ABSTRACT
The informal style of Max Wertheimer's prose in Productive Thinking is a significant departure from that of his earlier writings and was perhaps closer to the style of his lectures than was true of any of his other publications. As the instigator of productive thinking, the S1 state is structurally incomplete and contains stresses, strains, "a gap or structural trouble." Productive thinking as a process is consistent with Wertheimer's devotion to the rational aspects of human nature and to people's "thirst for true orientation." Early in 1936, Wertheimer met personally with Max Lincoln Schuster, the publisher and co-founder in 1924 of the publishing firm of Herbert A. Simon and Max Lincoln Schuster, about the preparation of a manuscript on Gestalt theory in general and productive thinking in particular. Productive thinking is characterized by the pattern of "Type α" thinking, which involves looking for gaps, closure of gaps, centering, grouping, and a transition from poor structures to good structures.
