Funcionalismo

Abstract

Functionalism is one of the many fields of psychology. In this work we can find what functionalism is and how this field starts. Functionalisms have a few representatives that are discus in this work. Some of these figures are: Wilhelm Wundt who establish the first laboratory for psychology research; William James who was consider the pioneer of American Psychology; James RowlandAngell who summarized the principles of functionalism; Harvey A. Carr who wrote few books for the field of psychology; and George Trumbull Ladd, with his text book was an influence to the experimental psychology. The influences that functionalism have in psychology are also mention in this work.

Outline

I. Introduction
This work present the topics to be discuss in my final paper. The purpose ofthis project is to give a better understanding of what is functionalism, who found it and the benefits of it in contemporary issues. This is an informative project; many starters in the psychology field do not have a complete knowledge of the purpose or the influence of functionalism in psychology.

II. Definition
Wayne Weiten define functionalism as “a school of psychology based on the beliefthat psychology should investigate the function or purpose of consciousness, rather than its structure.” Functionalism claimed that it is much more interesting to study the different resources that use humans to deal with their environment rather than limited to analyze the basic structure of the mind. The purpose of psychology should be understood as consciousness and other mental processeshelp to the humans to adapt to their experiences.

III. Representatives of functionalism
a. Wilhelm Wundt
Wundt in 1879 establishing the first laboratory for research in psychology (Wayne Weiten, 2008).

b. William James
James can be considered the pioneer of American psychology; he wrote a book called principles of psychology in the 1890 (Wayne Weiten, 2008).

c. James Rowland AngellAngell in 1906 summarized the basic principles of functionalism. According to Answers website “his scholarly contributions to psychology have been eclipsed by later works of others, he was a pioneer in standardizing experimental procedures, developing apparatus and laboratory courses, and systematizing the principles of a new science.”

d. Harvey A. Carr
Carr publicized a book aboutfunctionalism called the psychology: a study of mental activity in 1925, when the behaviorism was in the top of psychology. Helen L. Koch argued that Carr’s “works are two books a once widely used introductory text on general psychology, Psychology, a Study of Mental Activity (1925), and An Introduction to Visual Space Perception(1935).”

e. George Trumbull Ladd
Ladd is the representative of the generaldescriptive psychology, and he developed the first American text of psychology. His textbooks were influence to the experimental psychology in the United States (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2011).

IV. Influences of functionalism in Psychology
According to Wayne Weiten “whereas structuralists naturally gravitated to the laboratory, functionalists were more interested in how people adapt theirbehavior to the demands of the real world around them.” Like the structuralists, the functionalists felt that the object of study of psychology was consciousness. But as a method they included, in addition to introspection, observation of the conduct. Structuralists and functionalists did not agree about what was observable by introspection: If only the contents of consciousness, structuralism as heclaimed, or the events of their functional relationships.

V. Conclusion
Studies of a diversity of psychological problems that have been made have marked a series of events as for example the personality and have provided valuable discoveries. I can conclude that each school of thought was important in the history of Psychology of today. Each of the representatives of the different schools...