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person1910–1941

Kurt Koffka

Disciplines:
developmental psychology
princeton/perception
psychology/gestalt psychology

Summary

German-American psychologist and co-founder of the Gestalt school, who systematized Gestalt principles into a comprehensive theory of perception, learning, and development in his landmark Principles of Gestalt Psychology.

Core Contribution

Systematized Gestalt psychology in its most comprehensive form in Principles of Gestalt Psychology (1935), extending Gestalt principles from perception to memory, learning, emotion, and development.

Notable Works & Achievements

The Growth of the Mind

Principles of Gestalt Psychology

Historical Influences

Max Wertheimer Carl Stumpf

Intellectual Lineage

Gestalt Psychology German Experimental Psychology Phenomenological Psychology

Contemporaries & Peers

Max Wertheimer Wolfgang KöhlerWilhelm Wundt

Minds Influenced

Jerome Bruner Fritz Perls

Intellectual Posterity

Gestalt principles codifiedGestalt Psychology

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