The tradmark of the Gestalt movement can be summarized by the statement "thewhole is greater than the sum of its parts".
Gestaltists believe that thewhole of an experience is indeed comprised of a series of parts which can bediscovered through analysis but they deny that the whole can be understood byanalysis of these individual parts. The whole learning experience is differentthan the sum of its parts.
An example of this was illustrated by M.Werthheimerin what he called the phi phenomenon. This phenomenon can be demonstrated whentwo or more lights placed in a row are flashed on and off in succession. Ratherthan percieving each light turning on and off, we percieve a light moving alongthe row.
Two other major contributors to Gestaltist theory were K.Koffka andW.Kohler who were responsible for the popularization of the movement. Psychologists of the time, having been trained in behaviorist learning, were notavid supporters of this new theory. The early advocates of Gestalt learningtheory were educators who could more easily see that learning was indeedoccuring through insight rather than purely through trial and error as thebehaviorists proposed.