“The basic thesis of gestalt theory might be formulated thus: there are contexts in which what is happening in the whole cannot be deduced from the characteristics of the separate pieces, but conversely; what happens to a part of the whole is, in clearcut cases, determined by the laws of the inner structure of its whole.” WholeMightHappensLawScienceCasesPiecesTheoryHappeningsStructureDeterminedCharacteristicsThesisGestalt Author:Max Wertheimer
“Given a situation, a system with a Leerstelle [a gap], whether a given completion (Lueckenfuellung) does justice to the structure, is the "right" one, is often determined by the structure of the system, the situation. There are requirements, structurally determined; there are possible in pure cases unambiguous decisions as to which completion does justice to the situation, which does not, which violates the requirements and the situation.” DoeGivenJusticeDecisionSituationCasesPureStructureDeterminedGapsRequirementsCompletion Author:Max Wertheimer
“There are still psychologists who, in a basic misunderstanding, think that gestalt theory tends to underestimate the role of past experience. Gestalt theory tries to differentiate between and-summative aggregates, on the one hand, and gestalten, structures, on the other, both in sub-wholes and in the total field, and to develop appropriate scientific tools for investigating the latter.” ThinkingTryingStillsHandsPastRolesFieldsTheoryToolsStructureAppropriateLatterUnderestimateMisunderstandingPsychologistDifferentiateInvestigatingPast ExperiencesGestalt Author:Max Wertheimer