Notes on Structuralism and Functionalism Show Both are schools of thought in the discipline of psychology. Titchener was the inventor of structuralism and James was the inventor of functionalism. Structuralism followed Wundt’s voluntarism and functionalism followed structuralism. Structuralism was a school of thought in which the subject matter of psychology was the consciousness of normal adults and the method of study was introspection. Functionalism was a school of thought in which the subject matter was much broader than structuralism (the consciousness and behavior of normal and abnormal animals and humans) and the methods of study were much broader than in structuralism (introspection, study of individual differences, comparative psychology, applied psychology, abnormal psychology, etc). Structuralism was founded on the idea that consciousness was structured in the same way as objects. That is, made up of mental elements that were combined into complex mental compounds. So the focus of study was on the structure of consciousness. The point was to try to identify all the elements of consciousness by presenting subjects with a vast array of stimuli (like loud bangs, bright lights, etc) and asking them to identify what they experienced (their immediate experience). Functionalism, on the other hand, was founded on the idea that conscious was not at all like an object. In 1892 William James said:
Instead, James used the analogy of a stream to describe what consciousness is really like:
The focus of study in functionalism was on the way in which consciousness helped humans adapt to their surroundings. Or perhaps more broadly, the role that consciousness plays in our lives. The school of thought that followed functionalism was behaviorism. A debate between functionalism (McDougall) and behaviorism (Watson) is the subject of the online readings in week 6 of the course. Notes from the Text on Titchener and Structuralism 1) Titchener’s Theory of Consciousness (page numbers from the 9th edition)
2) Titchener’s Method of Study
3) Titchener’s Laboratory Research
4) Titchener’s Philosophy of Science
Notes from the Text on William James and Functionalism 1) James’ Theory of Consciousness
2) James’ Method of Study
3) James’ Laboratory Research
4) James’ Philosophy of Science
The following is an example answer to the SA question: Distinguish between structuralism and functionalism. Name the very basic differences between the two positions and what might have motivated the development of these two views in psychology. Which of these two schools of thought is most influential in psychology today and why? Name the major figures in the historical development of these two schools of thought. The two major figures in the development of structuralism and functionalism were Edward Titchener and William James respectively. Titchener developed structuralism as a school of thought in which the primary objective was to identify the basic building blocks (which he called mental elements) of consciousness. He believed that consciousness was akin to a mechanical object in the sense that it consists of basic elements that are combined into complex structures. Titchener believed that mental elements were of 3 types: Sensations, b) Images and c) Affective states. A significant part of Titchener’s work, therefore, involved the identification of the various different kinds of mental elements. It is said that over the course of his career he identified tens of thousands of distinct elements through the use of a procedure called introspection. Introspection was a method of observing the elements of consciousness elicited by a stimulus in which no form of interpretation, thinking, or subjective assessment is involved. For instance, introspective observations of an apple, would include immediate statements about the color (red), shape (round) and size (small) of the apple but not interpretations of what the object is (i.e., that it is an apple). Since the normal form of human consciousness involves interpretation, observers had to be trained to make introspective observations of stimuli. It is likely that Titchener’s approach was motivated by discoveries concerning the structure of matter being made in chemistry at the early part of the 20th century. James rejected Titchener’s mechanistic, reductionist, artificial view of human consciousness as structured of elements. He developed a new school of thought that emphasized the continuous, active nature of conscious thought. James also rejected the highly academic, experimental nature of structuralism and argued for a science of psychology that was pragmatic in approach. In doing so, he dramatically increased the scope and methods of psychology. His functionalist school of thought supported a broader form of introspection, reaction time studies, psychophysical methods, comparative methods, mental testing and applied psychology. As many of these methods are used in modern psychology, it can be argued that functionalism was very influential in the development of the psychology we have today. Structuralism on the other hand, has very little if any influence today. Perhaps the only area of psychology influenced by structuralism today is cognitive psychology. In cognitive psychology, the mind is viewed as a sort of computational machine. In structuralism, the mind was also viewed as a mechanical object of sorts. What was introduced by structuralist as a way to identify the basic elements of the human mind?Structuralism was the first school of psychology and focused on breaking down mental processes into the most basic components. Researchers tried to understand the basic elements of consciousness using a method known as introspection.
What is a structuralist approach to human behavior?Structuralism is a theory of consciousness that seeks to analyze the elements of mental experiences, such as sensations, mental images, and feelings, and how these elements combine to form more complex experiences.
What was the goal of the structuralists?Structuralism sought to analyze the adult mind (defined as the sum total of experience from birth to the present) in terms of the simplest definable components and then to find the way in which these components fit together in complex forms.
What are the four elements of structuralism?There are four main common ideas underlying Structuralism as a general movement: firstly, every system has a structure; secondly, the structure is what determines the position of each element of a whole; thirdly, "structural laws" deal with coexistence rather than changes; and fourthly, structures are the "real things" ...
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