Deck 12: Gestalt Psychology

Question 1

Among the antecedents of Gestalt Psychology were J. S. Mill, James, Dewey, and Ehrenfels.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

A fundamental tenet of Gestalt theory is opposition to the idea of relational determination.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The law of Prägnanz states that figure is the focus of consciousness, and ground is the field.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The phi phenomenon refers to insight into the phenomena of productive thinking.

Question 5

According to Gestalt psychology, qualities of wholes determine the qualities of parts.

Question 6

According to the Gestalt theorists, the nature of things that are connected affects their connection.

Question 7

Gestalt theorists argued that "and-connections" are basically field processes.

Question 8

Köhler demonstrated that chimpanzees can solve problems by insight, not only by blind trial and error.

Question 9

Kurt Lewin's extension of Gestalt concepts into topological and vector psychology used such concepts as "life space" and "field theory."

Question 10

Fritz Perls's Gestalt therapy is a direct outgrowth of classical Gestalt psychology.

Question 11

Katz's work on color perception and Rubin's on figure and ground were examples of

A) phenomenology
B) conditioned reflexes
C) the law of Prägnanz
D) "and-connections"

Question 12

Kurt Koffka published several books, including

A) Principles of Gestalt Psychology
B) How We Think
C) Productive Thinking
D) The Mentality of Apes

Question 13

The proposal that correlated events in the brain have Gestalt characteristics similar to those of the percepts they accompany is known as

A) isomorphism
B) the law of Prägnanz
C) phenomenology
D) group dynamics

Question 14

The Gestalt theorists argued that the whole typically is

A) different from a mere sum of its parts
B) more than the sum of its parts
C) equal to the sum of its parts
D) basically an and-sum

Question 15

The law of Prägnanz asserts that

A) a whole will be as "good" as the prevailing conditions allow
B) perceptual organization is learned
C) pregnant problem solving involves insight
D) field processes are dominated by "and-connections"

Question 16

The qualities of parts of a whole are, according to Gestalt theory, determined by

A) the place, role, and function of those parts within the whole
B) their intrinsic nature (the "constancy hypothesis")
C) both a and b
D) neither a nor b

Question 17

The Gestalt perspective was extended to

A) all of these
B) social psychology by Solomon Asch
C) the psychology of art by Rudolf Arnheim
D) personality by Kurt Lewin

Question 18

Fritz Perls's Gestalt therapy is

A) mostly based on psychodynamic (Freudian) theory
B) a close outgrowth of classical Gestalt theory
C) unrelated to Freudian psychoanalysis
D) based on principles of conditioning '

Question 19

Tolman's theory of learning used the idea of

A) mixed
B) enthusiastic and positive
C) very weak and almost nonexistent
D) none at all; it was essentially ignored

Question 20

The initial impact of Gestalt theory on psychology in the United States was

A) mixed
B) enthusiastic and positive
C) very weak and almost nonexistent
D) none at all; it was essentially ignored

Question 21

What does the word "Gestalt" mean?

Question 22

What is the "law of Prägnanz?"

Question 23

What is the "phi phenomenon?"

Question 24

What is "self-actualization?"

Question 25

What is the relationship between Fritz Perls's Gestalt therapy and classical Gestalt theory?

Question 26

Did classical Gestalt theory hold that the whole is more than the sum of its parts?

Question 27

What, according to the Gestaltists, determines the qualities of parts of a whole?

Question 28

How is a soap bubble a good example of a Gestalt?

Question 29

To what areas of psychology did Lewin apply the Gestalt perspective?

Question 30

In what area did Harvard University establish a professorship for Rudolf Arnheim?
Viewable by instructor only

Question 31

Who were some of the scholars who can be viewed as having anticipated Gestalt theory?

Question 32

What did the Gestalt theorists mean by "isomorphism?"

Question 33

What is a Gestalt quality?

Question 34

Contrast going "from above down" with going "from below up."

Question 35

What, according to the Gestalt psychologists, determines the qualities of parts of wholes?

Question 36

What do the Gestalt psychologists mean by an "and-connection?"

Question 37

What, according to the Gestalt theorists, is insight, and what role does it play in productive thinking?

Question 38

How did Wertheimer characterize the process of productive thinking?

Question 39

What does dealing with an issue by "going from above down" mean in Gestalt psychology?

Question 40

Did Köhler's chimpanzees solve the problems he set for them by blind trial and error?