In their book, Progress in Modern Psychology: The Legacy of American Functionalism, Owens and Wagner (1992) suggest that contemporary psychology reflects a common vision of the naturalistic framework that was first inspired by William James and later refined by John Dewey, James Rowland Angell, Harvey Carr, among others. In this regard, Owens and Wagner argue that one of the key contributors to early functionalism was John Dewey. In sharp contrast to the aforementioned structuralist approach which would analyze a situation into its continent parts, Dewey believed that sensation and the subsequent motor responses could not be legitimately separated, but rather comprised a more linear analysis that provided a coordinated response to a given condition (Owens & Wagner, 1992).
Behaviorism.
According to Zuriff (1985), behaviorism is not the science of behavior (consisting of findings, principles, laws, and theories that are formulated through the study of behavior) but rather provides a conceptual framework in which the assumptions, values, and presuppositions that support this science can be analyzed more fully. While behaviorism is a comprehensive framework, there are four key components involved:
Behaviorism provides researchers with guidance concerning what types of psychological questions are worthy of pursuing and what methods and concepts are considered acceptable for this purpose;
Behaviorism,...
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