Chapter 7 Functionalism: Development and Founding Ms. Wilson, MS, LPC

Topics Evolution Comes to America: Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) William James (1842-1910): Anticipator of Functional Psychology The Functional Inequality of Women Granville Stanley Hall (1844-1924) The Founding of Functionalism John Dewey (1859-1952) James Rowland Angell (1869-1949) Criticism of Functionalism Contributions of Functionalism

Evolution Comes to America: Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) Social Darwinism: the system of philosophy that brought Herbert Spencer acclaim Premise: the development of all aspects of the universe is evolutionary, including human character and social institutions Proposal: allow “survival of the fittest” to operate freely and let the characteristics, institutions, and people who are not fit to survive die out The state should not interfere Vastly popular in America

William James (1842-1910) William James: The American precursor to functional psychology He was not the founder of functional psychology Inspired yet did not train other psychologists Criticized for his interests in mental telepathy, clairvoyance, spiritualism, communication with the dead at séances

James’s Life Born in a wealthy family Dabbled in medicine, biology, and literature before settling on psychology Experienced neurasthenia: a condition of American nervousness Symptoms: insomnia, hypochondria, headache, skin rash, nervous exhaustion, and something called brain collapse Published The Principles of Psychology: a tremendous success and a significant contribution to the field The goal of psychology is not discovery of the elements of experience, but the study of living people as they adapt to their environment.

The Subject Matter of Psychology: A New Look at Consciousness James: “Psychology is the science of mental life, both of its phenomena and their conditions Rebelled against Wundt’s approach Stream of consciousness : idea that consciousness is a continually flowing process and any attempt to reduce it to elements will distort it Personal to the individual Continuous; cannot be divided up for analysis Always changing Selective; some events are selected for further consideration while others are not Functional; purpose is to aid the individual in adapting to the environment.

The Methods of Psychology Introspection must be a basic method Results could be verified by appropriate checks and by comparing the findings obtained from several observers Importance of the experimental method Did not use it himself Noted the major difference between structural and functional psychologies The functionalist movement would not be restricted to a single method

Pragmatism and the Theory of Emotions The doctrine that the validity of idea is measured by their practical consequences The theory of emotions Contradicted current thinking about the nature of emotional states The arousal of the physical response precedes the appearance of the emotion “Act the way you want to feel” Later lead to the “James-Lange theory of emotions”

The Three-Part Self and Habit The three-part self: James believed there are three parts to the self Material: everything unique our own (i.e., clothes) Social: recognition we get from others Spiritual: our inner and subjective being Habit: influence of physiological influences Repetitive or habitual actions involve the nervous system and serve to increase the plasticity of neural matter

The Functional Inequality of Women Mary Whiton Calkins (1863-1930): Student of James Developed the paired-associate technique used in the study of memory Became the first woman president of the APA Contested the variability hypothesis Men show a wider range and variation of physical and mental development than women; abilities of women are seen as more average

Granville Stanley Hall (1844-1924) Many firsts: First American doctoral degree in psychology First American student in the first year of the first psychology lab Began what is often considered to be the first psychology laboratory in the United States Began the first psychology journal Was the first president of Clark University One of the first applied psychologists

Evolution and the Recapitulation Theory of Development Hall’s single theme: evolutionary theory Believed that that the normal growth of the mind involved a series of evolutionary stages Method: questionnaires Recapitulation theory: children in their personal development repeat the life history of the human race, evolving from infancy to childhood to rational human being The Adolescence book became controversial because of focus on sex

The Founding of Functionalism Functionalism was not started intentionally Began as a protest against the restrictions and limitations of Wundt’s version of psychology and of Titchener’s structuralism No single form to functionalism Emphasis on: Mental functions: look at real-world problems How people function in, and adapt to, different environments Titchener (1898), The Postulates of a Structural Psychology.

The Chicago School In addition to James, there were two other psychologists that contributed to the “founding” of functionalism John Dewey James Rowland Angell James later designated them the “Chicago School”

John Dewey (1859-1952) Practical orientation: applying psychology to educational and philosophical problems Dewey’s most important work involves: “The reflex Arc Concept in Psychology” (1896) Dewey argues that neither behavior nor conscious experience could be reduced to elements Reflex forms a circle than an arc because the child’s perception of the flame changes, thus serving a different function

James Rowland Angell (1869-1949) The province of functional psychology: Textbook Psychology embodies the functionalist approach Goal of psychology: study how the mind assists the organism in adjusting to its environment Three major themes of functionalist movement: The psychology of mental operations (not elements) The psychology of the fundamental utilities of consciousness The psychology of psychophysical relations (mind- body relations)

Functionalism: The Final Form Defined the subject matter of psychology as mental activity (i.e., memory, perception, feeling, imagination, judgment, and will) The function of mental activity: to acquire, fixate, retain, organize, and evaluate experiences and to use these experiences to determine one’s actions

Functionalism at Columbia University Another form of functionalism developed at Columbia University Other contributors: James McKeen Cattell: work on mental tests embodied the American functionalist spirit E.L. Thorndike: research on problems of animal learning reinforced the functionalist trend toward greater objectivity

Criticisms of Functionalism Came mostly from structuralism Included: Any approach to psychology that deviated from the introspective analysis of the mind into elements could not truly be called psychology Criticisms of the functional psychologists’ interest in practical concerns Ongoing dispute between seeing psychology as a pure or as an applied science

Contributions of Functionalism Consequences of the shift in emphasis from structure to function: Research on animal behavior Incorporated studies of infants, children, and people with mental disabilities Supplemented the introspective method with data obtained from other methods (i.e., mental tests, questionnaires, and objective descriptions of behavior) By 1930, the functional victory was complete