Introduction to the Topic

The Third Force in Psychology

A metaphorical term for humanistic psychology (and the subsequent existential movements) that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s as a reaction to the two dominant and deterministic movements of the time: psychoanalysis and behaviorism.

While psychoanalysis viewed humans as beings determined by unconscious drives and a dark past, and behaviorism reduced human behavior to mechanical reactions to external stimuli, the "third force" brought a radical change. It placed free will, consciousness, the pursuit of self-actualization, and personal growth at the center of attention. However, these ideas were preceded methodologically and philosophically by a significant European movement – Gestalt psychology.

Gestaltism (Gestalt Psychology)

The basic thesis of this originally German movement is the idea that "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts." Psychological phenomena cannot be broken down into isolated elements because isolating the parts loses the meaning and essence of the whole. Our minds have an innate tendency to organize perception into meaningful shapes (gestalts).

Max Wertheimer1880–1943Founder of Gestaltism

A German psychologist of Prague origin who founded Gestalt psychology based on the study of perception.

Phi-phenomenon

The illusion of apparent motion created by the rapid succession of static visual stimuli (e.g., flashing lights or a film strip). It proves that the brain automatically organizes stimuli into dynamic wholes.

Restructuring of the problem field

A method of problem-solving where a person suddenly sees the situation from a new perspective and organizes its elements into a new, meaningful whole.

Wolfgang Köhler1887–1967Insight Learning

Co-founder of the movement, famous for his experiments with chimpanzees (especially the chimpanzee Sultan) on the island of Tenerife.

Insight learning (Aha-effect)

A sudden understanding of a situation and discovery of a solution without prior step-by-step trial and error. It involves the cognitive connection of elements in the environment into a new whole.

Exam Trap

Distinguish between insight learning (W. Köhler / Gestaltism), which occurs suddenly based on a cognitive understanding of the problem's structure, and trial-and-error learning (E. L. Thorndike / B. F. Skinner / Behaviorism), which is gradual, blind, and dependent solely on external rewards or punishments.

Kurt Koffka1886–1941Developmental Gestalt Psychology

Co-founder of Gestaltism (along with Wertheimer and Köhler). His main contribution was the application of Gestalt principles to the fields of developmental psychology and the psychology of learning.

Sensorimotor learning

Koffka emphasized that even early childhood development and learning are not just the mechanical creation of reflexes, but a structured process where the child begins to actively understand relationships and 'shapes' in their environment.

Kurt Lewin1890–1947Field Theory

Applied Gestalt principles to human behavior in a social context.

Field Theory

Human behavior is a function of the person's personality and their perceived environment (the so-called life space).

Vectors and valence

Objects in our psychological field have positive or negative valence (attraction or repulsion). These act upon us as psychological forces (vectors) and elicit motivation or internal conflicts.

Bluma Zeigarnik1901–1988Zeigarnik Effect

A Russian psychologist and student of Kurt Lewin who experimentally investigated memory in relation to motivation.

Zeigarnik Effect

A psychological phenomenon in which people remember uncompleted or interrupted tasks much better and longer than tasks they have already successfully completed. An unresolved task leaves a persistent internal tension in the mind.

Humanistic Psychology

Humanism (the third force) believes in the inherent goodness of human beings and their innate tendency toward growth, creativity, and self-actualization.

Abraham H. Maslow1908–1970Hierarchy of Needs

The central figure of humanistic psychology. He originally started from behaviorism but later focused on the study of healthy and self-actualizing individuals.

Pyramid of needs

A hierarchical model of human motivation. Lower-order needs must be at least partially satisfied for higher-order needs to fully emerge.

D-needs (Deficiency needs)

Needs arising from deprivation (physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem). They are driven by the desire to reduce unpleasant internal tension.

B-needs (Being / Growth needs)

These include the need for self-actualization. They are not motivated by a lack, but by the desire to grow personally and fulfill one's human potential.

Peak experience

A brief moment of intense happiness, internal harmony, and a feeling of deep meaning that people experience while fulfilling their potential.

Exam Trap

False categories often appear in entrance exams. Remember that neither the need for power (dominance) nor the need for sensory stimulation belongs in Maslow's pyramid. The pyramid consists of: 1. physiological needs, 2. safety, 3. love and belonging, 4. esteem and recognition, 5. self-actualization.

