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saraelisaperezpierrez · 2 years

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7. Gestalt Principles

A couple days ago, a friend of mine from Sri Lanka, asked me to take a picture of her, she handed me her phone and didn’t give me much instruction on how to use it, the phone was another brand very different from mine, and the text on the phone was also in another language, however, in the center, right below the frame gridlines, there was this big white round button, so my brain immediately identified that big element in the center that is next to a very common element of photography, as the shoot button, so I knew that this was where we were supposed to click to have the picture taken. And after this interaction, it got me thinking, how is it that I knew where it was, even though it was in a completely different language and the phone was in a very different layout than mine?

When researching about this, I came across the subject of the gestalt principles. The Gestalt principles are a psychological study that has been widely used in design because it studies the way people group different visual elements together, and how with this they interpret the whole picture differently than they would each part individually.

Nowadays, the aesthetic of an object is a key factor for a consumer to decide whether to choose it or not. We might think that functionality, pricing and quality are main elements, however, in this competitive and industrialized market, the visual part of a product ends up being, more times than not, a key factor that clients take in consideration. The gestalt principles are even ‘consider as aesthetic guidelines by design scientists’ because it helps explain the way people distinct individual elements and how they interpret them as a whole picture. There are seven main principles of design which are proximity, continuity, symmetry, closure, parallelism, and similarity. And this can usually be used to predict people’s preferences regarding the aesthetic of an object.

VALENCIA-ROMERO, A & LUGO, J.E. (2017) ‘An immersive virtual discrete choice experiment for elicitation of product aesthetics using Gestalt principles’ Design Science. [Online] 3 (11) pp 3. Available from- https://doi.org/10.1017/dsj.2017.12. [Accessed: 2nd December, 2022]

In the image above (VALENCIA-ROMERO, A & LUGO, J.E., 2017, p.3), we can see how the three main elements for design, can be linked together with the gestalt principles, as the connector from aesthetics, function, and object preference. The elements of a visual design, might be consider as arbitrary and just for aesthetic and emotional purposes, should be objective and rational, and most importantly justify with what it communicates. Although for successful intuitive design is very valuable to follow the principles of Gestalt, it is important to keep in mind that these principles do not reflect the meaning the users might relate to the visual characteristics.

We can consider for example everyday shapes for clarity, arrows communicate movement and direction; points represent a focused point; elements surrounded by a circle can represent unity, while elements organized in a circular manner can communicate continuity/cycle and processes. Colour also plays a key role in intuition and judgment ; however, we should remember that the context of colour can vary from culture, scenario, public, and even background. For example, Red in a romantic background might represent intensity and passion, or even as a form of attracting a certain public. Meanwhile in a very technological/ engineering scenario, Red might be intuited as danger and as a form to detract the public.

The principles of gestalt are also applied in architecture and landscape design because the clarity and intuitiveness of a space can be provided by the connection that the people perceive on the environment as a whole. The different areas of design use different principles of gestalt depending on their intentions, and their state, for example, a 2D design element might not be able to apply the same principles of gestalt as a 3D element.

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References

VALENCIA-ROMERO, A & LUGO, J.E. (2017) ‘An immersive virtual discrete choice experiment for elicitation of product aesthetics using Gestalt principles’ Design Science. [Online] 3 (11) pp 1-24. Available from- https://doi.org/10.1017/dsj.2017.12. [Accessed: 2nd December, 2022]

HU, G; SHENG, A; ZHANG, Y; PAN, Z & ZHANG, M. (2016) ‘An Analytic Measure of Perceptual Factors for Color Composition’ COLOR research and application [Online]41(2) pp 165-174. Available from https://doi-org.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/10.1002/col.21952. [Accessed: 2nd December, 2022]

YILMAZ, S. (2018) ‘An aesthetic approach to planting design in urban parks and greenspaces’. Landscape Research [Online] 43(2018) pp 965-983. Available from- https://doi-org.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/10.1080/01426397.2017.1415313 [Accessed: 2nd December 2022]

PETERSON, D.J., & BERRYHILL, M.E. (2013) ‘The Gestalt principle of similarity benefits visual working memory’ Psychonomic Bulletin Review, [Online] 20(2013) pp 1282-1289. Availiabe from- https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/article/10.3758/s13423-013-0460-x [Accessed: 2nd December 2022]

HAN, S., HUMPHREYS, G.W., & CHEN, L. (1999) ‘Uniform connectedness and classical Gestalt principles of perceptual grouping’ Perception & Psychophysics. [Online] 61(4) pp 661-674. Available from- https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.3758/BF03205537.pdf?pdf=button%20sticky [Accessed: 2nd December 2022]

#gestalt principles #gestalt therapy #design

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laurelwen · 3 months

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Texts in Like Minds: Sally's Books

After her first encounter with Alex, Sally returns home and consults a stack of books while listening to the recording of their discussion. Of this stack, only two titles are discernible. The first book is shown briefly and set aside, and the second is opened to a bookmarked page. This large tome is titled Principles of Criminal Psychology (Fifth Edition), by George R. Booth and Andrew Porter. Sadly, I cannot find even the tiniest scrap of the existence of this book online. It is clearly a textbook, and presumably one she would have kept from her school days given that it’s directly relevant to her career. The bookmarked page is titled “Chapter 27: Gestalt Theory”, and the opposite page features photos of Leopold and Loeb, who I have discussed elsewhere. The text itself is unfortunately not clear enough to be readable.

