Functionalism Flashcards
Was psychology present before structuralism and functionalism?
-psychology existed in the US before Titchener (structuralism) and William James (functionalism)
–psychology was present in other areas other than US (just not always recorded)
-Native American views on psychology?
What are the four stages of psychology?
-Stage 1: Moral and mental philosophy (1640-1776)
-Stage 2: Intellectual Philosophy (1776-1886)
-Stage 3: U.S. Renaissance (1886-1896)
-Stage 4: U.S. Functionalism (1896-beyond)
Describe Stage 1.
-psychology and religion
-logic
Describe Stage 2.
-in the U.S. during this time, psychology became its own discipline (from philosophical ideas to its own field)
-moral and scientific laws were mental habits
-disagreement - sensory information could be accepted at face value (objective vs subjective)
-self examination leads to valid information
-morality - self evident intuitions
-commonsense philosophy - nature of God does not need to be proven logically because we can trust the feelings of others (just trying to understand, not prove)
-psychology begins to leave the place of philosophy into its own discipline
Describe Stage 3.
-psychology emphasized individual differences, adaption to the environment - influenced by evolution
-structuralism competed with functionalism for years
Describe Stage 4.
-science, concern of practicality, emphasis on the individual, and the evolution theory combined into the school of functionalism
-structuralism and functionalism overlapped
-structuralism goal - structure of mind - introspection was the research tool
-functionalism goal - understand how mind and behaviour work in connection/support of adjusting to the environment - research included anything that was informative
What are the characteristics of Functional Psychology?
-not a single organized thought or a single leader
-common themes were identified
–rejected the search for elements of consciousness
–understand the function of the mind rather than provide description of its contents - mental processes have a function
–want psychology to be a practical science not a pure science - improve personal life, education, industry
–boraden research to include animals, children, and “abnormal humans”
–the why of the mental processes and behaviour led to concern with motivation
–both mental processes and behaviour were legitimate subject matter in psychology
–what makes organisms different rather than the same
–all were influenced by William James
Who was William James?
-from New York City
-transition from European psychology to U.S. psychology
-went to school for medicine - because of health reasons, he discovered psychology (shift of study, like early phil.)
-found Wundt’s work and agreed that psychology needed to become a science
-he finished medical school
-health concerns persisted - became depressed
-explained the depression from Darwin’s perspective (“survival of the fittest, I’m not gonna survive”)
-read an essay on freewill and it changed his perspective (“I can actually get better”)
What was William James’ role in Functionalism?
-his ideas contained the seeds that led to the school of functionalism (not sole contributor)
-James’ psychology more influential than Titchener (because it gives more information than structuralism)
-competed with Wundt for unofficial title of the worldwide voice of psychology
-Pragmatism: the belief that if an idea works, it is valid
-both philosophical and scientific approach must be used to study human behaviour and thought (broadens field)
What was James’ view on Stream of Consciousness?
-this opposed the elements of thought
-consciousness is personal: it reflects the experiences of an individual (subjective instead of objective)
-consciousness is continuous and cannot be divided up for analysis (can think about now, before, and after)
-consciousness is constantly changing - we can never exactly have the same idea twice - stream of consciousness providing the context for idea is changing
-consciousness is selective
-consciousness is functional - aid the individual to adapt to the environment (guiding us; change behaviour based on environment)
What was James’ view of Habits and Insticts?
-human and animal behaviour governed by instinct
-instinctive behaviour is modified by experience (helps you know what is safe/unsafe)
-we develop instinct - like patterns of behaviours within the lifetime called habits (activity repeated)
-habits are functional
-habits make society possible (why we show up to class/work)
-how to encourage good habits and eliminate bad ones:
–put yourself in an environment that encourages good habits (positively reinforcement/relaxation)
–don’t allow yourself to act differently to a habit you are trying to develop
–do not make changes slowly, engage in positive habits completely to begin with and abstain completely from bad ones (guarantee you don’t give up on the good habit)
–intention vs the doing (just go and do it)
–force yourself to engage in ways that are beneficial even if it is difficult and requires a lot of effort
What was James’ view on the Self?
-empirical self - the “me” of personality (structuralism didn’t look at the self)
-3 components of the empirical self:
–Material self - anything material one could call their own - body, family, property (context and boundaries)
–Social self: self as known by others (brings up self-awareness/reflection)
–Spiritual self: states of consciousness - everything we think and emotions - subjective reality
-the aspect of self that does the knowing (the I)
-struggled with the self as knower (get information from others, because we don’t know everything)
-self-esteem: James one of the first to study circumstances people feel good or bad about themselves
-self-esteem is determined by ratio of things attempted vs things achieved
What was James’ view on Emotions?
-reversed traditional beliefs on emotions - emotions result from perception of an event
–reversed because structuralists wouldn’t even consider the emotion (now bringing in the environment which was previously left out)
-ex: bear walks in (might start with emotion and then we react based on that emotion; fear so you run); what comes first? What’s causing what? - he said reaction happens after perception of an event
-James - perception causes bodily reactions that are then experienced as emotions - emotions we feel depend on what we do (however we perceive something is the emotion we will have)
-Danish physician Carl George Lange published the same theory at the same time
-James-Lange Theory of emotion
What was James’ view on Free will?
-without the assumption of determinism (this is happening because this is what needs to be happening; no free will), science would be impossible
-if psychology is to be a science, it would need to assume determinism (important in the field of psychology)
-science is not everything, the assumption of free will may be beneficial at times in studying humans (we need to consider everything to study psychology)
-voluntary behaviour - ideo-motor theory of behaviour - in most cases, ideas of actions flowed immediately and automatically (habitually or reflexively) into behaviour
-an idea of a certain action causes that action to occur (actions are connected to ideas)
What was James’ view on Pragmatism?
-(pragmatism says: if something works, then it’s valid)
-cornerstone of functionalism (because we are looking at the purpose; how we are adapting to our environment)
-any belief, thought, or behaviour must be judged by its consequences (try it, then you’ll know if you like it)
-free will was emotionally satisfying (satisfying to know that you could get better)
-truth is not something “out there” in a static form waiting to be discovered (truth is internal; you have the answers)
-truth must be gauged on effectiveness under changing circumstances (bringing in the environment to understand what’s going on; can change overnight)
-any methods that would bring to light on the complexities of human existence
What was James’ contributions to psychology?
-evolutionary theory into psychology (adapting to the environment)
-usefulness defines truth and value
-expanded research techniques (all methods that gather data to understand complexities is what functionalists do)
-influenced students at Harvard (influenced many)
-his ideas are seen in other areas of psychology
-his interest shifted back to philosophical matters and found someone to direct his lab - Hugo Musternberg (his ideas were functionalists, then moved back to philosophy)
