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PSY 3301, History and Systems of Psychology 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit III Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

4. Discuss the transition of psychology from primarily a philosophical discipline into a scientific discipline. 4.1 Describe how psychology was explained at specific historical times.

6. Analyze ways in which psychology has influenced broader institutions.

6.1 Describe the paradigms of associationism, voluntarism-structuralism, and functionalism. 6.2 Determine how the principles of either associationism, voluntarism-structuralism, or

functionalism are still applicable today. Required Unit Resources Chapter 7: Associationism Chapter 8: Voluntarism and Structuralism Chapter 9: Functionalism Unit Lesson

Introduction You have more –isms coming your way in this unit. As a reminder, keeping a running list or even making notes using these study guides can help keep the main points of each –ism straight in your mind. Remember that you do not have to memorize each theorist or where they lived. The main objective is to watch the development of psychological thought over time.

Associationism At its most basic, associationism is a lot like it sounds. How do we pair together—or associate—two phenomena, and what do we learn from that? If you overheard a coworker complaining about traffic, it is very possible that you would think immediately of your own commute to work, a time you were stuck in your vehicle, the congestion on public transit, and so on. If this person mentions getting a ticket on the way in, you might flashback to your own experience with law enforcement. Maybe you received a traffic ticket or were cited for even a more serious infraction. At the end of Unit II, we touched on empirical research that deals with what can be experienced through the senses. It stands to reason that empiricism is a catalyst for association claims in the mind. For example, you would have to experience traffic issues to recognize what your coworker was complaining about. The last several centuries have seen a lot of discussion over how much of our knowledge (if any) is innate as opposed to how much has been a result of direct experience. Some theorists have posited that concepts like God or the passage of time are a part of our being and are built-in before we empirically experience anything. Put your history hat back on for a moment. Some of these theorists were working at a time when God and science were seen as enemies, with the former being the accepted form of knowledge (Lawson et al., 2018).

UNIT III STUDY GUIDE Associationism, Voluntarism, Structuralism, and Functionalism

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Associationist thought can be traced back to Aristotle in ancient Greece, where he proposed three main components to the making of association: contiguity (things happening together), similarity, and contrast. If you heard the finished bell on your dishwasher, you would not immediately think of traffic from our earlier examples. These examples are contrasting and have nothing to do with one another.

To an associationist, materialism—the idea that all things exist only in the physical realm—may be challenged by a focus on perception. This arises from sensory material plus the mental work of associations (Lawson et al., 2018). How we experience and perceive is a concept that will be revisited in future theories and units. Can all of this be empirically observed and set down into a natural science?

James Mill and John Stuart Mill This father/son duo of James Mill and John Stuart Mill left us with concepts that demonstrate much of the associationism mindset while also hinting at theories yet to come. In their idea of motivational utilitarianism, the Mills suggested that two factors were at play in the human mind: pleasure and pain. This was in contrast to strict reason, but we will revisit this concept in a future unit. Cognitively, the mind was thought to function through associations, and the associated concept of learning held implications for informed citizenry and elected representatives, and it even proposed women’s voting rights! Once more, the idea that not only the high-borne held the capacity for higher thought may have been a bit of a revolution at the time. Later associationists like Hermann Ebbinghaus would further the study of association as it pertains to memory and even branch into intelligence assessment. A final concept from the Mills family is that psychology might function with a set of primary and secondary laws. Primary laws can be seen, measured, and predicted, and perhaps secondary laws are less precise, though still a guidepost, toward understanding human beings.

Voluntarism and Structuralism Recall the ongoing discussion of psychology as a science and whether everything within its realm can or cannot be empirically demonstrated. If you have had enough of the philosophical back-and-forth within

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associationism for a while, read on as we meet researchers who did their best to frame psychology as its own natural science!

Ernst Weber Dr. Weber taught anatomy at the beginning of the 19th century and was interested in touch and perception (i.e., how we perceive sensory input through touch and our muscles). This led him to study what he called just

Much of what we see as empirical psychology began in Germany in a city called Leipzig. (Falcorian, 2005; Filip em, 2012; Gdr, 2005; Materialscientist, 2015)

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noticeable differences (JND) to be able to quantify how specific the perception of different stimuli can be. An associate of Weber, Gustav Fechner, was also at Leipzig studying psychophysical parallelism, which means the way that mind and body, while separate entities, run parallel to each other. This eventually led to the Weber-Fechner law designed to mathematically describe interactions between mind and body (Lawson et al., 2018). Wilhelm Wundt Wundt was a man who became famous for the first experimental lab for psychology and was also hailed from Leipzig and the work being done there. Like many, Wundt had a medical background that contributed to his knowledge of and curiosity about the question of body and mind in this brand new science. You can think of Wundt’s school of psychology, voluntarism, as a study involving what it is that you volunteer to spend your conscious awareness on. Wundt was not a materialist (e.g., he did not necessarily believe that everything existed in a distinct physical space), so how was he inspired to study this concept called consciousness? To Wundt, consciousness largely centered on immediate experiences. Your textbook, on page 137, uses the example of your conscious experience the second you bite into an apple (Lawson et al., 2018). This also encompasses what Wundt termed apperception or what you are choosing to focus on in a given time. The three elements of his consciousness theory are illustrated to the right. Reaction times were also an area of interest in the laboratory of Wilhelm Wundt, aided by the relatively recent understanding of nerves and nerve impulses. These, too, could be methodically studied. E.B. Titchener Breaking somewhat with Wundt to take this new psychology from Europe to the United States, Titchener wanted to carry on the type of scientifically demonstrable work he had come to know but with the re-added concept of introspection in addition to the three elements of consciousness (shown above) from Wundt. Titchener was a seminal component of psychology study in America, even founding the Society of Experimental Psychologists to maintain focus on empiricism (Lawson et al., 2018). The American Psychological Association (APA) at large allowed for both experimental and applied psychology.

