WERTHEIMER, MAX (1880-1943)


Max Wertheimer was a German psychologist and was the creator of Gestalt psychology . He taught at the University of Frankfurt and there he carried out the first experiment of this new psychology. This experiment was based on the phenomenon of apparent movement, which he called fi phenomenon . The fi phenomenon occurs every time we attend a film projection: a series of static isolated photographs acquire movement for perception if they are presented in a certain way. Using a stethoscope for this purpose, he was able to prove that the phenomenon depended on certain critical time intervals; and what is more important, he maintained that he could not explain it to him from the isolated sensory elements or from any other series of psychological elements. It was an irreducible experience, in which the Gestalt or total configuration preceded the parties. With this argument he openly opposed the school of structuralism and the teachings of Wilhelm Wundt.

Wertheimer established a series of laws of perceptual organization, based on the fact that perceptual organizations are innate. Our tendency to perceive objects as configurations or organized totalities is a given element, which proceeds from the way in which the human nervous system processes the data. The psychology of Gestalt, then, is based basically on the doctrine of fanaticism.

When they participated in that first experiment, Köhler and Koffka did not know their purpose. At the end of the experience, Weathermen explained to them what it was about, and from then on they became enthusiastic supporters of the psychology of Gestalt , and worked hard to spread their postulates. Over time, these three researchers emigrated to the United States and founded the Gestalt school in this country.

While still residing in Germany, Weathermen established personal friendship with Albert Einstein and with the collaboration of the latter he studied his creative processes from the point of view of Gestalt psychology . He was able to show that inspiration often came to Einstein in the form of a grand idea (in essence, a Gestalt), and only later did the insights derive from it (eg, a specific formula). Weathermen included his analysis of Einstein's creative processes in his book Productive Thinking (1959).

Weathermen established a series of laws of perceptual organization, such as that of closure and that of the figure-ground relationship. A basic premise of both is that these perceptual organizations are innate. Our tendency to perceive objects as configurations or organized totalities is a given element, which proceeds from the way in which the human nervous system processes the data. The psychology of Gestalt , then, is based basically on the doctrine of fanaticism .

Applying his ideas to the psychology of education , Weathermen argued that it was necessary to teach children global concepts, which would contribute to their general understanding, rather than inculcate the details; because when the details are taught first, students often get confused and fail to understand the meaning of what they learn.

Weathermen exercised much gravitation in the scientific environment despite not being a prolific author; in fact, the diffusion of Gestalt psychology comes rather from the writings of Köhler. Two important publications of Weathermen are his germinal article Experimental studies on the perception of the movement , published in Germany in 1912, and the already mentioned book Productive Thinking (1959).

Quotes M. Wertheimer

There are invisible powers that paralyze the forces of action of those who are destined to succumb.

The basic thesis of the Gestalt theory could be formulated as follows: there are contexts in which what is occurring in a set can not be deduced from the characteristics of the separated pieces, but in the reverse; what happens is a part of the whole.

There are still psychologists who, in a basic misunderstanding, think that the theory of Gestalt tends to underestimate the role of past experience. The theory of Gestalt tries to differentiate between the sum of the parts, on the one hand, and the structures, on the other, both in sub-totalities and in the total field, to develop appropriate scientific tools for the investigation of the latter.

The thought is to foresee, realizing the structural characteristics and structural requirements; the proceeding is determined by this requirement, thus changing the situation in the direction of structural improvements.

Man is not just a part of a field, he is a part of the members of his group. When people are together, as when they are at work, then the most unnatural behavior, which only appears in the final stages of the years or in the abnormal cases, would behave as separate Egos. Under normal circumstances those who work in common, each one forms a significant part to make the whole work.

Science is based on the will to truth. With the will of truth that remains or falls. A decrease in the level of will, even slightly, makes science in the core sick. And not only science, also man. The will of truth, pure and unadulterated, is one of the essential conditions of existence; If you commit yourself, the standard easily becomes a kind of tragic caricature of yourself.

Often, the great discovery and most importantly, is that a certain question is found.

Truth and falsehood and understanding, is not necessarily something purely intellectual, away from feelings and attitudes. ... It is in the total realization of men instead of their true or false statements, what a man does, in his real reaction to other men and things, in his will to do justice, to live in one with them. Here lies the internal connection between truth and justice. In the field of behavior and action, the problem is repeated as soon as there are differences between pieces.

There are totalities, the behavior of which is not determined by the sum of their individual elements, where the partial processes are in turn determined by the intrinsic nature of the whole. It is the hope of Gestalt theory to determine the nature of such totalities.