PSYC 308 Lecture 1: Psych 308- Functionalism and Structuralism
16 Sep 2016
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Explain how and why american functionalism prevailed over american structuralism and ultimately prepared the way for american behaviorism. Historical detail of educational psychology and applied and professional psychology. By the 1890s, the new science of psychology emphasised progress through applications that provided a better life. Emphasised for a psychology in which mental operations, understood as functioning within particular environmental contexts are emphasized. Thorndike"s education and emphasis that teaching should be in a familiar setting also gave way to skinner"s behaviorist application on education: while thorndike applied mental processes to education, skinner used a reinforcement method to influence educational practices. As demonstrated, structuralism would mostly disappear as a distinctive school of or orientation to psychology. Functionalism left its legacy in behaviorist theories and psychological theory outside of the lab, including applied professional psychology. Functionalism also set the stage for behaviorist approaches.
