Structuralism

1
Structuralism
Chapter 5
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Titchener Structuralism

• Central task of psychology
• ? analysis of conscious experience
• These conscious experiences are dependent on a
  person

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Titchener Structuralism

• Psychology is different from other sciences
  because its subject matter requires the presence
  of a human being
• Other sciences subject matter is independent of
  experiencing persons

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The content of conscious experience

• Structural psychology pure science
• Only legitimate purpose
• to discover the facts (structure) of the mind
• Applied aspects are not needed, and not
  scientific
• Only appropriate subjects
• normal adult humans

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The content of conscious experience

• Titchener warned against stimulus error
• Confusing our human experiences of events (mental
  processes) as the actual events

Elements
Experience
apple
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The content of conscious experience

• Introspection Self-observation
• Trained observers
• Used detailed, qualitative, subjective reports
• Of mental activities during the act of
  introspecting
• Opposed Wundt's approach
• Titchener interested in elements/parts, not
  wholes
• Much more mechanisitc than Wundt
• His observers were passive, impartial, mechanical
  instruments recording stimuli

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The content of conscious experience

• Titcheners experimental approach
• Experiment an observation which had
• Frequent repetition
• Strict isolation (control)
• Vary observations widely

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The content of conscious experience

• Examples of Some Experiments
• Reagents swallowed a tube,
• - Hot water poured down, experience described by
  reagent
• - Repeated with cold water
• 2. Reagents wrote down descriptions of the
  sensations of urinating and defecating
• 3. Reagents made notes of sensations during sex,
  attached devices to measure physiological
  responses

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Elements of consciousness

• Proposed three elementary states of consciousness
• Sensations
• sounds, sights, smells, etc
• lead to perceptions
• Images
• ideas made from sensations, memories
• Affective states
• emotion

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Elements of consciousness

• Each element could be categorized
• Quality
• attribute differentiating each element from the
  other , e.g., cold, red
• Intensity
• strength, weakness, loudness, or brightness of
  sensation
• Duration
• sensations path over time
• Clearness
• refers to amount of attention given to element

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Elements of consciousness

• Characteristics of mental elements
• Discovered 44,000 basic and irreducible elements
  of sensation
• Each is conscious
• Each is distinct from all others
• Each could combine with others to form
  perceptions and ideas

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Elements of consciousness

• Defined three essential problems for psychology
• Reduce conscious processes to simplest components
  (the bulk of his work)
• Determine laws by which elements associated
• Connect the elements with their physiological
  conditions
• Same aims as natural sciences

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Later in his Career

• Stopped talking about elements, and became more
  interested in the dimensions you could use to
  categorize elements (quality, etc.)
• Considered changing name of movement (and method
  of collecting data) to existential psychology,
  which would emphasize experience as it occurs,
  without analysis or breaking it down to elements
• Died before any real changes were made to his
  system

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Criticisms of structuralism

• Methodology
• Introspection
• Had been attacked for a century or more
• Kant, Comte, Maudsley
• Titchener could not give an exact definition of
  what introspection meant
• Freud proposes the unconscious, which said that
  part of our mind cannot be consciously
  experienced, and greatly affects our behavior
• Sterility / artificiality of lab experiments
• New specialties did not fit with Titcheners
  definition of psychology (child psychology,
  animal psychology)

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Contributions of structuralism

• Subject matter clearly defined
• Research methods good science
• Introspection remains a viable method
• Impact on cognitive psychology
• Strong base against which others could rebel

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Precursors to Functionalism
Chapter 6
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Movement from acceptance of biblical creation
story to curiosity about

• Many new species discovered how could they all
  fit in Noah's ark?
• Chimpanzees and orangutans available for viewing
• Skeleton of gorilla and human strikingly similar
• Fossils and bones of extinct species found
• Constant change in everyday life Change was the
  order of the day
• Growing domination of science industrial
  revolution

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Darwins life

• HMS Beagle journey 1831-1836
• Worked on his theory of evolution for 22 years
• Problems with physical health caused by anxiety
• Alfred Russel Wallace wrote Darwin about a
  theory of evolution similar to Darwins that
  Wallace developed in 3 days
• ? Darwins ethical dilemma

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Darwins life

• HMS Beagle journey 1831-1836
• Worked on his theory of evolution for 22 years
• Problems with physical health caused by anxiety
• Alfred Russel Wallace wrote Darwin about a
  theory of evolution similar to Darwins that
  Wallace developed in 3 days
• ? Darwins ethical dilemma

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Darwins life

• Darwin took friends suggestion to have Wallaces
  paper and portion of his forthcoming book
  presented at scientific meeting on same day that
  Darwins son was buried
• Darwin overwhelmed with new physical illness
• Wallace not bitter over Darwins fame Instead
  was happy to have brushed fame and content to
  have unconsciously spurred Darwin to complete his
  book

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What Darwin said about himself

