ABSTRACT
This chapter presents Gestalt psychology, a system that directly challenged behaviorism and other reductionistic psychologies. This chapter opens with biographies of early leaders in Gestalt psychology, Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler, and Kurt Koffka. It then turns to the antecedents of Gestalt ideas and then to fundamentals of the Gestalt system. The chapter next examines Gestalt developmental perspectives and Gestalt views regarding scientific methods and the relationship of mind and brain. Gestalt ideas have remained misunderstood, and therefore this chapter addresses some of these misunderstandings directly. Next, the chapter turns to the second generation of Gestalt psychologists, including Kurt Lewin, Bluma Zeigarnik, and Hedwig von Restorff, before examining Gestalt contributions to applied psychology and ways that Gestalt ideas continue to shape psychological science.
