PSYC 4600 1st EditionExam# 4 Study Guide Chapters 12-15 Chapter 12: Gestalt Psychology Gestalt: German term -- Form, shape, configuration; Also has connotation of wholeness or completeness Movement in Psychology in Germany and (later) U.S.Initially started as a “Revolt” against Wundt’s approach Gestalt psychologists accepted the value of consciousness while criticizing the attempt to reduce it to atoms or elements Influence from the changing zeitgeist in physics: Physicists were describing fields and organic wholesThe Gestalt Psychologists Max Wertheimer (1880-1943) Discovered the Phi Phenomenon Kicked off the movement Kurt Koffka (1886-1941) Introduced the word perception Wrote English-language article for American audience, but erroneous conclusions about sole focus on perception Wolfgang Köhler (1887-1967) Most prolific promoter of the Gestalt movement Studied chimpanzees on island of Tenerife in Canary IslandsAspects of the Gestalt Movement: Complete revision of the old order Perception is a whole, a Gestalt, and any attempt to analyze/reduce it to elements will destroy it**The Phi Phenomenon (Wertheimer) The illusion that two stationary flashing lights are moving from one place to another “Impression” of movementGestalt Principles of Perceptual Organization Rules by which we organize our perceptual world Premise: We perceive objects as unified wholes Perceptual organization occurs instantly, and is spontaneous and inevitable  Innate, not learned Simplicity – Law of Prägnanz: We tend to perceive stimuli in the simplest way Proximity Continuity Similarity Closure Figure/ground The Gestalt psychologists emphasized these factors of perceptual organization over the effects of learning or experience**Gestalt Studies of Learning Largely based on Köhler’s research with chimpanzees Problem-solving and the perceptual field (need to perceive whole problem and solution) Learning entails a restructuring of the psychological environment  Insight: Immediate apprehension or cognition; sudden understanding of a problem’s solution Productive Thinking in Humans (Wertheimer) Thinking & problem-solving occur in terms of whole problemIsomorphism: The doctrine that there is a correspondence between psychological or conscious experience and the underlying brain experienceDifficulties that proved barriers to advancement of Gestalt Psychology in the U.S. Behaviorism on the rise in the U.S. Language barrier Psychologists believed Gestalt psychology dealt only with perceptionGestalt psychologists’ criticism of behaviorism: Reductionist like Wundt Ignored consciousnessKurt Lewin (1890-1947) Field theory: Lewin’s system using the concept of fields of force to explain behavior in terms of one’s field of social influences Famous for his work in group dynamics Zeigarnik effect: Tendency to recall uncompleted tasks more easily than completed tasksContributions of Gestalt Psychology Influenced work on perception, learning, thinking, personality, social psychology, and motivation Maintained a focus on the conscious experience during the years when behaviorism was dominant Provided a phenomenological approach to psychologyChapter 13 Psychoanalysis: The BeginningsThe Development of Psychoanalysis• Psychoanalysis distinct from mainstream psychologyDeveloped out of medicine and psychiatry• Subject matter: abnormal behavior• Data collection method: clinical observation of patients• Dealt with unconscious (unique; other approaches to psychology ignored unconscious)• Goal of psychoanalysis: make the unconscious consciousThe attitude towards sex in the Vienna of the Victorian era was permissive and open.Antecedent Influences on PsychoanalysisOthers were already doing work on topics that Freud addressedunconscious mental processes; Fechner first used iceberg analogytreatment of psychopathologyhypnosis as a treatment methodcatharsisdreams – nothing in a dream is without causeAntecedent influences shared with Behaviorism:Darwin’s evolutionary theoryMechanismDeterminismIndividuals/groups associated with reforms in the treatment of mental illness• Philippe Pinel, France• Dorothea Dix, U.S.• The Emmanuel movement, U.S. -- Promoted talk therapy• Leading up to Freud’s training in psychiatry, psychiatrists were divided into two camps regarding what causes neurosisSomatic (body) and psychic (mental processes)Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)• Developed Psychoanalysis, a system of explaining personality development and neurosis, and fortreating neurosis• Drawn to science by Darwin’s theory• Wanted to do research, not practice• Experimented with cocaine (well into middle age) and published article about its benefits• Went into practice instead of research for financial reasons• Psychoanalysis was eradicated in Germany by the Nazi party• Died of morphine overdose The Case of Anna O.• Patient of Josef Breuer• Treated for hysteria• Patient coined the phrase “talking cure”• Case important because it introduced Freud to the cathartic methodVery Terms associated with Psychoanalytic therapy (know definitions):• free association• Resistance• Repression• Transference(Know the difference between resistance and repression)Freud’s major publications• 1895: Studies on Hysteria (with Breuer)Formal beginning of psychoanalysis; caused rift between Freud & Breuer• 1900: The Interpretation of Dreams Self-analysis (his attempt to psychoanalyze himself); first introduction of Oedipal Complex• 1901: The Psychopathology of Everyday LifeIntroduced the “Freudian Slip” (aka Fehlleistung or parapraxis)Psychoanalysis and Personality• Instincts• Id• Ego• Superego• Ego receives pressure from id, supergo, and reality/world• Psychosexual stages of personality development: The developmental stages of childhood centering on erogenous zones (don’t need to know the specific stages)• Oedipus complex: At ages four to five, the unconscious desire of a boy for his mother and the desire to replace or destroy his father• Freud believed that neurotic behavior did not develop in persons who les a normal sex life.Chapter 14: Psychoanalysis After the FoundingTHE NEO-FREUDIANSExpanded concept of ego; minimized emphasis on sex; placed greater emphasis on influence of psychosocial factors on personality developmentAnna