DiscussionThere are several theorists whose ideas are predominately cognitive. Theses theorists include the Gestalt psychologists Kurt Lewin and Kurt Koffka, as well as Jean Piaget, Edward Chace Tolman, and Albert Bandura. Wertheimer, Kohler and Lewin were founders of the Gestalt movement. According to Hergenhahn and Olson (2005), Gestalt theorists believed that "we experience the world in meaningful wholes and do not see isolated stimuli but stimuli gathered together into meaningful configurations" (p. 264). Kurt Lewin proposed a field theory of human motivation. He believed that behavior and cognitive processes are determined by various psychological facts that a person is consciously experiencing. The psychological facts are interdependent and any change in one can affect all the others, therefore influencing our behavior.
Kurt Koffka, another Gestaltist falling under the cognitive paradigm defined the law of Pragnanz in Gestalt Theory. The law of Pragnanz states that, "all mental events tend toward completeness, simplicity, and meaningfulness" (Hergenhahn and Olson, 2005, p. 473). Followers of Gestalt theory used this law as a guiding principle when
References: Hergenhahn, B.R., & Olson, M. (2005). An Introduction to Theories of Learning. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.