Short essay: (10 pts.) The ‘new psychology, flourished in the United States, beg

Question

Short essay: (10 pts.) The ‘new psychology, flourished in the United States, beginning in the late 1800's. One of the most well-known contributors was William James. 1. What significant view of consciousness, as influenced by Darwin, did James have that changed the course of psychological research? Be very specific in describing his major points and how it contributes to an American functionalist psychology (4 pts.) 2. List two reasons for why William James was a controversial figure in this new field of psychology. (8pts.) 3. William James considered himself to be a philosopher. Do you agree with him or do you think he should be considered a psychologist? Give twe points of evidence to support your view (6 pts.) 4. What is the legacy of structuralism and functionalism? (2pts.) 5. How were Titchener's views on the science of psychology the same or different from those of Wundts'? (4pts.) 6. Give evidence for how Titchener viewed psychology as a science as compared to American psychologists such as Hall, Cattell, Woodworth, Dewey, and Angell. (6pts.) 7. What content in Cattell's original letters can you identify that relates to psychology today? Provide at three points. (4 pts.) Optional Bonus: What were William James' personal interests that contributed to the emphasis of individual differences' in a functionalist psychology?

Explanation / Answer

Ans. 1- American philosopher William James is known as the father of modern psychology, before his research the psychology was a subject and working of psyche, James proposed the work of consciousness rather than psychology. The principle of psychology proposed by W. James as the beginning the base of current psychology.

Darwin works on development of new species was on the base of survival of the fittest and according to theory the person who are not fit may not survive. James works of Darwin’s theory but stand for the work on consciousness.

The contribution of William James- William James was a highly influential figure in the joint fields of psychology, philosophy, and physiology. One of his best known works is The Principle of Psychology (1890), a 1,500 page discussion on a variety of different subjects, that includes chapters on “The Consciousness of Self”, “Emotion”, and The Stream of Thought”, along with plenty of personal reflections thrown in for good measure. He defined his seminal work as “looking into our own minds and reporting what we there discover”
James had given a new way to psychologist, what to discover in psychology and also start the functionalism as the school of Psychology.

Ans. 2-

(a) William James had started the new approach in psychology and give the direction to new and contemporary psychologist.

(b) James proposed the new phenomena of Psychology and started to work on mental work instead of theological approach of psychology.

Ans. 3- William James was a philosopher and psychologist too but he claimed himself as a Philosopher. His work in psychology was also belong to philosophical work on human mind and behaviour, so that we can call him both. William James work in psychology was more effective than philosophy so as a scholar he belong to psychology more than philosophy.

Ans. 4- Structuralism- it became a most commonly held view of the early 1900s. It developed primarily out of the works of German philosophy. Structuralist were mainly concerned with analysing and explaining the conscious human experiences.

Functionalism- Functionalism is philosophical doctrine who considers mental phenomena in their dynamic unity as a system of functions.

Ans. 5- There are many similarities between Wundt and Titchener in which their research varies. The research that Wundt was conducting was called what we believe to today as Modern Psychology. Titchener had a slightly different name for his researched and called it Structuralism. One thing that made their theories similar was that it was the study of the mind and how it works. They studied different reasons why the brain and memory was different and had a different way of working. Wundt and Titchener both studied sensation and perception and how they work in the brain and they become mental function.

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