Notes on Structuralism and Functionalism

Both are schools of thought in the discipline of psychology. Titchener was the inventor of structuralism and James was the inventor of functionalism. Structuralism followed Wundt’s voluntarism and functionalism followed structuralism.

Structuralism was a school of thought in which the subject matter of psychology was the consciousness of normal adults and the method of study was introspection. Functionalism was a school of thought in which the subject matter was much broader than structuralism (the consciousness and behavior of normal and abnormal animals and humans) and the methods of study were much broader than in structuralism (introspection, study of individual differences, comparative psychology, applied psychology, abnormal psychology, etc).

Structuralism was founded on the idea that consciousness was structured in the same way as objects. That is, made up of mental elements that were combined into complex mental compounds. So the focus of study was on the structure of consciousness. The point was to try to identify all the elements of consciousness by presenting subjects with a vast array of stimuli (like loud bangs, bright lights, etc) and asking them to identify what they experienced (their immediate experience).

Functionalism, on the other hand, was founded on the idea that conscious was not at all like an object. In 1892 William James said:

No doubt it is often convenient to formulate the mental facts in an atomistic sort of way, and to treat the higher states of consciousness as if they were all built out of unchanging simple ideas which 'pass and turn again.' It is convenient often to treat curves as if they were composed of small straight lines, and electricity and nerve-force as if they were fluids. But in the one case as in the other we must never forget that we are talking symbolically, and that there is nothing in nature to answer to our words. A permanently existing 'Idea' which makes its appearance before the footlights of consciousness at periodical intervals is as mythological an entity as the Jack of Spades.

Instead, James used the analogy of a stream to describe what consciousness is really like:

Most books adopt the so-called synthetic method. Starting with 'simple ideas of sensation,' and regarding these as so many atoms, they proceed to build up the higher states of mind out of their 'association,' 'integration,' or 'fusion,' as houses are built by the agglutination of bricks. This…. commits one beforehand to the very questionable theory that our higher states of consciousness are compounds of units ... The first and foremost concrete fact which every one will affirm to belong to his inner experience is the fact that consciousness of some sort goes on. 'States of mind' succeed each other in him... Consciousness, then, does not appear to itself chopped up in bits. It is nothing jointed; it flows. A 'river' or a 'stream' are the metaphors by which it is most naturally described.

The focus of study in functionalism was on the way in which consciousness helped humans adapt to their surroundings. Or perhaps more broadly, the role that consciousness plays in our lives.

The school of thought that followed functionalism was behaviorism. A debate between functionalism (McDougall) and behaviorism (Watson) is the subject of the online readings in week 6 of the course.

Notes from the Text on Titchener and Structuralism

1) Titchener’s Theory of Consciousness (page numbers from the 9th edition)

1) Consciousness is made up of elements (pp 122).
2) Consciousness has a structure (pp 123).
3) Consciousness is the sum of our experiences, as they exist at a given time (pp 131).
4) Mind is the sum of consciousness over a life-time (pp 131).
5) The elements of consciousness are compounded into complex phenomena (pp 134).
6) There are 3 states of consciousness (we can classify mental elements into 3 types): a) Sensations b) Images c) Affective states (pp 134).
7) Sensations are the basic elements of perception (so perception is a complex phenomenon) (pp 134).
8) Images are the basic elements of ideas (pp134).
9) Affective states are the basic elements of emotion (pp134).
10) Mental elements have attributes. Sensations and images have the attributes of: a) Quality b) Intensity c) Duration and d) Clearness (pp 134).

2) Titchener’s Method of Study

Introspection: A mechanical, non-subjective state in which a NORMAL ADULT individual observes the elements of conscious experience without reflection (pp 132).

Experimentation: Introspections must be made using an experimental approach in which observations are repeated, isolated from extraneous factors and varied according to factors within the control of the experimenter (pp 133).

Repetition: We must be able to present the same stimulus to the same subject twice and receive the same report about what elements of consciousness were experienced.

Isolation: The stimulus and only that stimulus must be presented to the subject at any given time.

