Final answer:
Gestalt psychologists indeed considered the whole perceptual experience to be greater than the sum of its parts, emphasizing principles like figure-ground relationship and closure to explain how we construct perceptions from sensory input.
Step-by-step explanation:
True, Gestalt psychologists believed that the entirety of a perceptual experience can be greater than the sum of its component parts. This is the central tenet of Gestalt psychology, which suggests that our brains do not simply process sensory stimuli as separate elements but organize them into meaningful patterns or wholes. The Gestalt principles such as figure-ground relationship, closure, and the law of continuity help explain how we perceive objects and scenes in our environment. These principles illustrate that our perception is a constructive process, one where the mind seeks to create order and wholes from the available sensory information, going beyond the individual components.