts of a whole, e.g. a car, being metal, paint,
wheels etc.
By thinking of component and breaking down a
situation it enables for a more psychological process to
take place and overtime will broaden a pupils mind into
thinking of the sum of the whole rather than just a
complete thing of situation.
 THANK YOU
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