The Gestalt psychologists belonged to a movement that began in Germany and became influential in the 1920s. What does the word gestalt mean in German and why is it well-suited to this theory?

How did Gestalt psychologists study the organization of the visual world? Name four Gestalt principles and give an example that illustrates each principle.

What will be an ideal response?

Answer: A good answer will include the following key points.
• The German word gestalt means form or configuration.
• The Gestalt psychologists' motto was "The whole is more than a sum of its parts."
• They observed that when we perceive something, properties emerge from the configuration as a whole that are not found in any particular component.
• One observation was that a visual stimulus is organized into figure and ground.
• They proposed several principles of organization:
o Proximity: Objects that are close to each other tend to be grouped together.
o Closure: The brain tends to fill in gaps in a stimulus in order to perceive complete forms.
o Similarity: Objects that are alike in some way tend to be perceived as belonging together.
o Continuity: Lines and patterns tend to be perceived as continuing in time or space.
• Illustrations will be similar to those on page 189 of the text.