Functionalism For your final –ism in this unit, we first need to take a quick tour through evolutionary theory and the implications it derived for functional psychology. Many students are broadly familiar with the theory that those who can are able to adapt, survive, and thrive. Some of this stems from Charles Darwin and his experiences studying medicine, theology, botany, geology, and the natural world overall as he traveled the world observing various animal species (Lawson et al., 2018). This allows us once again to observe comparative psychology, the animal-human similarities and differences. It also brings to question the utilities of consciousness found on page 150 in your textbook. If we have this thing called consciousness, what is it all for?

(Kazlitsinau, n.d.-a; n.d.-b; n.d.-c)

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We cannot describe American functionalism without noting William James, a prolific researcher and author who is considered by some to be America’s first psychologist (Lawson et al., 2018). If you felt that this unit or the last one was heavy on reading, just be glad we are not using James’ original textbook, which was just shy of 1,400 pages in length. To demonstrate functional psychology, a few main themes are noted below.

• Pragmatism: Observe, and do what works (one can see the agreement with a functional approach here).

• Introspection: Functionalists largely did not embrace the methodological experimentation of their structuralist compatriots. They wanted to turn the focus back inward toward rich, personal experiences.

• Stream of consciousness: This came directly from James and posited that conscious experience was one long flow, each moment feeding on and slightly different than the last (we could draw a parallel with some Eastern philosophy here!).

• The James-Lange theory of emotion: This theory posited that emotional experience actually stemmed from physical reactions to the environment. An example of this is when a person encounters a bear in the wild as shown below.

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• The reflex arc: This was introduced by John Dewey and demonstrated a functional reaction to stimuli in opposition to a strict stimulus-response scenario. An example of this is what happens when an individual touches a stove, realizes that it is hot, and pulls her hand away as shown below.

• Active learning: This also came from Dewey and contributed to the idea that rote memorization by

students may not be as valuable as careful thought regarding concepts and ideas. • Law of effect: Research on cats by Edward Thorndike furthered the notion that animals and humans

both had the potential for higher forms of learning, which has had a lasting impact on education to this day.

• Developmental psychology: Adolescence was identified by G. Stanley Hall as a unique developmental period to be studied, which perhaps opened the door to this field.

• Evolutionary theory and eugenics: These could be combined to recognize higher- and lower-order traits among privileged individuals as a function of adaptation.

Today, functionalism is thought to have a lasting impact on applied psychology (applying research and theory to life), forensic psychology, clinical psychology, and industrial/organizational psychology. One of your goals in this course is to consider how history has informed where we are now as a field. The job of a history student is to examine the good, the bad, and the in-between to see what can be learned along the way.

References Falcorian. (2005). Ernst Heinrich Weber [Photograph]. Wikimedia Commons.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ernst_Heinrich_Weber.jpg Filip em. (2012). Edward Bradford Titchener [Photograph]. Wikimedia Commons.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Bradford_Titchener.jpg

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Gdr. (2005). Gustav Fechner [Photograph]. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gustav_Fechner.jpg

Kazlitsinau, V. (n.d.-a). ID 190659105 [Photograph]. Dreamstime. https://www.dreamstime.com/upset-man-

using-phone-outside-disappointed-guy-receiving-message-outdoors-closeup-looking-mobile-urban- background-portrait-image190659105

Kazlitsinau, V. (n.d.-b). ID 190661130 [Photograph]. Dreamstime. https://www.dreamstime.com/happy-guy-

receiving-message-outside-excited-man-mobile-phone-street-surprised-portrait-looking-screen-city- image190661130

Kazlitsinau, V. (n.d.-c). ID 190662525 [Photograph]. Dreamstime. https://www.dreamstime.com/hipster-guy-

receiving-message-phone-outside-smiling-man-looking-screen-portrait-smartphone-urban- background-closeup-image190662525

Lawson, R. B., Anderson, E. D., & Cepeda-Benito, A. (2018). A history of psychology: Globalization, ideas,

and applications (2nd ed.). Routledge. Materialscientist. (2015). Wilhelm Wundt [Photograph]. Wikimedia Commons.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wilhelm_Wundt.jpg Suggested Unit Resources In order to access the following resource, click the link below. View the quick video clip linked below to further investigate Wundt’s contributions and the lead-in to James. The transcript for this video can be found by clicking on “Transcript” in the gray bar at the top of the video in the Films on Demand database. Films Media Group (Producer). (2006). Developing modern psychology (Segment 3 of 12) [Video]. In Freud,

Jung, and Psychoanalysis: Part 2—History of psychology. Films on Demand. https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPl aylists.aspx?wID=273866&xtid=115836&loid=428503

Learning Activities (Nongraded) Nongraded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in their course of study. You do not have to submit them. If you have questions, contact your instructor for further guidance and information. For more clues on how associationism informed future psychological theories, reread the page on Alexander Bain in your textbook on pages 119–120, and consider what other school of thought might address “positive consequences” and “negative outcomes.”