Implications of Functionalism
Instructions:
For this question, the question asks you to find information and to think about the IMPLICATIONS of that information. So, you need to say What (this is the information), How (implications), and Why (rationale for the implications and/or consequences).
“Choose one of the schools of thought that was introduced in the readings and in the Current Psychological Schools of Thought presentation—the mental testing movement, functionalism, behaviorism, neobehaviorism, or psychoanalysis—that you have not yet written about in another discussion assignment. Remember that psychoanalysis refers to a comprehensive theory about human nature and not to the psychotherapeutic approach.
What new principles and values did the school of thought bring to psychology?
What new ideas, practices, and methods were introduced?
Discuss some of the key developments within the school of thought over the course of time, in terms of research methods or other applied methods.”
The first thing would be to identify the school of thought that you are using for this question.
To be avoided: long summaries or reports on the selected school of thought.
You want to make sure that you are learning to focus on the values and analyzing them because this where you need to be for the course assignments.
Concerning the question, here are some ideas to help you …
This question asks for new principles, values, ideas, practices, and methods that this school of thought brought to the field of Psychology. Think about the power for change that these new “principles, values, ideas, practices, and methods” brought to Psychology. Why did they bring change? What hindered them from bringing change? What “principles, values, ideas, practices, and methods” did they conflict with? Who and/or what was being changed by this school of thought?
“Discuss” means discuss. A discussion is more than a declaration of information. So, discuss here means to examine or dissect or deconstruct. (Remember that a discussion is actually a presentation of two or more views. While it is not required that more than one view be expressed in your post, this is certainly always an option as a part of your analysis, synthesis, and/or evaluation.) Think in terms of values: What was the appeal of the “research methods or other applied methods?” To whom did they appeal? Why? To whom did they have little or no appeal? Why? What were the value systems that were in conflict here?
Solution
Implications of Functionalism
As a school of thought, functionalism sprouted in the late 19th century in the U.S. as an antagonistic movement against the ideas of structuralists from Germany such as Wundt. Structuralism focused on brain science which creates a focality to investigate the adult mind with regard to aggregate experiences an individual had from birth to the present concerning the least involved quantifiable segments and after that, discovering how these parts fit together to shape more mind-boggling experiences and how they corresponded to physical occasions (Piaget, 2015). On the other hand, functionalists assert that the beliefs, pain, and desires of an individual are established exclusively with the unpremeditated relationships of other mental states, sensory inputs as well as behavioral inputs (Hergenhahn & Henley, 2014, p320).
Functionalism brought up a new wave in psychology as it focused on the significance of empirical and rational thought over an experimental and trial-and-error philosophy. As such, the idea was primarily concerned with the ability of one’s mind rather than the thought process, consequently, seeking more interest to practical applications of research. John Dewey’s publication, The Reflex Arc Concept in Psychology (1896) and his improvement of the laboratory school at the University of Chicago prompted the theory of tropism atomism and Elementarism in functional psychology (Backe, 2001). As such, functional psychology has improved behaviorism regarding the theory of stimulus and response. Thorndike’s conclusion on his puzzle box research enhanced comparative animal psychology in the sense that learning takes place gradually and occurs without the involvement of the mental processes (Hergenhahn & Henley, 2014, p363).
Conclusively, in early and mid of the twentieth
century, functionalists came up with the theory of perception that spanned over
the dynamics of perceptions articulating that learning is the gateway to
perceiving. Furthermore, it is evident that functionalism has never been a
prescriptive school, but its concepts of perception
and learning have developed and improved behaviorism as a school of thought.
More so, it has significant links in the
evolution of the structuralist’s philosophy by focusing on mind anatomy as well
as the functions of the mind (G.Myers, 2007).
References
Backe, A. (2001). John Dewey and early Chicago functionalism. History of Psychology, 4(4), 323–340. https://doi.org/10.1037/1093-4510.4.4.323
G.Myers, D. (2007). Exploring Psychology. EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY. https://doi.org/10.1037/029361
Hergenhahn, B. R., & Henley, T. B. (2014). American Psychology and Functionalism. In An Introduction to the History of Psychology (7th ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth: Cengage Learning.
Piaget, J. (2015). Structuralism. Psychology Press.
