Max Wertheimer
1880-1943
Achievements
- Wertheimer was the pioneer of Gestalt psychology
-Wrote one of the best books on psychology called “Productive Thinking.”
- Changed the way most people thought about how the brain works by introducing perception and how we see things in the world
Perception and Illusions
- One might see one object and others may seem something else. This is an illusion and what you see depends on your perception
-This branch is an important one in the realm of psychology. It tries to understand our ability to obtain and keep significant perceptions in the world.
- If you stare this long enough you can actually see the difference in how this looks
Early life
- Wertheimer came from a intellectual family. His father was an educator and his mother received her doctorate degree
- He studied at the Psychological Institute at University of Frankfurt
-Became interested in human perception and illusions
-He later went on to teach and do experiments until he reached his theory, which later became known as Gestalt psychology, where he researched how human beings understand and react to the world around them.