• Not clever, limited ability to follow abstract
  thought
• Poor critic admired work upon 1st reading only
  after reflection perceived deficits
• Memory extensive, yet hazy
• Careful, astute, industrious observer and
  collector of facts
• Love of natural science
• Motivation to explain the observed, and to group
  facts under general laws
• Hypothesis generation free mind open to
  modification
• Ample leisure no need to earn income

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Darwins life

• Darwins other work
• 1871 the descent of man
• Evidence for human evolution from lower forms of
  life
• Emphasized similarity between animal and human
  processes
• 1872 the expression of the emotions in man and
  animals
• Expressions descended from behaviors that
  originally had a practical function
• 1877 A biographical sketch of an infant
  Based on his sons developmental stages

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The Theory of Evolution

• There is variation among members of a species
• This variability is inheritable
• Each member of a species participates in a
  struggle for survival
• Only the fittest survive
• Natural selection process that leads to survival
  of organisms which adapt to the environment
  those that can not adapt die
• Generalized from Lamarck's and Malthus
  observations and principles to form his ideas

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Recent Data

• The finches beaks evolution at work
• Finches evolution occurred quicker than Darwin
  predicted
• Severe drought food supply large, tough spiky
  seeds
• Only the 15 of finches with thickest beak could
  open seeds many with slender beaks couldnt and
  died
• Thicker beaks tool for adaptation
• Offspring inherited that characteristic 4-5
  thicker beaks
• Adaptation in one generation
• Rain and floods large seeds swept away Only
  small ones left
• Same cycle but reverse outcome as above slender
  beaks a survival advantage
• Only the most fit in a given environment lived

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Protests to Evolution

• Evolution as a challenge to religion
• Theory thought to negate Christian God
• Laws about teaching evolution in schools
• 1972, Tenn minister
• Darwins theory breeds corruption, lust,
  immorality, greed, and such acts of criminal
  depravity as drug addiction, war, and atrocious
  acts of genocide
• The white supremacy argument

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Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

• Social Darwinism application of the theory of
  evolution to human nature and society
• Coined the phrase survival of the fittest
• all aspects of universe evolved, including
  human traits and social institutions
• Promoted individualism and a laissez-faire
  economic system opposed government interference
• Individuals and institutions that fail to adapt
  should be allowed to perish
• Utopian view human perfection inevitable if
  nothing interferes with the natural order

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Myth of male superiority

• Derivative of variability hypothesis based on
  Darwinian ideas
• Hypothesis the notion that men show a wider
  range and variation of physical and mental
  development than women The abilities of women
  are seen as more average.
• Therefore, it was argued, women
• Less likely to benefit from education
• Less likely to achieve intellectually
• Had less evolved brains than men
• Showed a smaller range of talents than men
• Led to common acceptance of inequality between
  sexes

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Darwins influence on psychology

• Hypothesis continuity in mental functioning
  between humans and lower animals
• Implied that study animal behavior vital to
  understanding human behavior
• Goal of psychology became how organism functioned
  in adapting
• Methods and techniques were broadened in scope
• Increased focus on individual differences and
  their measurement

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Animal psychology and the development of
functionalism

• Before Darwin animals considered automata
• After Darwin the expression of the emotions in
  man and animals
• Continuity between humans and animals
• Search for evidence of intelligence in animals
• Human emotional behavior inheritance of behavior
  once useful to animals

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Individual differences Francis Galton (1822-1911)

• Individual differences
• The topic was considered inappropriate for
  psychology by Wundt and Titchener
• Had been examined by Weber, Fechner, Helmhotz

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Galtons life

• Estimated IQ 200
• Diverse, novel ideas and inventions
• Youngest of 9 children
• Wealthy family
• Pressured by father to study medicine Didnt
  like it
• Entered Cambridge university to study mathematics
• Traveled extensively Wrote popular book, the art
  of travel
• Cousin Charles Darwin published on the origin of
  species Galton fascinated by theory of
  evolution, which guided his subsequent work

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• Mental inheritance
• 1869 hereditary genius
• Eminent men have eminent sons
• Specific forms of genius inherited
• Founded eugenics improve inherited human traits
  through artificial selection
• Applied statistical concepts to heredity problems
• Eminence not a function of opportunity

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Statistical methods

• Quetelet first to apply statistical methods and
  normal curve to biological and social data
• Galton
• Assumed similar results true of mental
  characteristics
• Developed mean and standard deviation
• Produced correlation measure
• Modern derivatives methods for validity,
  reliability, factor analysis
• Pearsons r for Galtons discovery of regression
  toward the mean

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Mental tests

• Originated by Galton, but term from Cattell
• Assumed intelligence can be measured in terms of
  sensory capacities
• Developed his own instruments
• His tests were prototypes for standard psychology
  lab equipment
• 1884 established anthropometric laboratory
• Aim the definition of the range of human
  capacities of the entire British population
• To determine its collective mental resources
• His data
• Statistically reliable (1985)
• Provided information on developmental trends