Gestalt Psychology

        Hello... It has been a while since I posted about education  and LET-related topics. I honestly lost my drive updating this blog since I was banned from my advertising provider because of a simple and honest mistake. I was a bit frustrated by the fact that I could have earn even just a small amount of bucks through page views and impressions. Nevertheless, upon reading some comments I have just read, I am inspired to write more education topics just for the sake of helping future teachers to survive college life and even pass(or top) the LET. Just recently, I am hooked into physics (as if...) and I am really inspired by physicist Brian Greene and his book entitled The Fabric of the Cosmos. Aside from fantastic and splendid things I learned about the cosmos, I am really awed and amazed (and a bit jealous) by how Brian Greene explains the mind-blogging topics of cosmology and physics. I am in one way or another (as if...) shared his style and intention to explain things as simply as possible. His book is a must-read even for a math-o-phobic people and is not into science. I tell you, you will turn your view about the universe and reality upside-down.
     Now going back to my usual education topics, let me explain to you one of my favorite theories in learning and psychology---Gestalt Psychology. From the name itself, I really find the theory mysterious and enigmatic. Some education students wonder how this theory applies to education when in fact most of the classroom practices most teachers do are rooted from this theory.
      Gestalt psychology is a holistic approach to learning that emphasizes the entirety rather than individual parts (The whole is greater than the sum of its parts is the cliche of this theory but the original phrase is "the whole is other than the sum of the parts"). According to this theory, the brain thinks in whole, in parallel, in analog, and with self-organizing tendencies. This implies that learning is consists of the grasping of a structural whole and not just a mechanistic response to a stimulus. Learners are viewed as active participants, restructuring information they perceive in order to understand it.
     Gestalt psychologists suggests that learners' perception is guided by principles or laws. These are:

Law of Proximity

Law of Pragnanz

Law of Similarity

Law of Continuity

Law of Closure

Law of Figure/Ground

Foreground tend to be perceived and paid attention first. A stimulus will be perceived as separate from its ground.

Now, the question is, how can we apply these principles to teaching? Hmmmm... Watch out for my next post about the application of this theory in the teaching and learning process.

Images retrieved from:  http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/ss/gestaltlaws.htm