Act and Gesalt Psychology - A comparison

Founded by Franz Bretano (1838-1917) Act Psychology surfaced as an expression of psychology centering around the inseparable interaction of the individual and the environment. Act psychology's emergence in 1874 was in part a reaction against structuralism, an influential school of thought in Germany at the time. Brentano’s proposal for psychology’s progress stand in great contrast to those proposed by structuralist Wundt and Titchener. Act psychology is based on Brentano’s ideology of the science of psychic phenomena expressed as acts and processes. It contrasts with the definition of psychology viewed in terms of physical reductionism, consciousness or associationism. Benjafield(1996).

Consciousness in terms of a unity of expressed acts is the basis of Brentano’s view. He was convinced that psychology was different from other sciences in terms of its study of intentionali

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“Freud did not develop a theory that generated testable hypotheses or other empirical implications.” Brennar (1997). Adler later emerged with a theory referring to the development of motivational concepts towards self-improvement and superiority. According to Brennar (1997) Adler proposes that the striving for superiority is a direct reaction to childhood feeligns of inferiority, imperfections and incompleteness. Like Freud Adler possessed a lack of empirical methodology in his conclusive reports. His presentations were highly elusive and bore frequent inconsistencies and vagueness. Similarly Jung, so vastly diverted from empiricist principles with reference to his studies of introversion-extraversion in personality, it has been stated that: ‘Of all the early founders of psychoanalysis, Jung held views in sharpest contrast to those of empiricism’ Brennar (1997)

Whilst the principles of act and gestalt psychology focussed on the concepts of the world in human consciousness, psychoanalysis is based on the principles of human interaction and man’s unconsciousness. Brennan (1997) states that psychoanalysis has been clearly aligned with the German tradition of the mind as an active, dynamic and self generating entity, and specifies that the mind itself generates and structures human experience in characteristic ways.

Like structuralism and functionalism, Gestalt psychology had a limited life span. At its peak, it was an active combatant in psychology's theoretical wars and was responsible for some major advances in the study of perception, problem solving, and social behavior.

Akin to Wundt’s conceptualizati

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