Chapter 11

Functionalism

Early American Psychology

• American Functionalist Thought
  • Derived from evolutionary theory
  • Goal and research methods:
    • understand how mind and behavior help organism adjust to environment
    • eclectic research methodology included introspection and other methods
  • Characteristics
    • against structuralism and its views of psychology
    • stressed function of mind
    • practical science over pure science (Ganz Americansisch)
    • broader scope and broader methods (comparative method)
    • concern with motivation
    • mental processes and behavior studied
    • focus on individual differences
    • influenced by William James
  • Lack of organization and maturity

William James (1842-1910)

• Life
  • Father of American psychology
  • Well educated
  • Pragmatic approach to knowledge (if something works...)
  • 1875 Harvard lab for psychology demonstrations
  • Principles of Psychology (1890) ("James")
  • Psychology: The Briefer Course (1892) ("Jimmy")
• Psychology
  • Consciousness
    • elements are analyzable but unimportant
    • mind evolved for some function
    • physiology and behavior closely linked
    • found in a person or animal
    • never the same
    • selective and continuous
  • Instincts existed but could be modified
  • The self
    • material self
    • social self
    • spiritual self
  • James-Lange theory of emotion
  • Left the field early and hired Hugo Munsterberg to replace himself
  • Eminence grise
    • trained no students
    • conducted no experiments
    • so, no Jamesian school of thought

Hugo Munsterberg (1863-1916)

• Life
  • Wundt's assistant
  • Disagreed with Wundt about voluntary behavior
    • Munsterberg believed "will" was an epiphenomenon of bodily action
  • James brought Munsterberg to Harvard to head the Harvard Psychological Laboratory
  • Munsterberg never fully integrated himself to the United States
• Psychology
  • Father of applied psychology
    • clinical psychology
    • forensic psychology
    • industrial psychology
  • World War I and Munsterberg
    • his German citizenship became a problem
    • may have contributed to his death in 1916 (stress)

Granville Stanley Hall (1844-1924)

• Life
  • Seminary student who changed to psychology
  • First doctorate in psychology (Harvard, 1878)
  • Went to Leipzig, was Wundt's first American student
  • First U.S. working lab in psychology (Johns Hopkins, 1883)
  • Founded first American journal in psychology (American Journal of Psychology, 1887)
  • Became first president of Clark University
  • Founded APA in 1892 (in his house) and was its first president
  • Founded other journals including The Journal of Religious Psychology
  • Taught James McKeen Cattell and John Dewey
• Psychology
  • Broad minded approach to psychology
  • Evolutionarily minded
  • Interested in educational and child psychology
  • Did working in testing
  • Interested in adolescent psychology (sturm and drang)
  • Invited Freud and Jung to U.S. in 1909 where both spoke at Clark U. (Freud's only visit to U.S.)

