For this assignment I will compare and contrast three of the ten different perspectives of early psychology. The perspectives I have chosen are structuralism, functionalism, and psychodynamics. Structuralism is the name g
Foundations p.1
Celita Hamilton
Individual Project 1
Foundations of Behavior
April 28, 2006
PSY206
Dr. Mitchell Metzger
For this assignment I will compare and contrast three of the ten different perspectives of early psychology. The perspectives I have chosen are structuralism, functionalism, and psychodynamics.
Structuralism is the name given to Wilhelm Wundt's (1832-1920) approach by one of his students, E.B. Titchener (1867-1927). The name helped popularize Wundt's ideas in America in a modified form (Wade & Tavris, 2006). This approach in many academic studies explores the interrelationships between fundamental elements of some kind, where some higher mental, linguistic, social, cultural etc. "structures" are built, through which meaning is then produced within a particular person, system, or culture (wikipedia, 2006). The paradigm of this perspective is concerned mostly with the structure of the human mind and not the neurological structure of the brain, but the logical structure of the human thought process. Structuralism looks to reveal the secret nature of thought and show how panhuman thought processes are manifested in culturally diverse situations (Lett, 1987).
Philosophically functionalism is the underpinning of empirical research in psychology and cognitive science. Although, as research goes the functionalist approach is continually criticized for its shortcomings (wikipedia, 2006). William James (1842-1910), one of functionalism's leaders argued that searching the building blocks of experience, as Wundt and Titchener tried to do, was a waste of time. James (1890/1950)
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wrote that attempting to grasp the nature of the mind through introspection is "like seizing a spinning top to catch its motion, or trying to turn up the gas quickly enough to see how the darkness ...
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Philosophically functionalism is the underpinning of empirical research in psychology and cognitive science. Although, as research goes the functionalist approach is continually criticized for its shortcomings (wikipedia, 2006). William James (1842-1910), one of functionalism's leaders argued that searching the building blocks of experience, as Wundt and Titchener tried to do, was a waste of time. James (1890/1950)
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wrote that attempting to grasp the nature of the mind through introspection is "like seizing a spinning top to catch its motion, or trying to turn up the gas quickly enough to see how the darkness looks" (Wade & Tarvis, 2006).
Psychodynamics is the study of the interrelationship of various parts of the mind, personality, or psyche as they relate to mental, emotional, or motivational forces especially at the subconscious level. "Psycho-dynamics" is a blend of psychology and thermodynamics. One of its main focuses is the connection between the energetics of emotional states in the id, ego, and superego as they relate to early childhood developments and processes (wikipedia, 2006). It is the general name for the therapeutic approach that tries to get the patient to bring to the surface their true feelings, so they may experience and understand them (2000).
All three perspectives are based on the attempt to understand human reactions/behavior to their environment but with different view points. Structuralism focused on what an individual's reaction/behavior was when exposed to specific environments. Structuralisms' reliance on introspection by volunteer got structuralists' in trouble; despite their training introspectors often produced conflicting reports (Wade & Tarvis, 2006). Functionalism focused more on how and why a reaction/behavior happened, inspired by British naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882). Functionalist wanted to know how specific behaviors helped humans and animals to adapt to their environment. Unlike structuralist, functionalist picked and chose different methods and expanded the field of psychology to include children, animals, religion, and what James called "the stream of consciousness" (Wade & Tarvis, 2006). Psychodynamics focused
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on the unconscious reactions of the mind. This perspective wanted the patient to understand the why, what, and how. Psychodynamic psychologists try to go beneath the surface of the behavior to its unconscious roots (Wade & Tarvis, 2006).
Structuralism and functionalism were short lived as a school of psychology (Wade & Tarvis, 2006). Psychodynamics has its origin from Freud's theory of psychoanalysis, today is an evolving multi-disciplinary field that analyzes and studies human thought process, response patterns, and influences (Wade & Tarvis, 2006; wikipedia, 2006).
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Reference Page:
2000). Psychodynamic Therapy. Retrieved 04/28/2006, from http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/simplepsych Web site: http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/simplepsych/204.html
Lett, J (1987). The human enterprise. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Wade, C, Tarvis, C. (2006). Psychology, 8th Edition. Upper Saddle River: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
(2006/04/14). Functionalism (psychology). Retrieved 04/28/2006, from Wikipedia.org Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functionalism_%28psychology%29#Definitio
(2006/04/27). Psychodynamics. Retrieved 04/28/2006, from Wikipedia.org Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychodynamic
(2006/04/18). Structuralism. Retrieved 04/28/2006, from Wikipedia.org Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structuralism