Returning to the first book we see, there is much more information to be found online. It is titled Gestalt Therapy: The Attitude and Practice of an Atheoretical Experientialism by Claudio Naranjo, first published in 1993.

The recording Sally plays during this moment is their exchange regarding gestalt. This concept is one that the movie highlights in this scene and again at the end during Sally’s address to her peers, but it does not clearly define or explain the idea of “gestalt” for the audience. Gestalt first arose as a philosophical principle suggesting that the experience of the parts of something cannot fully represent the whole of that thing, like the notes of the song versus the experience of the song itself. A cursory search of various articles online can give a brief overview of the core ideas of gestalt psychology. Wikipedia says this:

Gestalt psychologists believed that breaking psychological phenomena down into smaller parts would not lead to understanding psychology. Instead, they viewed psychological phenomena as organized, structured wholes. They argued that the psychological "whole" has priority and that the "parts" are defined by the structure of the whole, rather than the other way round. Gestalt theories of perception are based on human nature being inclined to understand objects as an entire structure rather than the sum of its parts.

This gives us a more thorough explanation of Alex’s very brief description of “gestalt”, but does not provide much insight into the meaning of his hints to Sally or why gestalt would have any bearing on his relationship with Nigel. The implication we are left to surmise is that these two separate boys have combined as individuals to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts, and Sally lampshades this idea at the end in her speech referencing the movie title. However, examination of these two books has given me some new thoughts about the use of gestalt in the film and about Sally’s conclusion regarding the dynamic between them.

Alex’s next words to Sally feel extremely significant and should be considered thoroughly: “It’s not what it is. It’s how you use it.” Given that both these books reference “gestalt therapy” specifically, it’s worth looking beyond the core theory of gestalt psychology to see how therapists actually use these ideas in practice. I found a clear explanation on this page:

Gestalt therapy is an existential and experiential psychotherapy that focuses on the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist-client relationship, the environmental and social contexts in which these things take place, and the self-regulating adjustments people make as a result of the overall situation. It emphasizes personal responsibility. Gestalt therapy was co-founded by Fritz Perls, Laura Perls and Paul Goodman in the 1940s–1950s.

Gestalt therapy is built around two central ideas: that the most helpful focus of psychology is the experiential present moment and that everyone is caught in webs of relationships; thus, it is only possible to know ourselves against the background of our relation to other things.

I think we can already see some connections with the story as Alex presents it. Alex and Nigel are inextricably entwined in a web of relationship, and we the audience find it impossible to understand either character outside of this context.

Here I would like to suggest some Doylian interpretation which I believe to be possible or even likely, but for which I can offer no concrete evidence. We know that Greg Read initially intended to make a documentary about the phenomenon of two people who match each other’s freak so well that they enable a worsening of sociopathic tendencies to the level of violent criminal behavior. In one interview, he referenced a paper he read about gestalt psychology which opened doors in his mind and led him down this path. He had developed the documentary idea enough to show it to other people, and someone told him it would make a great fictional movie. Based on this, I assume he must have acquired additional materials beyond that first paper, conducting extensive research on the idea in preparation for the documentary. I posit that the books Sally uses in this scene are Greg’s books, or copies of the same books he had referenced. All of Sally’s scenes were filmed in Australia, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility that he simply brought (or already had) his own books on set.

Working from that assumption, the ideas found in Gestalt Therapy: The Attitude and Practice of an Atheoretical Experientialism might be taken as extremely influential on Greg’s thought process in writing this film. While the whole text is not available online, there are a few excerpts one can read for free here. (The book itself is available through multiple websites for around US$40 at the time of this post.) If we examine the excerpts below within the context of the movie, a few things really stand out (emphasis mine):

Perls sometimes stated the principle entailed in such strategy as one of absolute validity: You never overcome anything by resisting it. You only can overcome anything by going deeper into it. If you are spiteful, be more spiteful. If you are performing, increase the performance. Whatever it is, if you go deeply enough into it, then it will disappear; it will be assimilated. Any resistance is not good. You have to go full into it—swing with it. Swing with your pain, your restlessness, whatever is there. Use your spite. Use your environment. Use all that you fight and disown.

This sounds remarkably like the process Alex goes through with Nigel, resistant at first and gradually leaning into the swing, learning to embrace and roll with all the things he was fighting against. A case might also be made that Nigel partakes in this process as well: he too is resistant to Alex initially, but the train scene marks a turning point in which he seems to make the decision to lean into the violence that Alex offers.

