Early Schools and Behaviourism Flashcards
Who had a major influence on the early development of psychology in the USA? Especially the functionalists. Why?
Charles Darwin
His theory suggests that most traits evolve because they are functional, that is, they help the organism survive and/or reproduce.
For Americans, especially the functionalists, understanding consciousness was important because consciousness helps people do things.
Adapting to changing environments is very important, which means learning becomes a significant topic.
What early form of psychology led to what we know of psychology today?
Functionalism was essentially an extension from Darwin’s theory. Functionalism is what led to what we know of psychology today.
Who was the only major proponent of structuralism?
Titchener
Who coined the terms structuralism and functionalism? Why?
Titchener coined the terms “structuralism” and “functionalism” as a way of contrasting his approach, which attempted to analyze consciousness into structures, with the approach of others who thought this approach pointless and sought to determine the functions of consciousness and other psychological processes.
What methods did Titchener rely heavily on?
Methodologically, Titchener relied very heavily on introspection and careful recording.
What were Titchener’s accomplishments / his legacy?
He encouraged large numbers of women to study psychology in a very sexist era
He devised a set of manuals for lab instructors (students and instructors) in psychology that were used for decades.
He also created a talking shop for psychologists that was supposed to be an alternative to the APA. In later years, this became the Society of Experimental Psychology, though in his lifetime they were simply “the Experimentalists.”
What happened to structuralism when Titchener died?
It died with him.
Was Titchener’s research program an extension of Wundt’s?
No, he claimed it was but what he was doing was actually different - he was using introspection for much more complex processes than what Wundt thought was appropriate
What did Titchener believe you needed to identify to study consciousness? How did that differ from functionalists’ thinking?
He believed you needed to identify the structures of consciousness like you would have to identify each piece of anatomy before you could study how it all functions.
Functionalists believed that, unlike anatomy, the structures of consciousness/physiology are not stable so there is no possibility or point to identifying them - the processes are the topic of concern
Who was Margaret Washburn? What was her main focus of study?
Margaret Floy Washburn was one of Titchener’s many female students to receive doctorates.
Unlike her teacher, she was very interested in comparative psychology.
What methodology did Washburn use? Who originally developed it?
Her methodology included a method called introspection by analogy, which was originally developed by the British naturalist George Romanes.
The idea here is that one imagines carrying out the action carried out by the animal and then imagines one’s own mental states.
What is Lloyd Morgan’s Canon? What is it a special case of?
Lloyd Morgan’s Canon states that one should not attribute more complex thought processes to an animal when less complex ones will account for the behaviour.
Note that this is a special case of Occam’s Razor.
Functionalists were interested in problems of ______________.
adaptation
Who were the three main precursors of functionalism?
James, Hall, and Cattell
What is John Dewey often credited with? What was his main idea? When?
John Dewey is often credited with writing the first functionalist article, an 1896 discussion of the reflex arc that argues that stimulus, internal processing, and response should not be broken up in this way, and that in fact reflexes are better thought of as goal-directed integrated wholes.
