gestaltes

Gestalt is a German word meaning form, shape, or configuration. In English, gestalt or gestalts is used to refer to gestalt psychology concepts or, less commonly, as a plural form of gestalt itself. In German, the standard plural is Gestalten. The term is associated with a set of ideas about how people perceive complex scenes as organized wholes rather than merely as sums of parts.

Gestalt psychology emerged in the early 20th century with researchers such as Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler, and Kurt Koffka. They argued that perceptual organization follows intrinsic laws and that the mind actively organizes sensory input into coherent wholes. Central concepts include the law of Prägnanz, which posits that percepts tend toward simplicity and regularity, and figure-ground organization, which separates objects from their background. In addition, several grouping principles describe how elements are perceived as part of a whole: proximity, similarity, continuation, closure, connectedness, and common fate.

The gestalt approach has influenced a wide range of fields beyond psychology. In visual design and human–computer interaction, gestalt principles guide layout, typography, and interface readability by shaping how users perceive structure and relationships. In psychotherapy, Gestalt therapy emphasizes present-centered awareness, experiential methods, and holistic processing of experience, building on the broader gestalt emphasis on whole-person perception and experience.

Overall, gestalt concepts center on the idea that perception and experience are organized wholes, shaped by innate tendencies to simplify and unify sensory information.