2. NAME: Shendkar Rupali P.
COURSE NO: 103
Teaching and Learning
UNIT: Learning Theories
3. Learning by Insight
Contribution of Gestalt psychologists
Father
Wertheimer
Leaders of Gestalt psychology
Wertheimer , Kohler Koffka and Lewin
Gestalt German noun
No English word
Gestalt
the nearest English translation Configuration
Or An organized whole in contrast to collection of parts
4. Learning by Insight
Kohler ’s Experiment
In one experiment Kohler put the chimpanzee
,sultan ,inside a cage & a banana was hung from the
roof of the cage .A box was placed inside the cage.
The chimpanzee tried to reach at the banana by
jumping but could not succeed..Suddenly ,he got an
idea & used the box as a jumping platform by placing
it just below the hanging banana .
5. Learning by Insight
Kohler ’s Experiment
In other experiment , Kohler made this problem more
difficult Now it required two or three boxes to reach
the bananas .Moreover the placing of one box on the
other required different specific arrangement.
6. Learning by Insight
Kohler ’s Experiment
In amore complicated experiment, banana was placed
outside the cage of the chimpanzee.
Two sticks ,one larger than the other ,were placed
inside the cage. One was hollow at one end so that
the other stick could be thrust into it to form a longer
stick. The banana was so kept that it could not be
picked up by any one of the stick.
7. Insight involves following criteria
(a)The situation as a whole is perceived by the learner.
(b)The learner tries to see and judge the relationships
between various factors involved in the situation.
(c)As a result, the learner is helped in the sudden
grasping of the solution of the problem.
8. Insight depends upon the following factors
(a)Experience:
Past experiences help in the insightful solution of the problems.
A child cannot solve the problems of Modern Mathematics unless he is well
acquainted with its symbolic language.
(b) Intelligence:
Insightful solution depends upon the basic intelligence of the
learner .The more intelligent the individual is the greater will be his insight .
(c) Learning situation :
How insightfully the organism will react , depends upon the
situation in which he has to act. Some situations are more favorable than the
others for insightful solution. As a common observation ,insight occurs when the
learning situation is so arranged that all the necessary aspects are open for
observation.
9. Insight depends upon the following factors
(d)Initial efforts
Insightful learning has to pass through the process of trial & error
.But this stage does not last long .These initial efforts ,in the form of simple trial
& error mechanism, open the way for insightful learning.
(e) Repetition & Generalization
After having an insightful solution of a particular type of problem,
the organism tries to repeat it in another situation ,demanding similar type of
solution .The way found in one situation helps him to react insightfully in the
other identical situations.
10. Educational Implication
1The whole is greater than the parts and, therefore,the
situation should be viewed as whole.
2.The use of blind fumbling and mechanical trial and error
should be minimized. The learner should try to see
relevant relationship and act intelligently.
3.The purpose or motive plays the central role in the
learning process.
11. Based on this theory teachers should concentrate on on the following aspects
1.Subject matter (learning material)should be presented in Gestalt form.
e.g.
While teaching ‘Parts of flower’
The flower as whole should be presented first & later concentrate on the parts
2.In the organization of syllabus planning of the curriculum, the Gestalt principle
should be given due consideration.
A particular subject should not be treated as the mere collection of isolated facts
or topics. It should be closely integrated into a whole.
3.This theory has brought motivation in the force front by assigning purpose and
motive, the central role in learning process. The child should motivated by
arousing his interest and curiosity and he should be acquainted well with the
specific aim & purpose of the learning.
4.The greater contribution of the Insight theory of Learning is that it has made
learning is an intelligent task requiring intelligent task requiring mental abilities
instead of blind fumbling & automatic response to stimuli.
