Even before the advent of psychology, many thinkers and philosophers studied the features of the formation and functioning of the human psyche. It was the 19th century that became a turning point in the history of many sciences, including psychology, which was undergoing a crisis of formation, the search for its own research methods and approaches.
Two ways of becoming psychology
Structuralism and functionalism in psychology were formed almost simultaneously, based on the actively developing exact and natural sciences of that time.
Structuralists took fundamentalism of physics and mathematics as a basis, while functionalists based their ideas on applied sciences, and first of all on Darwin's theory.
These differences divided psychologists into two camps, in one of which the structures of consciousness were experimentally studied and analyzed without relying on sensory experience, and in the other, dynamics of development and the individual nature of the psyche were preferred.
However, both considered psychology as a science of the experience of consciousness.
Psychology as a tool for studying the structure of consciousness
In the 19th century, such exact sciences as physics and chemistry were at the peak of their development. For the first time, atoms were discovered as constituent parts of a molecule, which had recently been considered indivisible.
This progress has led psychologists to search for new methods in their field of knowledge. They suggested that in a complex psycho-emotional sphere it is possible to single out the basic basic feelings or sensations, which are components of more complex, complex experiences.
This approach is called structuralism. He was actively developed by Edward Titchener, the founder and head of structural psychology. He took introspection as the basis of the research method — the study and description of the conscious experience of the subjects. He tried to improve this method by special and constant training of the experimental group.
Titchener believed that by discarding all sensory sensations and images, changing observation to experiment and adding extensive statistical research, he would be able to bring psychology closer to the gold standard of exact sciences.
One of the main tasks posed by psychology as a science by Titchener was to study the structure of consciousness and identify the basic elements from which, like bricks, more complex and complex sensations and feelings are built.
Functionalism in Psychology
However, the ideas about the fundamental nature of Titchener's psychology did not find support and understanding from other psychologists. And then, in contrast to structuralism, another branch of psychology began to take shape, called functionalism.
The school of functionalism in psychology was formed under the influence of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, which stated that human consciousness could evolve only because it focused the activities of individuals on the achievement of certain goals.
Proceeding from this knowledge, functional scientists put forward the theory that in order to elucidate the individual's adaptation to the environment, it is necessary to observe his immediate behavior. Thus, functionalism in psychology expanded the boundaries of science, making behavior one of the subjects of its study.
A new era of psychology
The forerunner of the emergence of a new trend, called European functionalism, in psychology is considered to be the Austrian philosopher and psychologist Franz Brentano.
He categorically rejected Wundt's ideas, considering them limited. In contrast to structuralism, which considered the description of the result of a mental act as the most important task of psychology, Brentano suggested that the process should be the object of study.
It was Brentano who introduced the concept of intentionality into modern philosophy and psychology, meaning the vector character of human consciousness. From the point of view of the Austrian scientist, a mental act cannot be considered in isolation from the object to which it is directed.
The development of the ideas of functionalism in Europe
The theory of Brentano was actively picked up and began to be developed by other scientists. One of his first followers, representatives of functionalism in psychology, is considered to be a German psychologist, idealist philosopher Karl Stumpf.
Stump dealt with the problems of perception of sound tones and related problems of music theory. From childhood, gifted with absolute pitch and playing 6 instruments, Stumpf devoted his life to the study of psychoacoustics and musical perception.
The German psychologist introduces and develops a new direction in philosophy, called phenomenology. Stumpf identifies three main parts in this teaching - phenomena, mental functions and immanent relations.
His studies of precisely mental functions, which he, in turn, divides into intellectual (perception, judgment) and emotional (joy, sadness and others) served as the basis for the creation of functional and gestalt psychology.
The Origin of Functionalism in America
The founder and first representative of American functionalism in psychology is considered to be the psychologist and philosopher William James. In his book "Principles of Psychology" he develops the idea that scientists should study the state of consciousness in dynamics, protesting against the idea that was accepted at that time about the static and structural nature of the human psyche.
In his ideas, James builds on the work of Brentano and Strumpf. It is thanks to him that psychology becomes one of the most popular sciences of that time.
James could not describe the whole system of views of functionalism in psychology, but he compiled an extensive set of theories and concepts that served as the basis for many different teachings, from behaviorism to humanistic psychology.
The American psychologist gives the leading role to emotions, instincts and individual characteristics of a person, developing the “theory of emotions” popular in those years.
The development of James's ideas
The ideas of William James were developed in his works by the American philosopher and teacher, the founder of pragmatism, John Dewey. He is one of the founders of the School of Psychologists at the University of Chicago.
From the point of view of Dewey, the entire content of human consciousness, innate and acquired, is experience, and the main task of psychology and philosophy is to help a person in the flow of experience move towards a goal and achieve it.
The Chicago School of Functionalism in Psychology is also associated with the names of James Angell and Harvey Carr.
James Rowland Angell studied at the University of Michigan under the auspices of John Dewey, where he received a master's degree in psychology and continued his education at Garbard, and later in Berlin and Galle. Angell is considered the leader of the American branch of functional psychology.
One of his followers, Harvey Kerr, initially received a mathematical education at the universities of Indiana and Colorado, but after Angell’s course in Chicago on functionalism in psychology, he completely changed the vector of his work and set about studying mental activity.
Columbia School of American Functional Psychology
Simultaneously with the Chicago school, the idea of functionalism in psychology was developed by the Columbia School under the leadership of Robert Woodworth. They believed that the most important role in the organization of behavior belongs to motivation and personality attitudes.
In their research activities, Woodworth, along with his university friend Edward Lee Thorndike, investigated the problem of transferring acquired skills. It was on the basis of their experiments that the idea of behaviorism with its famous formula “stimulus-reaction” was later built.
Woodworth himself is sometimes mistakenly ranked among the founders of behaviorism, which is fundamentally wrong. The scientist throughout his life considered this theory to be erroneous and incomplete, since it lacks one of the most important links. In his opinion, the formula for a scientific explanation of behavior should look like a "stimulus-motive-reaction."
It was the idea of motivational conditioning of human activity that Robert developed all his life and embodied in his book Dynamic Psychology.
Principles of Functionalism
The contribution of functionalism scientists to the development of psychology as a science cannot be overestimated, since it was they who were the first in the history of the study of the human psyche who showed the importance of behavior and motivation, which, along with consciousness, should have been the subject of study by psychologists and philosophers of that time.
Structuralists at one time argued that mental functions could not be introspectively analyzed, and the contents of consciousness should be studied. Opponents of their views proceeded from their belief that, with proper methods, psychological functions can be studied in dynamics. Thus was born functionalism in psychology. Briefly, the main theses of this direction can be structured as follows:
- Psychology should not study the content of consciousness, but its functions.
- The essence of psychological functions is to adapt to the environment.
- Psychology should be an applied science, suitable for practical use.
- Psychological functions are part of the complex activity of the individual and include mental and physical components.
- Psychology goes hand in hand with biology, therefore, a practicing psychologist is extremely important knowledge of anatomy and physiology, as they can help to understand the motives and ways of personality mental activity.
Contribution to Psychology
Functionalism in psychology also put forward the idea of the integrity of man and the social environment. Functional scientists examined all mental manifestations in terms of their adaptive, adaptive nature. Simply put, functional psychology considered the mental acts of a person exclusively as a mechanism for solving vital problem situations important for an individual.
Despite the fact that these provisions were rather poor and did not fully reflect the essence of mental activity, they determined the paths for the further development of science and became the foundation for the formation of the next round of the development of functionalism in social psychology, called behaviorism.