Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Structuralsim vs. Functionalism
The structuralist/functionalist debate in the field of psychology focuses on the framework that psychological approaches should take. In the pioneer days of psychology, scholars argued whether one should take a structuralist or a functionalist approach to interpreting how the mind works. The essence of structuralism was promoted by Wilhelm Wundt in Germany and his pupil, Edward Titchener, is the man who gave the approach its name when he brought its school to America. In competition with Titchener's "structuralism," however, was "functionalism," which grew out of the American response to the German ideas. Functionalism was rooted in the ideas of Darwin and William James, the American philosopher.
The debates between the two schools were heated in spite of calls for a reconciliation between the two, as some saw them as both dealing primarily with the same problem: the conscious self (Chalkins, 1906). The advocates of the two schools, however, dismissed one another: Wundt decried functionalism as "beautiful literature" (Fancher, 1996), and James decried structuralism as "plenty of school, but no thought" (James, 1904). Neither felt the other adequately dealt in a scientific way with the mysteries of the mind.
The two psychology schools were similar and different, in actuality. Structuralism was concerned with the structure...
Functionalism was also concerned with the mind's thought process, but it approached the subject by emphasizing the purpose of the human mind and used a systematic method for disclosing this information. Structuralists wanted to identify the framework, the architecture, the support beams, etc. Functionalists were concerned with the plumbing, how and why it worked.
Structuralism was a very subjective approach because it relied heavily on what Wundt called introspection -- that is the effort of the patient to unfold the mystery of the mind. Introspection reveled a lot about an individual, but it was not a reliable method for uncovering systematic data that could be used categorically to define and understand the conception of the mind overall. Also, the emphasis on the internal workings of the mind, which were based solely on introspection, could not be externally verified: one simply had to take the patient's word for it. Nonetheless, although structuralism did not have a lasting legacy in its own right, it did play a role in the development of experimental psychology. Thus, while much of psychology today relates to the behaviorism that grew out of the functionalist school, some areas of psychology still carry on the main principle of structuralism, in that…
References
Calkins, M.W. (1906). A reconciliation between structural and functional psychology. Psychological Review, 13: 61-81.
Fancher, R.E. (1996). Pioneers of Psychology. New York: Norton.
James, W. (1904) The Chicago School. Psychological Bulletin, 1: 1-5.
Jones, E.M. (2000). Libido Dominandi. IN: St. Augustine's Press.
Identifying whether previous punishments have reinforced the behavior would also be important to design an appropriate punishment strategy. Question Fostering Positive Relationships with Students Developing a close relationship with children is associated with improving the positive outcomes of that relationship (Birch & Ladd, 1997). This indicates that as a school psychologist every effort should be made to develop a close relationship with each and every student. While it is acknowledged that this
With the issues of gun control coming up in the media, it will be interesting to see how it plays out. In the meantime, it is obvious that America needs to embrace itself from future unspeakable horror. References Anthony Scioli, P. (2013, Janurary 5). Newtown, Connecticut: From Fear to Hope. Retrieved from Psychology Today: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hope-today/201212/newtown-connecticut-fear-hope Bergland, C. (2011, April 31). Mindfulness Training and the Compassionate Brain. Retrieved from Psychology Today: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201212/mindfulness-training-and-the-compassionate-brain Berit Brogaard,
Behavioral activities are more of reactions to stimuli and have less to do with cognitive (or brain) processes and more to do with how one acts in a certain environment. Some behavioral activities would include: 1) sitting quietly while in the classroom or in church; 2) opening the door for somebody to walk in ahead of you; 3) using good manners while at a restaurant; 4) helping an old
Whereas the behaviorist and psychodynamic models contradict each other in their fundamental assumptions and focus, humanistic perspective does not necessarily contradict behaviorism or the psychodynamic approach, except that it considers both of those views as explanations of only portions of human behavior rather than all human behavior. The Cognitive Perspective: The Cognitive perspective broadens the study of human psychology even further than the humanistic perspective. In addition to considering all of the
They predict age and gender variations relate to bullying concerns. Of the 25 cartoons implemented in the study, two depict characters with different shades of skin color where skin color appeared to be an issue. One cartoon relating to sexual orientation was not used in several countries. Smith et al. report Olweus to assert bullying to be characterized by the following three criteria: 1. It is aggressive behavior or intentional
School Response to Student Suicide: Postvention The emotional impact on family and friends following an adolescent suicide - and the school's response to a suicide - has not been the subject of the same level of intense research as have: a) the causes of suicides; and b) programs to prevent suicides. However, there is now an emerging body of solid research on what protocol a school can put into place, to