Thinking back over all of the psychology courses you have taken, what contributi

Question

Thinking back over all of the psychology courses you have taken, what contributions of Gestalt Psychology, or remnants of Gestalt Psychology, do you see in modern psychology? Explain how aspects of modern psychological science show roots in Gestalt Psychology. Note that this question is not about how you see Gestalt Psychology in modern life, but is about how this historical viewpoint impacts the scientific field today. Do you see any examples of Gestalt Psychology and Behaviorism coming together in modern psychology?

Explanation / Answer

Answer- The school of Gestalt psychology was established in 20th century by Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler. Gestalt psychology looks at things as a whole rather than as individual elements. This field of psychology has great contributions in the establishment of modern psychology. The main foundations of Gestalt psychology are memory, perception and learning which have a great place in modern psychology also. The Gestalt school of psychology provided an approach which helps to understand the one's internal self and different experiences. It mainly focuses on the visual perception and experiencing psychological events as a whole.

Gestalt psychology have many contributions in modern psychology. One of them is Gestalt theory which is about raising an individual's needs, feelings, senses and boundaries. This theory contributes to modern psychology by defining that all human are part of the society and can not be isolated. This theory also contributed by giving an understanding of internal self which palys a major role in defining actions, reactions and people's behaviour. It has a great impact on modern psychology. The concepts of perception, memory and learning have been provided by Gestalt psychology. Different aspects of modern psychology show roots in Gestalt psychology especially for the modern study of perception. In modern language the word 'Gestalt' is used to mean the way the things have been put together and give rise to the words like'pattern' and 'configuration'. The Gestalt principles were later used in the field of social psychology. thinking and motivation. Modern psychology also uses the Gestalt concepts to solve the issues in ethics, political behaviour and the nature of truth. So, we can say that Gestalt psychology has provided a base for the development of modern psychology.

Gestalt psychology was seen as an alternative of behaviourism. Both Gestalt psychology and Behaviourism contributed together in modern psychology through experimental methods and group dynamics. Modern psychology was influenced by both of the approaches of psychology in the context of learning and perception.

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