Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Exploring the Role of Deontic Reasoning and World Knowledge in Wason´s Selection Task
Published on: July 22, 2025
Revisiting Wittgenstein on Köhler and Gestalt psychology
1Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. John.Benjafield@BrockU.ca
Abstract:
In an article in this journal, Nicholas Pastore rejected Ludwig Wittgenstein's critique of Wolfgang Köhler and Gestalt psychology. Pastore appears not to have appreciated Wittgenstein's argument that Köhler mistook conceptual questions for factual ones. A simi-lar confusion seems to underlie at least some aspects of contemporary neuroscience. Be that as it may, Wittgenstein has had minimal influence on the research practices of psychologists while Köhler remains influential. This outcome would not have surprised Wittgenstein, who predicted that scientists would not see his work as relevant to theirs.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Gestalt Psychology
Gestalt Principles of Perception
Cognitivism
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process information is...
Cognitive Learning
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
Revisionist Views of Adolescent and Adult Cognition
Structuralism
Titchener's approach to structuralism was unique. He employed introspection, a method...

