This article discusses the importance of understanding concepts in the learning process whose peak can anticipate the occurrence of misconceptions in mathematics. The purpose of this study is to link ...mathematics learning with the psychological condition of students. Gestalt psychology says that learning is not just accumulating knowledge, but learning is a process of interaction between the individual and his environment. The research method uses a literature study by raising issues from Gestalt Psychology about meaning, understanding, and insight. The results of this study indicate that through the ability of insight, students are expected to be able to relate learning to everyday life, especially in Mathematics subjects where at the peak students are able to solve mathematical problems by understanding their own concepts, which in turn can anticipate all forms of misconceptions in mathematics.
In this article, I consider what I have long taken to be the two foundational principles of the Berlin School of Gestalt psychology, namely, that perceptual configurations are “distinguishable from” ...or “other than” the elements from which they are configured and that the identity of such “elements” is determined by their relation to other elements within perceptual configurations. Yet, while it seems clear that Max Wertheimer (1880–1943), Kurt Koffka (1886–1941), and Wolfgang Köhler (1887–1967) were all committed to the first principle, it is less clear that they were committed (or were all committed) to the second principle. This is perhaps not surprising because commitment to the second principle would seem to undermine the first principle. I note that Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) appears to have been one of few psychologists clearly committed to the second principle, which is perhaps why, despite appearances to the contrary, he does not seem to have been committed to the first principle. Finally, I discuss some questions raised by this analysis and relate it to recent developments in theoretical psychology and a perennial question in social psychology.
Gestalt psychologists posited that we always organize our visual input in the best way possible under the given conditions. Both weakening or removing unnecessary details (i.e., leveling) and ...exaggerating distinctive features (i.e., sharpening) can contribute to achieving a better organization. When is a feature leveled or sharpened, however? We investigated whether the importance of a feature for discrimination among alternatives influences which organizational tendency occurs. Participants were simultaneously presented with four figures composed of simple geometrical shapes, and asked to reconstruct one of these figures in such a way that another participant would be able to recognize it among the alternatives. The four figures differed either qualitatively or only quantitatively (i.e., far or close context). Regarding quantitative differences, two feature dimensions were varied, with one manifesting a wider range of variability across the alternatives than the other. In case of a smaller variability range, the target figure was either at the extreme of the range or had an in-between value. As expected, the results indicated that sharpening occurred more often for the feature with an extreme value, for the feature exhibiting more variability, and for the features of figures presented in the close context, than for the feature with a non-extreme value, exhibiting less variability, or in the far context. In line with Metzger's (1941) definition of prägnant Gestalts, the essence of a Gestalt is context-dependent, and this will influence whether leveling or sharpening of a feature will lead to the best organization in the specific context.
In 1912, Max Wertheimer published his paper on phi motion, widely recognized as the start of Gestalt psychology. Because of its continued relevance in modern psychology, this centennial anniversary ...is an excellent opportunity to take stock of what Gestalt psychology has offered and how it has changed since its inception. We first introduce the key findings and ideas in the Berlin school of Gestalt psychology, and then briefly sketch its development, rise, and fall. Next, we discuss its empirical and conceptual problems, and indicate how they are addressed in contemporary research on perceptual grouping and figure-ground organization. In particular, we review the principles of grouping, both classical (e.g., proximity, similarity, common fate, good continuation, closure, symmetry, parallelism) and new (e.g., synchrony, common region, element and uniform connectedness), and their role in contour integration and completion. We then review classic and new image-based principles of figure-ground organization, how it is influenced by past experience and attention, and how it relates to shape and depth perception. After an integrated review of the neural mechanisms involved in contour grouping, border ownership, and figure-ground perception, we conclude by evaluating what modern vision science has offered compared to traditional Gestalt psychology, whether we can speak of a Gestalt revival, and where the remaining limitations and challenges lie. A better integration of this research tradition with the rest of vision science requires further progress regarding the conceptual and theoretical foundations of the Gestalt approach, which is the focus of a second review article. (Contains 24 figures and 6 tables.)
Field theory was central to Kurt Lewin's work yet, after his death, interest in it declined significantly until the 1990s when a variant, force field analysis, became widely used. This paper examines ...the origins, purpose and continuing relevance of field theory. It especially looks at the influences of gestalt psychology, topology and Ernst Cassirer's philosophy of science on its development. It argues that Lewin's attempt to replace conventional topology with his own Lewinian mathematics‐based topology in pursuit of scientific rigour resulted in the undermining of its relevance. The paper also compares force field analysis with Lewin's original conception of field theory and shows that it has significant weaknesses in terms of rigour. It concludes that a return to Lewin's original conception of field theory, based on gestalt psychology and conventional topology, can provide academics and practitioners with a valuable and much‐needed approach to managing change.
