chapter 11 - american psychology and functionalism Flashcards

1
Q

how do structuralism and functionalism differ as paradigms?

A
  • function over structure; functionalism said everything about us is evolved due to natural selection, need to survive (Darwinian influence)
  • functionalism was non-reductionistic, active mind; structuralism said mind is a machine, passive)
  • functionalism had a broader scope and methodology; structuralism is narrower
  • functionalism has biological tradition (evolutionary theory), rationalism, pragmatisim (practical, applied)
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2
Q

what were the major influences on William James as he created functionalism?

A
  • the work of Charles Darwin
  • rationalism
  • non-reductionistic
  • active mind
  • was a really depressed dude
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3
Q

how does James’s description of consciousness compare to other approaches we have discussed?

A
  • consciousness is personal and reflects the experiences of the individual, subjective experience of existentialism, relates to Wundt’s apperception (active and voluntary, under the individual’s control)
  • it is constantly changing, can never have the same idea twice, relates to Heraclitus’s idea that things never “are” but are always “becoming”
  • it is selective, some of the many mental events entering consciousness are selected for further consideration and others are inhibited
  • it is functional and ensures our survival, relates to Darwinism (we have evolved to be conscious beings because we would otherwise cease to exist)
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4
Q

how does James describe the self?

A
  • partly known, partly knowing; partly object, partly subject
  • empirical self (me): material self, social self, spiritual self
  • self as knower (I), the pure ego that accounts for a person’s awareness of their empirical self
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5
Q

how does James’ view of emotions relate to modern theories of emotions?

A
  • modern theorists have built on its ideas by proposing that the experience of emotion is modulated by both physiological feedback and other information
  • James suggested that the experience of emotion consists solely of bodily changes
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6
Q

how do James’s theories incorporate notions of free will or voluntary action? how would James describe the causes of human thought and behavior?

A

free will:
- ideo-motor theory of behavior
- relates solely to the amount of effort of attention or consent which we can at any time put forth. chance is the free element, and chance comes before choice
- voluntary action and mental effort are inseparable
causes:
- all function, and internal states have a casual relationship with external behavior
- instincts drive behavior
- ideas of actions flow immediately and automatically (habitually or reflexively) into behavior
- behavior is both instinctive and learned. we first react behaviorally and then emotionally

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7
Q

how does British empiricism connect to the German physiology zeitgeist, then functionalism, and ultimately behaviorism?

A

British Empiricism: emphasizing the knowledge we get from our experiences (sensation and perception), causal things with anatomy, functions of things, then behavior only
German physiology: physiology zeitgeist influence by empiricist emphasis on causality and no mind
Functionalism: heavily inspired by Darwin, who believed that studying behavior was at least as important as studying the mind, what we have is useful
Behaviorism: influenced by functionalism because of the internal states and surrounding environment relationship

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