Psicologia Funcional

. Do not exclude the self-observation, though not approve the experimental insight into the titcheneriano style, because this would be too artificial. Not fully rely on self-observation, given its scientific difficulties: it is impossible to publicly confirm that a self-report was well done, and so it is difficult to reach an agreement based on observations of this type.

James Rowland Angell said, funntionalism is not at all a novelty but a significant portion of psychology since its inception.

Angell described the three main themes of the functionalist movement:

Researchers associated with the foundation of functionalism had no ambition to create a new school of psychology. They were academically protesting against the limitations of Wundt's psychology and structuralism and did not want to replace them. By establishing functionalism as an opponent, Titchener eventually makes it visible, giving name to the new school of thought as functionalism.

Functional Psychology, as its name indicates, is interested in the workings of the mind. The functionalist studied the mind not from the point of view of its composition (a structure of mental elements), but as a collection of functions or processes that lead to practical consequences in the real world.

In fact, the functionalist adopted many of the discoveries made in the laboratories of the structuralists. They had no insight to objections nor opposed the experimental study of consciousness. Their opposition turned-to the previous settings of Psychology that were devoid of considerations of utility functions and mind practices.

The current American Psychology is functionalist both in terms of guidance and of attitude. Highlights the emphasis on testing, learning, perception and other functional processes that help our adaptation and fit in the environment.

The main interest of functionalist psychologists, was the usefulness of mental processes for the body of its continuing drive to adapt to the environment. Mental processes were considered activities that led to practical consequences, which led to what psychologists were interested more for real-world problems.

Undo edits

Functional psychology is the psychology of mental operation, unlike structuralism, which is the psychology of mental elements. The elemental aspect of Titchener's psychology still had defenders and Angell promoted functionalism in direct opposition to it. The servants' task is to discover the modus operandi of the mental process, its achievements and the conditions under which it occurs;

Functional psychology is the psychology of the fundamental uses of consciousness. Thus, consciousness is seen as a utility tool, as it mediates between the body's needs and environmental conditions. The structures and physiological functions exist to allow the organism to adapt to the environment thus survive. Angell suggested that survived consciousness to execute some critical role in the body. The functionalist psychologists needed to find out exactly what was the function, not only awareness but also the more specific mental processes such as judgment and the will;

Functional psychology is the psychology of psychophysical relations (the mind-body relationship) and is dedicated to the study of all relations