Gestalt TheoryPub Date : 2023-08-01DOI: 10.2478/gth-2023-0007
Norbert Andersch
{"title":"Susanne K. Langers “Mind: An Essay on Human Feeling.” Eine späte Wiederentdeckung","authors":"Norbert Andersch","doi":"10.2478/gth-2023-0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/gth-2023-0007","url":null,"abstract":"Summary It is about 100 Years ago that the German-American philosopher Susanne K. Langer started a bold and courageous appearance on the stage of consciousness-research - until then exclusively dominated by male and paternalistic figures. This contribution is to highlight SK Langers work and impact on the theory of consciousness, especially on her final three volume publication: “Mind. An Essay on Human Feeling” (1967, 1972, 1982) which, until now, has not been translated into German. What stands out in Langer’s work is her intuitive closeness to many Gestalt-theorists and the overriding importance she attributes to symbolization in the specific make-up of the human mind. Her main focus is centered on presentative symbolics; meaning those early forms of human expression (prior or along the development of human language) in magic rituals, rhythm, music, painting and sculpturing, early collective work experience, formalized playing or funeral activities. Langers view on symbols goes far beyond the typical meaning of reference towards a much more sophisticated intertwinement of form, event and being in a matrix of “living tensions”. I would like to point out that her research is of important value to a revised thinking on mental health and mental crisis in reshaping the complex interaction between image, Gestalt and Symbol.","PeriodicalId":33799,"journal":{"name":"Gestalt Theory","volume":"29 1","pages":"153 - 177"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139352620","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gestalt TheoryPub Date : 2023-08-01DOI: 10.2478/gth-2023-0002
Vittorio Dalmasso, Michela Moretti, Gabriel Baud-Bovy, E. R. Høeg, Roberto Cozzi, Jacopo Ippolito, Claudio de’Sperati
{"title":"Elders’ experience with augmented gaze: preliminary observations","authors":"Vittorio Dalmasso, Michela Moretti, Gabriel Baud-Bovy, E. R. Høeg, Roberto Cozzi, Jacopo Ippolito, Claudio de’Sperati","doi":"10.2478/gth-2023-0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/gth-2023-0002","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Research on elders’ acceptance of virtual technologies is much needed. Here we studied the user experience of elders (N = 10, mean age = 88.2 years) during virtual biking, an exergame where participants pedal on a cycle ergometer and wear a Head-Mounted Display that provides them an immersive experience of a bike ride. We tested the effects of augmented gaze on user experience. Augmented gaze is a condition in which horizontal head turns yield amplified visual shifts, which is assumed to facilitate visual exploration. User experience was measured by asking participants to rate satisfaction, motivation, sense of presence and sense of safety. We found a very good acceptance of virtual biking and no signs of negative effects of augmented gaze. These preliminary observations suggest that augmented gaze may be a viable optimization of elders’ experience with certain virtual reality applications.","PeriodicalId":33799,"journal":{"name":"Gestalt Theory","volume":"18 1","pages":"115 - 119"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139352163","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gestalt TheoryPub Date : 2023-08-01DOI: 10.2478/gth-2023-0013
Ian Verstegen
{"title":"Critical Realist Foundations for Berlin Comparative Musicology(vergleichende Musikswissenschaft)","authors":"Ian Verstegen","doi":"10.2478/gth-2023-0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/gth-2023-0013","url":null,"abstract":"Summary Is it possible to discover the critical realist foundations of Gestalt theory in Berlin comparative musicology (vergleichende Kunstwissenschaft) associated above all with Erich M. von Hornbostel? The balance of natural science explanation and phenomenal experience is a useful model for overcoming Eurocentrism in comparative ethnomusicology, relying both on third-person tools and indigenous music systems. This paper uses Gestalt critical realist epistemology and methodology and a portrayal of the strata making up the understanding of a musical act with chemico-physical, phenomenal and cultural components to create an “amphibian” ethnomusicology. Using this framework it is possible to understand Hornbostel and Sachs’ musical instrument classification system and Hornbostel’s account of “primitive” music as strata in a Gestalt explanatory system. The potential binding agent through the strata is isomorphism.","PeriodicalId":33799,"journal":{"name":"Gestalt Theory","volume":"56 1","pages":"85 - 100"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139352730","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gestalt TheoryPub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.2478/gth-2022-0021
Serena Mingolo
{"title":"Report of the 22nd Scientific Conference of the Society for Gestalt Theory and its Applications in Trieste (2022)","authors":"Serena Mingolo","doi":"10.2478/gth-2022-0021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/gth-2022-0021","url":null,"abstract":"From 7th July to 10th July, 2022, the 22nd Scientific Conference of the Society for Gestalt Theory and its Applications (GTA) took place in Trieste, Italy. The conference was organized by the University of Trieste in collaboration with the Department of Life Sciences, the Università Cattolica (Milano), the University of Cologne, the University of Warsaw, the University of Milano-Bicocca, and the Polish Academy of Sciences. The theme was “Mind in context—Context in mind,” and the conference discussed the complex relationship between the mind and context in a variety of disciplines: perception, attention, learning, memory, decisions, reasoning, personality, motivation, emotion, psychotherapy, and communication in different areas of experience and in the biological field.","PeriodicalId":33799,"journal":{"name":"Gestalt Theory","volume":"44 1","pages":"317 - 321"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41401447","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gestalt TheoryPub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.2478/gth-2022-0015
Gisela Kubon-Gilke
{"title":"Gestalt Theory and Socioeconomic Analyses","authors":"Gisela Kubon-Gilke","doi":"10.2478/gth-2022-0015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/gth-2022-0015","url":null,"abstract":"Summary The analysis of social and economic phenomena has a long Gestalt-theoretical tradition but is currently seen rather as a niche subject. In this article, recent important approaches are presented that explicitly or implicitly refer to Gestalt-theoretical considerations. The particular relevance of narratives is pointed out. In addition, further analytical challenges are discussed.","PeriodicalId":33799,"journal":{"name":"Gestalt Theory","volume":"44 1","pages":"303 - 316"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46201045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gestalt TheoryPub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.2478/gth-2022-0016
