PSYC 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Group Dynamics, Edward B. Titchener, The Techniques

• School: McGill University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 100
• Professor: Jens C Pruessner

Document Summary

Titchener used methods such as introspection to pioneer structuralism which is based on the idea that conscious experience can be studied when it is broken down in its underlying components. He noted that the mind consisted of an ever changing, series of thought that he called stream of consciousness and can"t be frozen in time. The mind"s elements mattered less than the mind"s function as a whole. He stated that the functions must be observed and developed functionalism which is concerned with the adaptive purpose (evolution of mind for life preservation), or function of mind and behaviour. The broad ranging subjects touched by this approached lead to criticism for lack of seriousness. The theory was founded by wertheimer (1912) and expanded by kohler, among others. This unstructured approach was called the phenomenological approach that refers to the totality of subjective conscious experience.