Essay Sample on The Schools of Thought in Psychology: Structuralism vs Gestalt

Introduction

Psychology is a topic that has invited interests from a wide array of scholars who try to decipher its components. However, it is imperative to note that the contributing scholars are grouped according to the ideas that they subscribe to. Scholars whose ideas are more or less similar are classified under a single group. Consequently, the ideas can either be viewed as a school of structuralism or school of gestalt. According to Kohler (1967), Gestalt psychology commenced its development in 1910, in Germany. As mentioned earlier, Gestalt psychology was upheld by some scholars, even though it was flawed as this paradigm mainly addressed perceptions. Kohler (1967) states that gestalt psychology was concerned with coming up with explanations as to why a specific phenomenon occurred, evidence excluded.

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On the other hand, structuralism finds the underlying factors under which the structures are constructed. This paper serves to address both paradigms, structuralism, and gestalt. This paper also records the flaws of both paradigms. The paper is divided into subheadings to address the topics thoroughly.

School Of Structuralism

Structuralism is a theory that was developed by Edward Bradford Titchener and his teacher, Wilhelm Wundt (Roback 1952). As a theory, structuralism mainly relied upon introspection as its basic tenets. The theory also relied on an individual's evaluation of a situation based on how he felt emotionally and perceptions. It is not clear who deserves credit for coming up with the theory of structuralism. However, it argued that Edward Bradford only expounded on his Wundt's sentiments, keeping in mind that the latter was an instructor to the former (Titchener 1998). It is also important to note that William Wundt did oversee the first psychology laboratory, where tests and experiments were conducted regarding studying psychology. Scholars also report that when Edward Bradford Titchener went to the United States, he took with him the works of his teacher, Wundt, of which he is said to have mistranslated in a bid to own it.

Additionally, the arrival of Edward Bradford Titchener into the United States of America stimulated the construction of laboratory experiments that aided in the research of psychology as a scientific discipline. Psychology was now given a scientific approach. More importantly, the processes of conducting scientific experiments were strictly followed. Edward Bradford also inspired a generation of experimental psychology, where behavior analysis of organisms was a cornerstone. Behavior analysis also includes the mechanisms that involved the study of reactions of various organisms to the surrounding environment in a controlled setup. It is evident that the study of psychology now took a clear path, its experimental concept. This meant that some behaviors could not only be proven but could also be studied often to come up with consistent results, which would later be documented.observation was vital in this process. Scientific research meant that the studies were conducted over a stipulated period, and could be repeated for as long as the study was not complete.

According to Goodwin (2015), Edward Bradford Titchener formed a group that he named "the experimentalists" that only consisted of men. The author also states that Titchener's group of experimentalists met annually to discuss their findings. Goodwin (2015) also argues that Titchener only allowed Ladd-Franklin to offer her submission at the experimentalist's meeting, which is arguably the only time in his life that he allowed a woman to do so. It is also important to note that Edward Bradford oversaw many women undertake doctoral studies in psychology. This was at a time when most of the women did not attend universities. According to the American psychological association (2020), Margaret Floy Washburn was the first woman to obtain a Ph.D. in psychology. According to the website, she also served as the president of the American psychological association. The American psychological association (2020) also mentions that Washburn had interests in animal cognition and went ahead to publish her book, "The animal Mind." It is also mentioned in the above source that Washburn's book was the first among the books that were written to address experiential psychology. It is also indicated in the website that Margaret Floy Washburn was only the second woman to be accorded the honors of being in the national academy of sciences.

Limitations of Structuralism School of Psychology

Like any other scientific theory, flaws are seemingly inevitable as theories and submissions are not always perfect. Theories are subject to scrutiny from various people as a result of more research being carried out over a long time, even generations. Considering that structuralism had a more scientific report, more experiments have to be carried to ascertain the theories. More research is usually undertaken to ascertain whether the theories hold even during recent times. New control experiments are also figured out. Most importantly, it is imperative to analyze the theories to test their relevance in our day to day lives and activities that are carried out.

To begin, some critics of structuralism as a school of psychology argued that the experimental methods applied while studying structuralism were not reliable. They argued that the results had flaws since factors such as introspection were relatively difficult to substantiate. This is because introspection was tough to measure since it was unique to every individual or subject under study. It is also challenging to measure internal factors such as behaviors. Behaviors are unique to each individual; hence data collected will be flawed since observations are likely to be inaccurate. Some psychologists thought that the structuralism school of psychology was flawed as it was not objective, even though it was the first school of psychology.

Gestalt Psychology

Kohler (1967) argued that Gestalt psychology began in Germany, with Wertheimer being one founding father. Gestalt psychology was also formed to respond to the growing structuralism that was pioneered by Wundt and his student Titchener. While structuralism focused on the little details of perception, the gestalt school of thought does the exact opposite. Structuralism focuses on the little details that make up significant views. The structuralism school of thought also takes into account the environmental factors and those factors that can be controlled. Just like the structuralism school of thought, the gestalt school of thought had its psychologists. Gestalt psychology encourages the use of gestalts to decipher perceptions as opposed to the use of individual constituents. This school of thought holds to the view that perceptions are supposed to be whole, and should not be nibbled to fragments. Perceptions are viewed to be whole. The gestalt school of thought dismisses the focus of smaller details of a subject. Gestalts' school of thoughts also holds to the view that some phenomena that seem to occur do not happen in real-time (Kohler 159). However, the idea of the phenomenon occurring in real-time is created in our minds, hence the perception that our minds only perceive phenomena that occur wholly and not in bits. For example, while in a moving object, static objects outside the objects appear to be moving back. In an ideal situation, the static objects do not rush back as we perceive it. According to the gestalts school of thought, the static objects appear to be moving fast behind due to an illusion created in our minds. Our minds can process the phenomenon as a whole.

Flaws of Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt psychology has lost its originality since it has been overtaken by modern psychology (Rock and Palmer 1990). Various tenets that make up the gestalt school of psychology have been incorporated into modern psychology, hence losing its distinctiveness as a school of psychology. Many scholars also argue that the gestalt school of psychology was ambiguous. The theory does not seem to convince psychologists, as it could not be proven. It is imperative to note that the gestalt school of thought did not involve scientific experiments, hence proving the theory was an uphill task.

Conclusion

The two schools of psychology, the gestalt school of psychology and the structuralism school of psychology, have been in existence for a long time. Generations of psychologists that succeeded the pioneers used the theories as a baseline to build their views. They carried more tests which served to discredit or strengthen both of the theories. Even though each of the theories has their flaws, they have had an immense contribution to psychology as a whole.

References

Köhler, W. (1959). Gestalt psychology today. American psychologist, 14(12), 727.

Köhler, W. (1967). Gestalt psychology. Psychologische Forschung, 31(1), XVIII-XXX.

Lundin, R. W. (2010). Structuralism. The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology, 1-2.

Margaret Floy Washburn: 1921 APA President. (n.d.). Retrieved July 06, 2020, from https://www.apa.org/about/governance/president/bio-margaret-washburn

Roback, A. A. (1952). The Structuralism of Titchener.

Rock, I., & Palmer, S. (1990). The legacy of Gestalt psychology. Scientific American, 263(6), 84-91.

Titchener, E. B. (1988). Structuralism. A History of Psychology: Original Sources and Contemporary Research, 208.