JAMES AND FUNCTIONALISM
William James (1842–1910) was the first American psychologist who espoused a different perspective on how psychology should operate. James was introduced to Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection and accepted it as an explanation of an organism’s characteristics. Key to that theory is the idea that natural selection leads to organisms that are adapted to their environment, including their behavior. Adaptation means that a trait of an organism has a function for the survival and reproduction of the individual, because it has been naturally selected. As James saw it, psychology’s purpose was to study the function of behavior in the world, and as such, his perspective was known as functionalism. Functionalism focused on how mental activities helped an organism fit into its environment. Functionalism has a second, more subtle meaning in that functionalists were more interested in the operation of the whole mind rather than of its individual parts, which were the focus of structuralism. Like Wundt, James believed that introspection could serve as one means by which someone might study mental activities, but James also relied on more objective measures, including the use of various recording devices, and examinations of concrete products of mental activities and of anatomy and physiology (Gordon, 1995).
William James contributed much to the development of functionalism and modern psychology. He proposed the theory functionalism as a revolt against the weakness of structuralism by Wundt and his student Techerner. The theory could help to explain how human behaviors can be influenced by the functions of the mind not structures of the mind. William James borrowed the concept from Darwianism of nativism. He believed in nature as the cause of behaviors which influence the brain to cause different types of disorders if damaged. James made functionalism popular in America which caused him to be regarded as the father of American psychology. His work influenced so many researchers especially cognitivists who were studying memory. The weakness of functionalism influenced the rise of behaviorism in early 20th century. It was also criticized for not being psychological and lacking objectivity. This paper seeks to examine the three contribution of William James to functionalism and its weaknesses.
Functionalism is defined as a school of thought that directly explains the utility mental process to human behavior. William James founded the school of functionalism. This school of thought in psychology was developed in direct response to the school of structuralism and the work of Wundt. Wundt criticized functionalism as nothing more than literature and James criticized structuralism as all school and thought. When criticism faded, functionalism went on to influence major schools of thought still in use today such as the cognitive behavioral and behavioral schools. Functionalism focused on the human for individualism and this heavily influenced how education was structured. James was influenced by his early physiology education and the work of Charles Darwin. Functionalism was built around a more systematic approach to understanding mental processes. William James developed functionalism to search for consciousness and behavior (Farrell, 2011).
William James has made enormous contributions to psychology. Functionalism formed as reaction to structuralism and was heavily influenced by the work of William James and the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin. Functionalists sought to explain the mental processes in a more systematic and accurate manner. Rather than focusing on the elements of consciousness, functionalists focused on the purpose of consciousness and behavior. Functionalism also emphasized individual differences which had a profound impact on education (Feldman, 2006). Some of the important functionalist thinkers included William James and John Dewey (Gross, 2010). This explains how James influenced the development of functionalism.
Functionalism was an important influence on psychology. It influenced the development of behaviorism and applied psychology. Functionalism also influenced the educational system especially with regards to John Dewey’s belief that children should learn at the level for which they are developmentally prepared (Friedman, 2010). However functionalism was criticized perhaps most famously by Wundt. It is literature. It is beautiful but it is not psychology (Sharpsteen, 2012). William James further contributes to the development of functionalism and psychology (modern) as he challenged and ultimately thrown out by functionalism. James argued that psychology should not focus on the structure of the consciousness but its functions. Darwin was the inspiration here and keeping his theory of natural selection in mind, James concluded that since consciousness is a uniquely human characteristic, it must serve important functions for us otherwise it would never evolved (Gross, 2010). This explains how James contributed much to the development of psychology.
The functionalists started studying the functions of consciousness and as a result we now have diversity in psychology with fields like developmental and child psychology emerging. So basically functionalism gave a practical slant to modern psychology by throwing light on how psychology helps us cope with challenging situation (Sharpsteen, 2012). This is James’s major contribution to functionalism and psychology at large. James contributed to functionalism theory as argued that all behavioral origins begins within the nervous system prompting all scientists of human behavior to possess basic physiological, understanding, something very well understood by the functionalist founder James (Farrell, 2011).
The contribution of James to functionalism is to usher three parts of functional psychology into the modern day psychology. Utilizing the Darwinian ideology, the mind was considered to perform a diverse biological function on its own and can evolve and adapt to varying circumstance. Secondly, the physiological functioning of the organism results in the development of the consciousness. Lastly the promise of the impact of functional psychology to the improvement of education, mental hygiene and abnormal states (Sharpsteen, 2012). This shows how James contributed to functionalism and psychology (modern).
