PSYC 4600.002 Lecture10Outline of Last LectureI. Brief Introduction to FunctionalismII. Trends in the 19th centuryIII. Evolution was nothing newIV. Jenny the chimpanzeeV. Charles DarwinVI. EvolutionVII. It's influence on psychologyVIII. Frances GaltonIX. Studies of animal psychologyOutline of Current LectureI. FunctionalismII. Darwin's influence on psychologyIII. Frances Galtona. Recapb. ImpactIV. Functionalism: Development and Foundinga. Herbert SpencerV. William Jamesa. Methods of psychologyb. Pragmatismc. Theory of Emotionsd. 3 part selfe. HabitCurrent Lecture- Functionalism o Focus on Function, not structure, of consciousness o Functionalism  How the mind functions and how it's used by organisms to adapt to the environment o Protest against Wundt's and Titchener's systems o Practical, real world consequences o What does the mind do? How does it do it? o First uniquely American system of psychology - Darwin's influence on psychology o Focus on animal psychology  No sharp distinction between humans and animals These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute. Increased interest in animal functioning  May reveal knowledge of how humans function o Emphasis on the functions rather than the structure of consciousness o Acceptance of methodology and data from many fields o Focus on the description and measurement of individual differences - Frances Galton o Recap  Genius is inherited  100% biological  Developed eugenics to foster the improvement of inherited qualities in humans  Statistical analyses  Descriptive statistics  Normal curve  used correlation  Mental tests  tests of motor skills and sensory capacities  Intelligence measured with motor capacity  idea from John locke  Extensively studied mental imagery with questionnaires o Impact  Investigated psychological issues for 15 years  wasn't a psychologist, but significant impact on psychology  Scope  Adaptation, heredity verses environment, comparison of species, child development, questionnaire method, statistical techniques, individual differences, mental test  Galton had greater influence on American psychology than Wundt - Functionalism: Development and Founding o Evolution's Neurotic Philosopher  Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)  Neurotic symptoms limited working capacity  Used opium for insomnia  Brilliant philosopher  Wrote many popular books  His system of philosophy was standard curriculum  Social Darwinism  Premise: the development of all aspects of the universe is evolutionary, including human character and social institutions  "survival of the fittest"  the state should not interfere  Vastly popular in America  Why America?  Social Darwinism compatible with American values and individualistic spirit  Free enterprise Self-sufficiency  Independence from government regulation  Synthetic philosophy  Knowledge and experience can be explained in terms of evolutionary principles  "Synthetic" = combining  not "artificial"  The continuing evolution of machines  Mechanical evolution occurs as well  Henry Hollerith and the Punched cards  Engineer Henry Hollerith invents a new way of processing information  Developed to create more efficient system for US census  Far superior to expensive and time-consuming hand counting  Machine count the holes to tally census statistics - William James (1842-1910) o Widely considered the "father of American Psychology" o paradoxical figure  American precursor to functional psychology  Not a founder of functional psychology  Inspired yet didn't train other psychologists  walked away from the field o An epidemic of neurasthenia  a condition of American nervousness  Some thought it was related to clocks and increasing time pressures  prominent among affluent and highly educated people o Discovering psychology  free will vs. determinism  accepted position at Harvard in 1872, but left after a year  Taught first psychology course at Harvard  1875-1876: "The relations between physiology and psychology"  1885: promoted to prof. of philosophy  1889: prof. of psychology o The Principles of Psychology  Published 1890  Rapidly became popular text  James' major contribution to the field  Topics:  Consciousness  Emotions  Conception of self  Habit o The subject matter of psychology: A new look at consciousness  Consciousness is a product of the person, the situation, and the body Consciousness is cumulative  Rebelled against Wundt's approach  Stream of consciousness  idea that consciousness is a continually flowing process and any attemptto reduce it to elements will distort it o The methods of psychology  Introspection must be a basic method  Results verified by appropriate checks and comparing across observers  Recommended a comparative method  Noted the major difference between structural and functional psychologies  The functionalist movement would not be restricted to a single method o Pragmatism  The doctrine that the validity of ideas is measured by their practical consequences  It's true if it works o The theory of Emotions  Contradicted current thinking about the nature of emotional states  The arousal of the physical response precedes the appearance of the emotion  Later lead to the "James-Lange theory of emotions" o The three-part self  James believed there are three parts to the self  Material: everything uniquely our own  Social: Recognition we get from others  Spiritual: Our inner and subjective being o Habit  Living creatures are "bundles of habits"  Habit: influence of physiological influences  repetitive or habitual actions involve the nervous system and serve to increase the plasticity of neural matter  Shift away from structuralism toward functionalism, perhaps even prefigured