Who is associated with 'Gestalt Theory of Learning' from the following?
2016
Who is associated with 'Gestalt Theory of Learning' from the following?
- A.
Pavlov
- B.
Skinner
- C.
Thorndike
- D.
Kohler
Attempted by 8 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Gestalt Theory of Learning holds that learning is not built up piece by piece through trial-and-error or stimulus-response association; instead, a learner perceives a problem situation as a whole ('Gestalt' = organized whole/pattern), and a solution emerges suddenly through insight — a reorganization of the perceptual field, not gradual conditioning.
This idea was demonstrated by Wolfgang Köhler through his experiments with chimpanzees (most famously 'Sultan') on Tenerife: when fruit was placed out of reach with sticks or boxes nearby, the chimpanzee did not learn by repeated blind attempts — after surveying the whole setup, it suddenly grasped the relationship between the objects and used a stick or stacked boxes to reach the fruit in one deliberate action. This sudden, whole-situation grasp is exactly what 'insight learning' — Köhler's contribution — describes, and it is the foundation of the Gestalt Theory of Learning.
Pavlov studied classical conditioning: a neutral stimulus (a bell) is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus (food) until it alone triggers the response (salivation) — association built through repetition, not sudden insight.
Skinner studied operant conditioning: behaviour is gradually strengthened or weakened by the reinforcement or punishment that follows it — shaping through consequences over many trials, not a single perceptual reorganization.
Thorndike proposed trial-and-error learning under the law of effect: an organism tries many responses and the one producing a satisfying outcome is gradually 'stamped in' — incremental strengthening, not sudden whole-situation understanding.
Because the question asks specifically for the psychologist behind Gestalt (insight-based) learning, and only Köhler's work matches that description among the four, Kohler is the correct answer.