Structuralism and Functionalism in Psychology

Structuralism and Functionalism in Psychology

Psychology is considered a relatively young science compared to other sciences, such as human physiology. Psychological sciences primarily deal with issues related to the mind, and a philosophical context characterizes the field. Two individuals are closely associated with the founding of psychology as a science and making its distinction as an academic discipline that is different from philosophy. Wilhelm Wundt and William James are considered the founders of psychological sciences. Our assignment writing services will allow you to attend to more important tasks as our experts handle your task.

Wilhelm Wundt was a German scientist and was the first individual to be considered a psychologist. His belief was that the goal of psychology was meant to identify various components of consciousness and, hence, decipher how these components combined to make up the conscious experience. His research and experiments involved introspection, a process in which an individual would examine their conscious experience objectively. Through this, the human mind would be considered any other aspect of nature observed by scientists (Andrade & Walker, 2021). Ideally, Wundt believed in the aspects of volunteerism based on the sense that individuals should be accorded the opportunity to know and understand the intentions of psychological experiments when they are involved. In his version of experimental introspection, Wundt made use of instruments that involved those that measured the reaction time of individuals; in one of his scientific works, the Volkerpsychologie, he suggested that the study of psychology should be inclusive of cultural studies since these involved the study of individuals (Henley, 2018). Introspection gave rise to structuralism since much focus was created on the mental processes instead of the function. This aspect was further developed by one of Wundt’s students, Edward B. Titchener. Wundt conducted experiments that primarily focused on the reaction time of individuals.

For instance, an individual would be placed in a room that was isolated and would receive a stimulus such as light, an image, or sound. The response to the stimulus that the individual was exposed to would be to push a button. From this, an apparatus would be used to record the response time. On the other hand, the response time would be measured in terms of one-thousandth of a second (Henley, 2018). Structuralism is important because it is considered the first school of thought in psychology.

William James was the pioneer of functionalism since he explained how psychology should operate. His idea of psychology is, in a way, connected to Darwin’s theory of evolution since it explains the basic characteristics of individuals that are, on the other hand, connected to their environment. Functionalism focuses on how mental activities assist organisms in fitting into their environment. Ideally, the primary focus is on the operations of the whole mind rather than on its parts (Henley, 2018). Functionalism is an important component in psychology since it significantly influenced the development of behaviorism and applied psychology. Some examples of structuralism today include education, healthcare, and the economy since these components can be broken down into their smallest parts with the aim of examining them. In terms of functionalism, examples can be deduced from the manner in which individuals relate to new environments, especially when the language, culture, values, and beliefs differ. Both schools of thought played a significant role in the development of psychology that is studied presently. Ideally, structuralism assisted in driving psychology towards a more experimental science, while functionalism was the base through which behaviorism was developed.

References

Andrade, M., & Walker, N. (2021). Early Psychology–Structuralism and Functionalism. Social Sci LibreTexts.

Henley, T. (2018). Hergenhahn’s an introduction to the history of psychology. Cengage Learning.

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Your first assignment for History of Psychology will assess your understanding of the material you have learned in the first two units. You will be required to consider how the structuralist and functionalist schools of thought have influenced the development of psychology as a science and how that applies to psychology today.
Write a 2- to 3-page informational essay incorporating the following:

Structuralism and Functionalism in Psychology

Choose a theorist from the structuralist school of thought and one from the functionalist school of thought, and discuss the significant concepts proposed by each.
Explain how these concepts relate to the development of psychology as a science.
Provide examples in current events that illustrate the continued influence of each school of thought on the development of psychology using the major concepts of each school of thought.
textbook:
Hergenhahn’s An Introduction to the History of Psychology
Chapter 9 and Chapter 11