Chicago Functionalism

• As a school, functionalism was centered at two American universities: Chicago and Columbia.
• Chicago
  • John Dewey (1859-1952)
    • Life
      • Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins (1884)
      • Taught at Michigan and Minnesota (1 year) before going to Chicago (1894)
      • Left Chicago for Columbia in 1904
    • Psychology
      • His article, "The reflex arc concept in psychology" (1896) marks the beginning of functionalist school for many
      • Evolutionist
      • "Learn by doing" and progressive education ("know that" vs. "know how")
      • Contributed to the development of educational psychology
  • James Rowland Angell (1869-1949)
    • Life
      • Studied with Dewey, James, and Ebbinghaus
      • Never finished his Ph.D.
      • Went to Chicago at Dewey's invitation
      • Became chair
      • Trained Harvey Carr and John B. Watson
      • Became president of Yale 1921-1937
    • Psychology
      • Defined functionalism nicely in his 1906 APA presidential address:
        1. functionalism interested in mental operations not conscious elements
        2. mental processes mediate between needs of the organism and the environment
        3. mind and body cannot be separated
  • Harvey Carr (1873-1954)
    • Life
      • Degrees from University of Colorado
      • Went to Chicago and got his Ph.D. in 1905 with Angell
      • Remained at Chicago
      • APA president in 1927
    • Psychology
      • The Adaptive Act
        1. motive that acted as a stimulus for behavior
        2. an environmental setting
        3. a response that satisfied the motive
        • i.e., responses elicited by seeing tiger in zoo or in wild
      • Also interested in perception
      • Used experimentation as main method
• Columbia
  • James McKeen Cattell (1860-1944)
    • Life
      • Entered Lafayette College at 16 and was head of his class
      • Went to Germany to study with Lotze, after his death Cattell returned to U.S.
      • Won a fellowship at Johns Hopkins
      • Went back to Germany, and was Wundt's first assistant and first American Ph.D.
      • After graduation (1886) taught at Bryn Mayr and U. of Pennsylvania
      • Studied with Galton for two years in London
      • Returned to U. of Pennsylvania and founded their lab
      • Used term "mental test" for the first time
      • Went to Columbia U. in 1891 and was fired in 1917 for pacificism
    • Psychology
      • Continued to develop testing and founded the Psychological Corporation
      • Was elected 4th president of APA
      • Founded Psychological Review
      • Trained Woodworth and Thorndike
  • Robert Sessions Woodworth (1869-1962)
    • Life
      • Amherst graduate, read James and went to Harvard for Master's degree
      • Moved to Columbia and took his Ph.D. with Cattell
      • After two years he returned to Columbia where he spent the rest of career
    • Psychology
      • Dynamic psychology, S-O-R
        • "mechanisms" aroused by drives, or they remained dormant
      • Eclectic interests
      • Experimental Psychology was standard text for many years
      • Survived functionalism and was first awardee of APA's Gold Medal (1956)
  • Edward Lee Thorndike (1874-1949)
    • Life
      • Wesleyan graduate (1895)
      • Went to Harvard for Master's degree and conducted animal research in James's basement (chicks)
      • Received Ph.D. from Cattell at Columbia (1898)
      • Taught at Western Reserve for one year, then returned to Columbia
      • Very productive (500+ publications) over many areas
    • Psychology
      • Animal research
        • his puzzle boxes
          • all animals learn
          • learning is a trial-and-error process
          • learning is automatic
      • Laws of learning
        • law of effect
          • first statement of reinforcement
          • led to much research
        • law of exercise
          • to assess the effects of practice
      • Transfer of training
        • Thorndike and Woodworth answered the "mental muscle" theorists
    • His theoretical niche
      • another functionalist who adapted
      • claimed by the behaviorists also
• Analysis of Functionalism
  • The broad ideas of functionalism became mainstream
  • Behaviorism absorbed it
  • Its eclecticism militated against school of thought development
  • Pure and applied confusion also muddled the picture

URLs

• The Age of "isms"--tutorial, basic, medium, links, graphics
  • Page on early psychological theories, covers: Wundt and structuralism, Ebbinghaus, James and Functionalism, Watson and Behaviorism, and Gestalt psychology. Also includes demonstration of Gestalt principles of perception. http://www.geneseo.edu/~intd225/psycisms.html
• Mind and Body: From Descartes to James--index, interm., medium, links, graphics
  • This page is an on-line version of a catalogue of a book exhibition at the National Library of Medicine in 1992. The exhibition was in conjuction with the celebration of the centennial of the American Psychological Association (APA). Topics included are: Rene Descartes and the legacy of mind-body dualism, the rise of experimental psychology, and psychology in America. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/Mind/Table.html
• Classics in the History of Psychology--index, adv., short, links
  • A page with full text works by: Aristotle, Baldwin, Cattell & Jastrow, Binet, Cattell (J. McK.) Darwin, Dewey, Freud, James, Koffka, Mead, Plato, Terman, and Watson. http://www.yorku.ca/dept/psych/classics/
• The History of Psychology--index, basic, medium, links, graphics
  • Page that links to other resources in the history of psychology. Has links to pages on Dewey, Piaget, Helmholz, Skinner, and others. http://www.guam.net/home/bmarmie/history.html
• Biographies of Psychologists--index, basic, short, links
  • Short biographies of: Alfred Adler, Alfred Binet, Edward de Bono, Hans Eysenck, Sigmund Freud, Howard Gardner , Karen Horney, William James, C.G. Jung, R.D. Laing, Abraham Maslow, Don Norman, Robert Ornstein, Wilhelm Reich, Carl Rogers, B.F. Skinner, Thomas Szasz, Lewis Terman, Edward L Thorndike, and John B. Watson. http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~rsauzier/Biography.html#Psychology
• William James: Texts--index, interm., short, links
  • This page provides links to a variety of James's writings in full text format. http://people.delphi.com/vlorbik/wjtexts.html
• William James--index, interm., medium, links, graphics
  • Page includes many links to information on James. Also includes several graphics. http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~mpajare/james.html
• University of Chicago Psychology Department--NEW, index, basic, short, links, graphics
  • Home page of the University of Chicago psychology department. Includes information on: faculty, graduate students, staff, classes, bulletin board, and more. http://www.ccp.uchicago.edu/psychology.html
• Columbia University Psychology Department--NEW, index, basic, short, links, graphics, search
  • Home page of Columbia University psychology department. Includes sections: department directory, psychology library, information for undergraduates, research labs, and more. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/psychology/