Returning to Alex’s assertion that it’s not about what gestalt is, but how you use it, these passages take on a whole new meaning. Sally’s speech at the end of the movie suggests that she arrived at the conclusion, based on her belief in Alex’s version of events, that Nigel essentially used the techniques of gestalt therapy in a twisted, malicious way to manipulate Alex towards the culmination of the film. As she says,

“What follows, through a system of either intimidation, manipulation, or coercion, is the dominant individual begins to focus and influence the thoughts of the subordinate partner. This process nurtures a subjective gestalt where similar thoughts, fantasies, and other interlocking elements conspire to form a greater and more volatile whole, therefore, a merging of like minds.”

Now read the excerpt below in light of these descriptions:

In the strategy which pervades Gestalt practice, the therapist is leading the patient through a process similar to that through which a child that is learning to sit on a chair needs to discover that he can sit only by giving his back to the chair, not by moving towards it. While this is a discovery that many make at a certain point in a typical session, a spectator may not share the insight. The patient discovers that his resentment was a diluted and devious form of healthy aggression, for instance, but this spectator may be frightened by what he sees as destructive loss of control; what the patient experiences as a rewarding and cleansing explosion of grief, brought about by the exaggeration of emptiness, the observer without familiarity with Gestalt may fear that the therapist, by urging on the patient’s symptoms, may lead him to suicide. The therapist’s ability to bring a patient to the turning point where his disowned destructive energies become his own purified strength will depend, in large measure, not upon technique alone, but on his experiential knowledge that this is possible, and in the consequent sense of trust in the constructive drives of which pathological manifestations are a distortion brought about by unhealthy denial and which can heal by itself in the presence of awareness. Such trust will enable him to pursue a given course of action to an effective degree, in spite of the patient’s chaos, rage, or loss of control—and will be important, too, in eliciting the necessary trust in the patient for him to let go. Gestalt therapy is based on the principle that to alleviate unresolved negative feelings like anger, pain, anxiety, and resentment, those emotions cannot just be discussed, but must be actively expressed in the present. Without that, psychological and physical symptoms can arise.

These passages represent the intended healthy expression of these principles. If we take these ideas and techniques and twist them into an unhealthy, intentionally manipulative and toxic dynamic, it maps quite clearly onto the relationship between Alex and Nigel and the actions they take throughout the film. Sally assumes that Nigel is in the role of the “therapist” leading Alex the patient through this process. The movie’s ending presents itself as a twist and suggests that these roles were in fact reversed, particularly in light of Alex’s first interview with Sally and his ominous and vague statements about Nigel's death being a necessary means to an end. If we accept that conclusion at face value, then consider how Alex “urging on the patient’s symptoms” may have actually “led him to suicide”.

The Gestalt therapist contrives experiments that lead the client to greater awareness and fuller experience of his/her possibilities. Experiments can be focused on undoing projections or retroflections. They can work to help the client with closure of unfinished Gestalts ("unfinished business" such as unexpressed emotions towards somebody in the client's life).

What is the climax of this movie if not Nigel creating a violent type of closure with his unexpressed emotions toward his parents? “It’s how you use it.” Did Alex use gestalt therapy techniques to draw Nigel into this violent chain of events as “a means to an end”? If so, what actually was the “end” he desired?

Incorporating this information into our interpretations of the movie still does not necessarily force us into accepting Alex as Mastermind as the only reading. I think you can certainly see that dynamic, but it doesn’t preclude Nigel as Mastermind. In my further reading regarding gestalt therapy, I found this passage in a blog post:

A thirst for experience is part of all life. Often though, this takes the form of a wanting to move on and on to other experiences than those at hand. A craving for more replaces the need for depth that could be our natural mode of contacting the world, had we not become desensitized to it. Intuitively seeking that depth or fullness of awareness that is on our birthright, and not finding it, we seek the substitute of environmental stimulation: spicy foods, rock climbing, high-speed sportscars, competitive games, tragedies on the movie screen.

This describes Alex perfectly and speaks to his own need for the gestalt therapeutic approach. We could argue that Nigel addresses this drive for more experiences by bringing Alex into a focus on the depths of the present moment, existing in the now that Nigel creates for him as he attempts to understand his own feelings and reactions. As the book puts it:

The Perlses believed that it is not our responsibility to live up to others' expectations, nor should we expect others to live up to ours. In building self-awareness, gestalt therapy aims to help clients better understand themselves and how the choices they make affect their health and their relationships.

My own interpretation is one of equal partners both playing the role of therapist and patient to each other. Gestalt therapy relies on the ability of the therapist to set aside their own interpretations of the patient's experiences in favor of allowing or guiding the patient to arrive at their own understandings and conclusions. I do not think that sole responsibility can be placed on either Nigel or Alex, and the events of the movie could not or would not have transpired without the active participation of both boys in each other's lives. While the context is a dark expression of these ideas, both Alex and Nigel help each other build self-awareness and achieve a better understanding of themselves.

Like Minds Masterpost

#i just had to put that shot of Sally at the end because she's so absolutely gutted at her own failure - i'm so mean #greg really did say what if two guys matched each other's freak #like minds #nigel colbie #alex forbes #nigel colbie x alex forbes #tom sturridge #eddie redmayne #murderous intent #like minds 2006 #like minds analysis #murder boyfriends

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