Functionalism: Antecedent Influences

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Chapter 6

• Functionalism Antecedent Influences

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Functionalism
A school of thought that focuses on what the mind
does.
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Functionalism emerges in the United States with
William James. It has historical antecedents in
Charles Darwin and Francis Galton (Darwins
cousin).
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Charles Darwin(1809-1882)
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A brief personal history

• Born 1809
• Medical school at the University of Edinburgh
  1825
  
• Studied for the clergy at Cambridge University,
  1827
  
• Voyage of the HMS Beagle ,1831-1836
• Works on the problem of transmutations,
  culminates in publication of Origin of Species,
  1859

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A brief personal history contd

• Publishes Descent of Man, 1871
• Publishes Expression of Emotions in Man and
  Animals, 1872
  
• Dies, 1882

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Darwins theory of evolution(First published in
Origin of Species)
http//www.human-nature.com/darwin/origin/contents
.htm
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Theory rests on two principles

• Variation
• Natural selection

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Descent of Man

• Hypothesis Humans evolved from more primitive
  life forms.
  
• Evidence Similar physiology, behavior, and
  characteristics of mind across species

http//www.human-nature.com/darwin/descent/content
s.htm
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Expression of Emotions

• Studied the expression of emotions in humans and
  animals.
  
• Hypothesized that emotional states gave rise to
  habitual behaviors that were adaptive

http//human-nature.com/darwin/emotion/contents.ht
m
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Influences on psychology

• Focuses attention on mental processes,
  particularly with regard to their adaptive
  nature
  
• Stimulates interest in comparing human behavior
  to the behavior of other animals
  
• Contributes notion that patterns of behavior can
  be inherited
  
• Stimulates interest in individual differences

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Francis Galton(1822-1911)
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Galton could be considered to be any of the
following

• Explorer
• Meteorologist
• Criminologist
• Hereditarian
• Statistician
• Psychometrician
• Eugenicist

http//www.mugu.com/galton/
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Galton as Hereditarian
Argued that individual characteristics, most
notably intelligence, are inherited from ones
parents. Argument most clearly stated in
Hereditary Genius, 1869.
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Supporting evidence

• Eminent men tended to have sons who also became
  eminent.
  
• Similar (identical?) twins at birth retain that
  similarity through life.
  
• Dissimilar (fraternal?) twins at birth do not
  become more alike even though they may be treated
  alike.

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Galton as Statistician

• Was very interested in determining the
  distribution (and probability) of certain
  characteristics. Believed many were normally
  distributed
• Developed concept of correlation (computational
  procedures were developed by his student, Karl
  Pearson)

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Galton as Psychomatrician
Galton was very interested in determining the
distribution of many different human
characteristics. Established Anthropometric
laboratory for this purpose.
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Developed ways to assess

• pitch perception
• color perception
• kinesthetic sensitivity
• depth perception
• memory ability
• mental imagery
• reaction time

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Galton as Eugenicist
Initiated the eugenics movement. Eugenics is the
science which deals with all influences that
improve the inborn qualities of a race.