Carl R. Rogers1902–1987Client-Centered Approach

A revolutionary in the field of psychotherapy. He changed the perspective on the patient (whom he began to call a client on equal footing) and placed trust and freedom at the center of the therapeutic relationship.

The Self

The cornerstone of personality according to Rogers. A person has a Real Self (who they perceive themselves to be) and an Ideal Self (who they would like to be).

Congruence

A healthy state of mental harmony where the Real Self is as closely aligned as possible with the Ideal Self and the individual's actual experiences.

Unconditional positive regard

The therapist's fundamental attitude toward the client. It means accepting and respecting the other person without any conditions, judgments, or reservations, which is crucial for initiating their internal growth.

Logotherapy and Existentialism

This movement is closely linked to humanism but emphasizes even more strongly the questions of the meaning of human existence, freedom, inescapable responsibility, and the finitude of life.

Viktor E. Frankl1905–1997Logotherapy

An Austrian psychiatrist who survived the horrors of concentration camps. There, he practically confirmed his theory that survival and mental health depend primarily on finding meaning. He founded the so-called Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy (the first was Freud's psychoanalysis focused on pleasure, the second Adler's individual psychology focused on power).

Will to meaning

The deepest and primary human motivation. According to Frankl, more than anything else, a person desires to find meaning in their suffering and their life.

Existential vacuum

A feeling of utter internal emptiness, aimlessness, and hopelessness that occurs when a person lacks meaning in life.

Sunday neurosis

A specific manifestation of the existential vacuum appearing during free time (on weekends) when the rush of work stops, and a person is suddenly confronted with the emptiness of their own existence.

Paradoxical intention

A logotherapeutic technique. A patient suffering from anxieties is advised to deliberately and with exaggeration try to do exactly what they fear most (e.g., deliberately embarrassing themselves). This disrupts the mechanism of anticipatory anxiety.

Daseinsanalysis and Existential PsychologyExistentialism

While Frankl emphasized meaning, Daseinsanalysis (based on the philosophy of Martin Heidegger) focused on human "being-in-the-world" (Dasein) itself. It explores how a person experiences their existence, freedom, anxiety of non-being (death), and responsibility for their own choices.

Medard Boss and Ludwig Binswanger

Swiss psychiatrists and the main representatives of European Daseinsanalysis. They tried to understand the patient's unique world without pre-established psychoanalytic boxes and interpretations.

Rollo May

An American psychologist who connected European existentialism with American humanistic psychology. He emphasized that anxiety is a natural and inevitable part of freedom and personal growth.

Key Takeaways

• Third Force: A term for humanistic psychology, which emerged as an opposition to deterministic psychoanalysis and mechanistic behaviorism.
• Gestaltism: Studies perception and thinking as structured wholes. Wertheimer described the phi-phenomenon, Köhler insight learning, Koffka applied gestalt to development, Lewin field theory, and Zeigarnik memory for uncompleted tasks.
• A. H. Maslow: Described the hierarchy of needs divided into D-needs (deficiency) and B-needs (growth). The peak of the pyramid is self-actualization.
• C. R. Rogers: Creator of the client-centered approach. A healthy personality requires congruence (alignment between the Real and Ideal Self) and unconditional acceptance by others.
• Existentialism and Logotherapy: V. E. Frankl and his "will to meaning" (Sunday neurosis, existential vacuum). Daseinsanalysis (Boss, Binswanger) and Rollo May explored "being-in-the-world" and existential anxiety.

After a full day of work in a restaurant, a waiter easily remembers the orders from tables that haven't paid yet. But as soon as the guests pay and leave, the waiter immediately forgets what they ate. Which psychological concept describes this phenomenon?

Correct Answer: Zeigarnik EffectExplanation: Bluma Zeigarnik, a representative of Gestaltism, experimentally proved that we remember interrupted or uncompleted tasks significantly better than completed ones because they maintain a certain psychological tension in the mind.

Which of the following concepts DOES NOT belong to Viktor E. Frankl's logotherapy?

Correct Answer: CongruenceExplanation: Congruence (the alignment between the Real and Ideal Self) is a key concept of the humanistic psychologist Carl R. Rogers. Viktor E. Frankl and his logotherapy work with concepts like the will to meaning, existential vacuum, Sunday neurosis, and paradoxical intention.