Q4: In what ways do the early psychological schools continue to influence psychology to this day?

Question 1

Q4. In what ways do the early psychological schools continue to influence psychology to this day?

Question 2

Introduction:

Answer 2

• early schools of psych, namely Structuralism, Functionalism, Gestalt Psychology, Psychoanalysis, and Differential Psychology, laid the foundation for modern psych
• these early schools emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
• their principles and insights remain relevant today and continue to influence modern approaches in psych

Question 3

Structuralism: Key Points & Psychologists

Answer 3

Wundt:
* pionnered S
* opened first psych lab in Germany (1879)
* focus on consciousness
* introspection (1879)
* the need of a “scientific use” of introspection

Titchener:
* studied with Wundt
* “the aim of the psychologist is threefold” (1896):
-analyse mental experience into its elements, the laws governing those elements, and how elements connect to physiological conditions
* the stimulus error (1896)
-must describe conscious elements to understand how concepts are perceived

Question 4

Structuralism: Evaluation

Answer 4

+first early school of psych: laid foundations for following schools
.
-introspection is not scientific: behaviourist manifesto (Watson, 1913)
-even Wundt criticised introspection: only some aspects of consciousness can be studied by introspective methods
-criticised by Functionalists: psychology should not only focus on the “awake” consciousness
-criticised by Gestalt: cannot understand visual illusions or other psychological processes using structuralist approach
-oversimplifies human cognition

Question 5

Structualism: Influence on Modern Psychology

Answer 5

Introspection replaced by more scientific methods - e.g. experimentation, observation
However:
* played a role in the drive to make psychology a more experimental science
* emphasis on understanding consciousness still exists in modern cog psych
* laid the groundwork for the development of behaviorism

Question 6

Functionalism: Main Points & Psychologists

Answer 6

• concerned with practical functions of the mind, not its constituent parts
• emphasised how mental activities helped an organism adapt to its environment
• influenced by evolutionary theory
  -functions of the mind for survival

James (1842-1910):
* psychology is “the science of mental life”
* pragmatism
* James-Lange theory of emotion
* theory of self
* work on religious belief
* favoured introspection
* did not favour experimental research

Question 7

How does Wundt Define Psychology in Comparison to James?

Answer 7

Wundt: Psychology = “the experimental study of consciousness”
James: Psychology = “the science of mental life”

Question 8

Functionalism: Evaluation

Question 9

Functionalism: Influence on Modern Psychology