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INSIGHT LEARNING

Gestalt View of Learning
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WHAT IS GESTALT?
"GESTALT"
placed, or put together". Common translations
include "form" and "shape". Gaetano Kanizca
refers to it as "organized structure" (Moore,
Fitz, 1993).

BASIC PRINCIPLE:
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Viewing the "whole," a cognitive process takes
place the mind makes a leap from
comprehending the parts to realizing the whole.
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What is Gestalt
psychology?
Gestaltians focus on the minds perceptive
(insightful) processes (Kearsley, 1998).
Gestalt attacked Wount's structuralism and
emphasized on molar rather than molecular.
For Behaviorists, it argued on looking inside,
perceive rather than what is being presented.
MAIN FOCUS OF GESTALT: Psychology is the
experience of perception. It emphasized the
dynamic nature of perception and the role of
guided discovery rather than what it is.
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How Gestalt model explains process of
learning?
FIRSTLY
It differentiates between senseless (arbitrary)
learning and meaningful learning. In meaningful
learning, an individual learns relevant
structures of a situation or problem.

It stresses the use of GUIDED DISCOVERY to
facilitate understanding in meaningful learning.
The learner organizes, thinks, understands and
carefully forms cues or hints to organize their
knowledge.

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W
SECONDLY

It views the connection between mind and body
to be that the external stimuli experienced
cause reactions in the brain and then we
experience those reactions as they take place
in the brain (Hergenhahn, & Olson, 2001).

The information is tweaked to fit what it needs
to be and make sense of it.

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THIRDL
Y
There are many stimuli in the psychological field
but the brain actively applied pragnanz (precision)
to transform the stimuli and create greater
meaning.
Gestalt learning theory came from Kohler in
Canary Island expt. where he studied
primates (e.g., chimpanzee) and conduct a
number of experiments.
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WHAT IS INSIGHT
LEARNING?
When perceptual field is well organized in
terms of relationship of each part with the
whole, the meaning will be clear or solution
occurs.

Such clarity occurs all of a sudden (in a flash).
One 'sees' how to solve an equation or finish a
puzzle.

It occurs without repeated trails or continuous
practices.
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WHAT IS INSIGHT
LEARNING?
Drawing previous experiences and new way of
perceiving logical and cause-andeffect
relationship, is called insight learning.

Insight is an awareness of key relationships of
cause and effect.

Insight occurs When relevant information are
logically assembled.

Learning through new perception of relationship
is called 'insight learning'.
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WHAT IS DEFINITION OF GESTALT
LEARNING?

A FORM OF LEARNING THAT
OCCURS IN PROBLEM SOLVING AND
APPEARS TO INVOLVE THE (OFTEN
SUDDEN) UNDERSTANDING OF HOW
ELEMENTS OF A SITUATION ARE
RELATED OR CAN BE
REORGANIZED.


Carole Wade & Carol Tavris (1987)

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THE NATURE OF INSIGHT LEARNING
When in problem situation, different cues are related to
each other and focused on problem
Perception plays major role in understanding the
situation.
When total situation is realized, all cues are organized
into a whole. The wholeness provides insight.
Thus learning is not gradual (as in T&E), it is sudden.
Understanding of a situation does not require trials or
random actions.
Even the error one makes in insight learning is not
meaningless.
Without insight, some forms of learning (ie. Problem
solving) are not possible.
This theory is different from S-R theory of Thorndike
and Pavlov.
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HOW INSIGHT LEARNING WAS
EXPERIMENTED?
1.Khler's experiments of stick and box problem
with chimpanzees is known to be best example
of insight learning.
2.A rapid perception of relationship" was
observed in animal.
3.The perception of relationship endures longer
since it is concerned with part whole
relationship.
4.Learning is all or nothing.

This concept of learning was a big blow to the
behaviorists

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CHARACTERISTICS OF INSIGHT
LEARNING
The concept of insight has two determining
characteristics that are acknowledged by
most cognitive researchers (Gredler, 2001).

1.Understanding situation is must. It is not a
process (step by step) but occurs suddenly.

1.Thinking is must. Insight depends on time,
events, and transforming the stimuli into
insightful thought.
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OTHER
CHARACTERISTICS
1.Insight leads to change in perception.
2.The change is sudded.
3.The organism tends to perceive a pattern or
organization (that helps in learning).
4.Instead of body parts (hands and legs) understanding
plays important role in insight learning.
5.Insight is related with higher order animals and not with
inferior animals.
6.Age influences insight learning. The adult are better
learner than children.
7.Past experience and perceptual organization is
important in perception.
8.Some psychologists also relate insight learning with
associative learning.

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INSIGHT LEARNING VS. S-R
LEARNING

Insight learning is the sudden
production of a new adaptive
response that is not derived by
trial and error behavior. it is a
solution to a problem by a
sudden adaptive
reorganization of experience.
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MERITS AND DEMERITS OF INSIGHT
LEARNING?
1.Among superior animals, learning is largely
insight

1.The major characteristic of insight learning is
suddenness. Duncker states that insight is not
sudden. It can be divided into degree of insight.

1.Insight theory was forwarded against the trial and
error theory of Thorndike. The theory does not
emphasize the importance of exercises in
learning. Garrett found that exercises and trials
help to reduce the error in insight.
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WHAT ARE THE MERITS AND DEMERITS
OF INSIGHT LEARNING?
1.Insight theory makes less emphasis on past
experiences. It emphasizes the importance of
present situation and related cues.
Psychologists state that to understand the
(new) situation past experience play crucial
role.

1.Suddenness may be good sign of insight but
understanding does not always come suddenly.
There is always the possibility that covert trial
and error has taken place.
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Referenc
e
Moore, P., & Fitz, C. (1993). Gestalt Theory and
Instructional Design. J. Technical Writing and
Communication, 23 (2), 137-157, 1993.
Kearsley, G. (1998). Explorations in Learning &
Instruction: The Theory Into Practice Database: Gestalt
Theory. George Washington University On-line.
Available: http://www.gwu.edu/~tip/wertheim.html
Hergenhahn, B. R., Olson, M. H. (2001). An
introduction to theories of learning (6
th
ed). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Carole Wade & Carol Tavris (1987). Psychology. New
York : HarperCollins College Publishers,
Spencer A. Rathus. (1984), Essentials of psychology.