Variation of factors: The experimenter must systematically vary the amount, intensity and duration of the stimulus to determine their effects on the identified elements of consciousness.

3) Titchener’s Laboratory Research

The text gives no real specifics here. Just says that graduate students were trained to introspect and identified thousands of elements. On page 133 there are about 5 or 6 sentences about specific results.

This, by the way, is an indication of the philosophical leanings of the text. The text emphasizes theories of consciousness, methods of study, and philosophy of science but says very little about the actual observations that were made in the lab.

4) Titchener’s Philosophy of Science

He was a reductionist, mechanist (pp 132), and empiricist (book says experimentalist) (pp 133). It appears he may have changed his views later in his career.

Notes from the Text on William James and Functionalism

1) James’ Theory of Consciousness

1) Elements of consciousness are alleged (pp188).
2) Chemical analogy not appropriate.
3) Consciousness can not be broken down in to parts.
4) Consciousness is in continuous flow.
5) No thought/feeling/etc. happens twice.
6) Mind=Consciousness
7) The mind is: a) Continuous b) selective c) Active
8) The mind: a) filters b) combines c) knows what is relevant.

2) James’ Method of Study

1) Introspection – but not Wundt or Titchener’s kind. A broader definition: looking in to the mind and repeating what we find (pp 191).
2) Experimental methods such as reaction time and psychophysics type studies.
3) Comparative methods: use of animals, children, degenerates, etc.
4) Other methods such as mental testing (pp 205) and applied psychology (pp 205)

3) James’ Laboratory Research

Nothing said except that he wasn’t interested in it much.

4) James’ Philosophy of Science

1) Pragmatist (pp 191).
2) Not an experimentalist (pp 187).
3) Thought psychology is not a science (pp 186).
4) Left psychology for philosophy in the end (pp187).

The following is an example answer to the SA question:

Distinguish between structuralism and functionalism. Name the very basic differences between the two positions and what might have motivated the development of these two views in psychology. Which of these two schools of thought is most influential in psychology today and why? Name the major figures in the historical development of these two schools of thought.

The two major figures in the development of structuralism and functionalism were Edward Titchener and William James respectively. Titchener developed structuralism as a school of thought in which the primary objective was to identify the basic building blocks (which he called mental elements) of consciousness. He believed that consciousness was akin to a mechanical object in the sense that it consists of basic elements that are combined into complex structures. Titchener believed that mental elements were of 3 types: Sensations, b) Images and c) Affective states. A significant part of Titchener’s work, therefore, involved the identification of the various different kinds of mental elements. It is said that over the course of his career he identified tens of thousands of distinct elements through the use of a procedure called introspection. Introspection was a method of observing the elements of consciousness elicited by a stimulus in which no form of interpretation, thinking, or subjective assessment is involved. For instance, introspective observations of an apple, would include immediate statements about the color (red), shape (round) and size (small) of the apple but not interpretations of what the object is (i.e., that it is an apple). Since the normal form of human consciousness involves interpretation, observers had to be trained to make introspective observations of stimuli.  It is likely that Titchener’s approach was motivated by discoveries concerning the structure of matter being made in chemistry at the early part of the 20th century.

James rejected Titchener’s mechanistic, reductionist, artificial view of human consciousness as structured of elements. He developed a new school of thought that emphasized the continuous, active nature of conscious thought. James also rejected the highly academic, experimental nature of structuralism and argued for a science of psychology that was pragmatic in approach. In doing so, he dramatically increased the scope and methods of psychology. His functionalist school of thought supported a broader form of introspection, reaction time studies, psychophysical methods, comparative methods, mental testing and applied psychology. As many of these methods are used in modern psychology, it can be argued that functionalism was very influential in the development of the psychology we have today. Structuralism on the other hand, has very little if any influence today. Perhaps the only area of psychology influenced by structuralism today is cognitive psychology. In cognitive psychology, the mind is viewed as a sort of computational machine. In structuralism, the mind was also viewed as a mechanical object of sorts.