Lesson 7: Functionalism

Lesson 7: Functionalism - detailed flashcards - ChatGPT: • William James and the stream of consciousness • How the mind adapts to the environment • Differences from Structuralism

What is William James’ major contribution to functionalism?

William James emphasized the stream of consciousness, viewing consciousness as continuous and adaptive. He believed psychology should study how mental processes help individuals adapt to their environments.

What is meant by James’ “stream of consciousness”?

The stream of consciousness is the idea that our thoughts are continuous, flowing, and ever-changing, rather than made up of separate, static elements as structuralists believed.

How did William James differ from structuralists?

James rejected introspection as the main method and focused on the functions of consciousness, not its structure. He valued how mental processes aid in adaptation and survival.

What did William James say about psychology’s practicality?

He believed psychology must be useful and provide practical insights into behavior, echoing American values of pragmatism.

Who founded Clark University and what was his role in functionalism?

Granville Stanley Hall founded Clark and promoted child and adolescent psychology, education reform, and the child study movement, all grounded in functionalist ideas.

What is recapitulation theory?

Proposed by Hall, it suggests that child development mirrors the evolutionary history of the human species.

What was the Child Study Movement?

A functionalist effort to observe and improve children's development, based on data collection and Hall’s developmental theories.

Who was Francis Cecil Sumner?

The first African American to earn a Ph.D. in psychology (1920), mentored by Hall, and a major figure in racial justice and educational reform in psychology.

Who was Arnold Gesell?

A child development expert influenced by Hall, who used motion picture recordings to study children’s developmental milestones.

What was John Dewey’s key contribution to functionalism?

His 1896 paper “The Reflex Arc Concept in Psychology” criticized simplistic stimulus-response models and emphasized the functional, adaptive role of behavior.

What is the significance of Dewey’s reflex arc paper?

It laid the groundwork for behavior viewed as a coordinated, purposeful response to context, not a simple chain reaction.

Who was James Rowland Angell?

A major figure in defining functionalism; he emphasized the study of how mental operations help organisms adapt, and coined the term "mental operations."

Who was Harvey A. Carr and what was his role in psychology?

A key member of the Chicago school, Carr co-authored “The Animal Mind” and emphasized adaptation and motivation in behavior.

What was Helen Bradford Thompson Woolley’s contribution?

She studied gender differences, concluding they were mostly due to social/environmental factors, not biology.

Who was Louis Leon Thurstone?

A pioneer in psychometrics and factor analysis, he developed methods for measuring intelligence and attitudes, including the Thurstone Scale.

What type of functionalism developed at Columbia University?

A learning-based functionalism under James McKeen Cattell, emphasizing testing, educational and industrial psychology.

What did Robert Sessions Woodworth contribute?

He developed the Woodworth Personal Data Sheet, one of the first personality tests, and proposed dynamic psychology, focusing on motivation and internal states.

What is dynamic psychology?

Woodworth’s theory that behavior results from the interaction of stimuli, organismic traits, and motivation. It emphasized internal causes, not just external S-R links.

What was Edward Thorndike’s main educational contribution?

He debunked the idea of "transfer of training" and developed teaching/testing methods based on experimentation and statistics.

What major book did Thorndike write?

Educational Psychology (1913), a foundational text integrating psychology with education.

What was the Psychological Corporation?

Founded in 1921 by Thorndike, Woodworth, and Cattell, it developed standardized tests for use in education, business, and government.

Who was Leta Hollingworth and what did she study?

A student of Thorndike, she disproved menstruation myths, researched gifted children, and influenced humanistic psychology.

What was Hollingworth’s key book on gifted children?

Children Above 180 IQ (1942), the most detailed study of profoundly gifted children.

Who was Florence Goodenough?

A child psychologist who developed the Draw-a-Man test and used time sampling to study child behavior.

What is the Draw-a-Man test?

A non-verbal intelligence test where children draw human figures, used to estimate mental age and screen for developmental issues.

What is time sampling and who pioneered it?

Developed by Goodenough, it involves systematic observation of children at intervals to understand behavior in natural settings.

What was the practical value of functionalism according to William James?

Functionalism made psychology useful by focusing on adaptive behaviors and mental processes that help people function in real life.

What were the key differences between functionalism and structuralism?

Structuralism focused on the structure of the mind via introspection; functionalism studied how mental processes function and help us adapt to environments.

Why didn’t functionalism “fail” like structuralism?

It evolved into applied psychology and influenced future fields like behaviorism, comparative psychology, and cognitive psychology.

What topics were influenced by functionalism?

Child development, learning, motivation, animal research, intelligence testing, educational and industrial psychology, and consciousness studies.