Graziano & Raulin
Research Methods (9th edition)
IX. GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY
Wundt’s experimental study of the elements of consciousness through introspection and Titchener’s even more molecular structuralism dominated psychology from the 1880s to about 1920. However, in the early 20th Century, several important movements in psychology were under way, all of them taking exception to various aspects of Wund’s and Titchener’s approaches. They would also, of course, eventually take exception to each other. Those new directions included the intellectual schools of Behaviorism, Gestalt Psychology, and Psychoanalysis. Functionalism was also emerging during that same period. This was the broad movement in the United States toward the application of psychological science to understanding the organism in its interactions with, and adaptation to, the environment. Tied closely to this broad functional movement was the development of applied psychology--using psychology to help solve real-world problems.
This section will present Gestalt psychology, which emerged around 1912. It began in Germany with Wertheimer and his two assistants, Koffka and Kohler, and continued as an active movement through the 1950s in the United States. Lewin, although not an actual founder of Gestalt psychology, was active in this German school and made major contributions to it. This section will focus on Max Wertheimer and Kurt Lewin.