According to Gestalt psychology, what did Gestalt psychologists primarily study about perception?

• A. How individual sensory elements are processed in isolation
• B. How behavior is shaped solely by reinforcement and punishment
• C. How people organize sensory information into meaningful wholes
• D. How unconscious motives influence conscious behavior

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand that Gestalt psychology focuses on perception and how we interpret sensory information.
2. Recognize that Gestalt psychologists emphasized the idea that the whole is different from the sum of its parts, meaning people perceive entire patterns or configurations rather than just individual sensory elements.
3. Identify that the key concept is how sensory information is organized into meaningful wholes, rather than being processed in isolation.
4. Eliminate options that focus on behavior shaped solely by reinforcement and punishment, as this relates more to behaviorism, not Gestalt psychology.
5. Also eliminate options related to unconscious motives influencing behavior, which pertains more to psychoanalytic theory, not Gestalt psychology.