M. Antonelli
{"title":"Vittorio Benussi, the Gustav Mahler of Psychology","authors":"M. Antonelli","doi":"10.2478/gth-2022-0016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/gth-2022-0016","url":null,"abstract":"Summary The paper celebrates the person and work of Vittorio Benussi, a forgotten genius of psychology. In particular, it addresses the two most important scientific projects that Benussi developed during his time in Graz and Padua, respectively: the psychology of perception and the psychology of emotions and the unconscious. It highlights the originality and topicality of Benussi’s work and emphasizes its proximity to the latest trends in these research fields.","PeriodicalId":33799,"journal":{"name":"Gestalt Theory","volume":"44 1","pages":"243 - 262"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47722264","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gestalt TheoryPub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.2478/gth-2022-0014
Marianne Soff
{"title":"Laudatio for Gerhard Stemberger on the Occasion of the Award of the Honorary Membership of the GTA","authors":"Marianne Soff","doi":"10.2478/gth-2022-0014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/gth-2022-0014","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":33799,"journal":{"name":"Gestalt Theory","volume":"44 1","pages":"205 - 212"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46004678","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gestalt TheoryPub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.2478/gth-2022-0020
S. Guberman
{"title":"Gestalt road to Necker cube perception","authors":"S. Guberman","doi":"10.2478/gth-2022-0020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/gth-2022-0020","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The study of cases of illusory or unstable perception of some visual stimuli allows exploration of the psychology of perception of the surrounding world. The wired construction known as “Necker cube” is one such stimulus: it can be perceived as a cube whose front face is seen higher than the back face or vice versa. The switch can occur intentionally or spontaneously. The investigations were focused on switching parameters, relation of the switching to eye position, pre-history, and environment. Here we define that the kernel of the problem is recognizing the 2D drawing as a 3D Necker cube. To this end, we have expanded Gestalt's psychology methods that allow us to recognize 2D figures in drawings for recognizing 3D figure in a flat drawing (including the Necker cube). The presented algorithm for recognizing the cube based on the imitation principle allowed the development of the model of switching between two possible perceptions of the Necker cube. The paper shows that the predictions are in conformity with previously available experimental data. The results confirm the imitation principle of perception, and suggest expanding our research on perception to a wider class of 3D figures, opening a window into the internal processes of perception.","PeriodicalId":33799,"journal":{"name":"Gestalt Theory","volume":"44 1","pages":"289 - 302"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46543238","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gestalt TheoryPub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.2478/gth-2022-0022
Achille C. Varzi
{"title":"On Perceiving Abs nces","authors":"Achille C. Varzi","doi":"10.2478/gth-2022-0022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/gth-2022-0022","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Can we really perceive absences, i.e., missing things? Sartre tells us that when he arrived late for his appointment at the café, he saw the absence of his friend Pierre. Is that really what he saw? Where was it, exactly? Why didn’t Sartre see the absence of other people who were not there? Why did other people who were there not see the absence of Pierre? The perception of absences gives rise to a host of conundrums and is constantly on the verge of conceptual confusion. Here I focus on the need to be clear about four sorts of distinctions: (i) the difference between perceiving an absence and perceiving something that is absent; (ii) the difference between perceiving an absence and an absence of perceiving; (iii) the difference between perceiving an absence and perceiving something as an absence; and (iv) the difference between perceiving an absence and perceiving that something is absent.","PeriodicalId":33799,"journal":{"name":"Gestalt Theory","volume":"44 1","pages":"213 - 242"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47908103","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gestalt TheoryPub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.2478/gth-2022-0017
R. Luccio
{"title":"Thinking on Reality: Metzger and the Rejection of the “Eleatic Postulate”","authors":"R. Luccio","doi":"10.2478/gth-2022-0017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/gth-2022-0017","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In 1940, Wolfgang Metzger began a profound reflection on the meaning of the phenomenological approach to Gestalt psychology, which had its starting point in the rejection of what he called the “Eleatic” or “Eleatic–Rationalistic Postulate,” that is, the notion that, in his opinion, had dominated Western scientific and philosophical thought of the past centuries, according to which any assertion about the state of things that could lead to self-contradictory conclusions had to be considered unfounded. On the basis of this rejection and with exclusive reference to access to experiential data, Metzger proposed to distinguish five meanings of reality: (1) the physical or experiential world; (2) the intuitive or experienced world; (3) the experienced world (met, Angetroffen) in contrast to the represented world; (4) the something or fullness in contrast to emptiness or nothingness; (5) the real in contrast to the apparent. For Metzger (1950), this concept, although primarily related to perception, has far-reaching implications for our conception of others and of society. We question here the validity of Metzger’s concept, its explanatory significance, and its relation to other phenomenological concepts, such as that of Merleau-Ponty.","PeriodicalId":33799,"journal":{"name":"Gestalt Theory","volume":"44 1","pages":"263 - 278"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46668140","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}