The Dynamics of Scientific Knowledge - Mapping Scientific Frontiers: The Quest for Knowledge Visualization - page 34

1.2.6 Gestalt Psychology

We can only see what we want to see. In other words, our vision is biased and
selective. Margritte's pipe looks so realistic that people feel puzzled when they
read the subtitle “This is not a pipe.” Towards the end of the nineteenth century,
a group of Austrian and Germany psychologists found that human beings tend to
perceive coherent patterns out of visual imagery. Gestalt is a Germany word, which
essentially means a tendency of recognizing a pattern, i.e. a holistic image , out of
individual parts, even though sometimes the holistic image is illusive.
The study of pattern-seeking behavior is a branch of psychology called Gestalt
psychology. Human being's perception has a tendency to seek patterns out of what
we see, or what we expect to see. A widely known example is the face on Mars,
which reminds us how our perceptual system can sometimes cheat on us.
Gestalt psychology emphasizes the importance of organizational processes
of perception, learning, and problem solving. They believe that individuals are
predisposed to organize information in particular ways. The basic ideas of Gestalt
psychology are:

• Perception is often different from reality. This includes optical illusions.

• The whole is more than the sum of its parts. Human experience couldn't

be explained unless the overall experience is examined instead of individual
parts.

• The organism structures and organizes experience. The word Gestalt in German

means structured whole. This means an organism structures experience even
though structure might not be necessarily inherent.

• The organism is predisposed to organize experience in particular ways. For

example, according to the law of proximity, people tend to perceive as a unit
those things that are close together in space. Furthermore, similar people tend to
perceive as a unit those things that are similar to one another.

• Problem solving involves restructuring and insight. Problem solving involves

mentally combining and recombining the various elements of a problem until
a structure that solves the problem is achieved.

Human beings have the tendency of seeking patterns. Gestalt psychology
considers perception an active force. We perceive a holistic image that means more
than the sum of parts. We first see an overall pattern, then go on to analyze its
details. Personal needs and interests drive the detailed analysis. Like a magnetic
field, perception draws sensory imagery together into holistic patterns. According
to Gestalt theory, perception obeys an innate urge towards simplification by cohering
complex stimuli into simpler groups. Grouping effects include proximity, similarity,
continuity, and line of direction. Gestalt psychology highlights the ambiguity of
humans' pattern-seeing abilities. Figure 1.18 shows a famous drawing by Maurits
Escher. See if you can see two figures alternatively, or even simultaneously.