gestalt
The psychology of the idea that the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.
Summarized by this quote:
There are wholes, the behavior of which is not determined by that of their individual elements, but where the part-processes are themselves determined by the intrinsic nature of the whole. It is the hope of Gestalt theory to determine the nature of such wholes. - Max Wertheimer
This is an interesting reverse-view of emergent behaviour.
It has much to do about "leaps" of thought, and about unconscious thought.
It's made up of a few "laws" or principles:
- Proximity: Things near each other are interpreted as related in some way
- Similarity: Things that look like each other are interpreted as related in some way
- Closure: We "fill in the gaps" in our head. Classic example: This picture of a zebra
(your brain fills in the missing parts)
- Symmetry: Mind perceives symmetric objects as a unit
- Common fate: Objects moving together are somehow related
- Continuity: Elements along the same line of continuity are related
- Past Experience: If you've seen it before it can override a past law. For example "LI" does appear as "U" (by the law of closure it should)