Who is credited as the founder of Gestalt theory?

• A. Carl Rogers
• B. Sigmund Freud
• C. B.F. Skinner
• D. Frederick Perls with the Polsters

Answer: (D)

Gestalt theory centers on how we perceive organized wholes rather than just individual parts. The foundational work came from Max Wertheimer, who started the line of thinking, and was developed further by Wolfgang Köhler and Kurt Koffka. They explored how perceptual organization influences what we experience as a whole.

Frederick Perls with the Polsters are associated with Gestalt therapy, a later clinical approach that applies Gestalt ideas to psychotherapy. So while Gestalt therapy draws on those original principles, it is a distinct movement from Gestalt theory itself.

The other names listed correspond to different psychological traditions—Carl Rogers with person-centered therapy, Sigmund Freud with psychoanalysis, and B.F. Skinner with behaviorism—rather than the origins of Gestalt theory.