Purpose
This research aims to investigate the moderating impact of product shadows in gestalt versus component product frames on ad effectiveness perceptions. It offers insights on shadow-compatible ...and incompatible modes of product presentation color as well as consumer visual processing modes that offer optimal advertising effectiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
This research begins with a content analysis of some popular print magazines and builds on qualitative findings from interviews conducted with two industry executives. It then undertakes four experiments to test the proposed hypotheses following a more deductive approach.
Findings
Results reveal that incorporating product shadows increase ad effectiveness for gestalt products presented in black-and-white, but lower ad effectiveness for component products presented in color. Additionally, ad effectiveness for a gestalt (component) product presented in black-and-white (color) increases (decreases) in the presence of product shadow when consumers are currently processing in a compatible, gestalt (component) visual mode.
Research limitations/implications
In addition to extending the limited marketing research on product shadows, this research contributes to the literature studying information communication theory (ICT) and advertising effectiveness, Construal-Level Theory (CLT), Heuristic–Systematic Model (HSM) of information processing and stylistic visual cues used in advertising.
Practical implications
This research is focused on advertising effectiveness, providing a tangible outcome of interest to practitioners. An optimal use of this simple, inexpensive and stylistic ad element can help managers design effective communications without forgoing established brand equity.
Originality/value
Limited marketing research on product shadows has only looked at their impact on product luxury implications (Sharma, 2016), experiential versus functional brand evaluations (Sharma, 2018) and product heaviness perceptions (Sharma and Romero, 2020). To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work is the first to investigate specific gestalt versus component product contexts and the role of black-and-white and colored product presentations, along with specific consumer visual processing modes where shadows either increase or decrease the overall ad effectiveness.
Our first review article (Wagemans et al., 2012) on the occasion of the centennial anniversary of Gestalt psychology focused on perceptual grouping and figure-ground organization. It concluded that ...further progress requires a reconsideration of the conceptual and theoretical foundations of the Gestalt approach, which is provided here. In particular, we review contemporary formulations of holism within an information-processing framework, allowing for operational definitions (e.g., integral dimensions, emergent features, configural superiority, global precedence, primacy of holistic/configural properties) and a refined understanding of its psychological implications (e.g., at the level of attention, perception, and decision). We also review 4 lines of theoretical progress regarding the law of Pragnanz--the brain's tendency of being attracted towards states corresponding to the simplest possible organization, given the available stimulation. The first considers the brain as a complex adaptive system and explains how self-organization solves the conundrum of trading between robustness and flexibility of perceptual states. The second specifies the economy principle in terms of optimization of neural resources, showing that elementary sensors working independently to minimize uncertainty can respond optimally at the system level. The third considers how Gestalt percepts (e.g., groups, objects) are optimal given the available stimulation, with optimality specified in Bayesian terms. Fourth, structural information theory explains how a Gestaltist visual system that focuses on internal coding efficiency yields external veridicality as a side effect. To answer the fundamental question of why things look as they do, a further synthesis of these complementary perspectives is required. (Contains 10 figures and 1 table.)
Numerous studies have tested the hypothesis that facial identity and emotional expression are independently processed, but a solid conclusion has been difficult to reach, with the literature showing ...contradictory results. We argue that this is partly due to different researchers using different definitions of perceptual integration and independence, usually vague and/or simply operational, and also due to lack of proper stimulus control. Here, we performed a study using three-dimensional realistic computer-generated faces for which the discriminability of identities and expressions, the intensity of the expressions, and low-level features of the faces were controlled. A large number of participants, distributed across twelve experimental groups, performed identification tasks for the six basic emotional expressions and the neutral expression (between 2018 and 2019). A multidimensional signal detection model was utilized to analyze the data, which allowed us to dissociate between multiple formally defined notions of independence and holism. Results showed strong and robust violations of perceptual independence that were consistent across all experiments and suggest Gestalt-like perceptual integration of face identity and expression. To date, our results provide the strongest evidence for holistic/Gestalt processing found among face perception studies that have used formal definitions of independence and holism. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
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