In opposition of Titchener’s idea that the mind was simple, William James argued that the mind should be a dynamic concept. So James’ main contribution to functionalism was his theory of the subconscious. He said there were three ways of looking at the subconscious in which it may be related to the conscious, first the subconscious is identical in nature with states of consciousness. Second, it is the same as conscious but impersonal. Lastly, he said that the subconscious is a simple brain state but with no mental counterpart (Gross, 2010).
According to an illustrated history of American psychology, James was the most influential pioneer. In 1890 he argued that psychology should be a division of biology and adaptation should be on area of focus. His main theories that contributed to the development of functional psychology were his ideas about the role of consciousness, the effects of emotions and the usefulness of instincts and habits (Teo, 2007). William James put forward the view that consciousness is not epiphenomena, means that consciousness cannot be considered as something which functions or working cannot be explained. Consciousness has to have certain set patterns of functions and it shall always work according to these patterns. Therefore, if we consider consciousness to be an epiphenomena, it would be wrong. Consciousness needs to be studied and understood in order to explain its functions.
James also made functionalism being able to explain the function of consciousness, he put forward the view that consciousness creates adjustment between the organism and the environment. This means that the organism needs to adjust and adapt its environment in order to survive. This adaptation process is carried out with the help of consciousness. Consciousness helps the organism to understand the environment and cope with the changes in it.
James was also of view that not just consciousness but all human psychological functions have a definition purpose. For example fear in an animal creates movement in the body, laughter reduces tension. Therefore, the importance of all these psychological functions as well as consciousness is due to their functions (Feldman, 2006). Functionalism through James contributed much to the development of other schools of thought which include behaviorism and even the modern psychology (cognitive) and cognitive neuroscience and the models of memory (Atkin and Shiffrin 1968).
James’s functionalism however has a lot of weaknesses cited by different scholars who regards functionalism as unscientific since James is thought not to have carried an experiment to come up with this theory. It is criticized for not being psychological. The theory of functionalism is said to be subjective since its mentalism is said by behaviorism to be unobservable (Gross, 2010).
In 1890, James wrote published his book about psychology, The Principles of Psychology. The Principles of Psychology took twelve years to write,andthe resulting text consists of two volumes. During the last half of the nineteenthcentury, psychology was beginning to gain respectable ground in the United States,and this book by William James helped to strengthen its hold.
Four main concepts are put forth by James in this book: stream of consciousness, emotion, habit, and will. Along with these four main concepts, James discusses theories and hypothesizes about centers in the brain receiving specific input from the physical senses. The concept of instinct is covered comparatively, and the evolution of brain function, particularly the cerebrum, is also discussed.
The topic of psychology is covered,and his experience with illusions, both visual and auditory, are explained. The illusion is explained as a physiological response; pathways in the brain are formed through repeated behaviors and use, this leads to illusion when similar stimuli occur and are guided through the same pathways. James goes on to explain that the mind becomes accustomed to recognizing something that is repeated, and when stimuli are similar an assumption is made—this assumption is the "illusion."
The four main concepts—habit, stream of consciousness, emotion, and will—make up the bulk of the work. Each of these concepts is complete with explanations and in some cases, empirical knowledge from James himself. These four concepts are a bit out of sync with modern psychology, but they still have their merit.
- Stream of Consciousness - The metaphor "stream of consciousness" was coined by James, and it shows a shift in how consciousness was understood. It was no longer a "chain" of consciousness, strung together like the links of a chain. It was now a "stream," always flowing and moving forward. To James, consciousness was and is continuous, and humans could never experience the same idea or thought more than once.
- Emotion - William James founded a new theory of emotion, the James-Lange theory. This theory states that emotion is the reaction and result of bodily experience, and not a reaction to stimuli that trigger the bodily experience. When a stimulus triggers a physical response, the physical response triggers an emotion. This explanation of the nature of emotion has received continued criticism. Up until this theory was developed, the prevailing theory stated that the emotion triggered a physical response (e.g., you cry because you are sad).
- Habit -It was understood that habits were formed in response to a desire, a want or need. Habits focus the mind on achieving the desire, want or need. James observed and added that habits are not always bad. Some habits are good, and this ability to form habits shows the power of the mind to focus and achieve.
- Will -The argument of the validity of free will was debatable. To some, free will did not exist; the free will was just an illusion because the will bends to social, political, and religious ends structured to control the will. James relied on his personal experiences to express his understanding of free will. To him, free will was the ability to "attend to a difficult object and hold it fast before the mind." It seems his answer to the existence of free will was the ability to hold onto principles in the face of opposition and lack of support.
The book The Principles of Psychology was a comprehensive work covering the entire field of psychology as it was understood up until publication. Many individuals who work in the field of psychology today still find many of the concepts and theories in this book to be informative and interesting. Modern psychology has come a long way since the year 1890, but James’ brilliance is still respected and discussed today.