The two major schools of thoughts that started it all are the structuralism of Wilhelm Wundt and the functionalism of William James. Between the two, structuralism is considered the first to arise and, thus, influenced the experimental methods used in the early formal psychology. On the other hand, functionalism rise as a response to the said imperfections of the structuralism that, today has been a major consideration in psychological studies.
Said to be developed by Edward Titchner, a student of Wilhelm Wundt, structuralism’s main concern in the study of human mental processes is classifying and analysis of the basic elements of the mind.These elements are said to be those that are related to sensations. In the implementation, the method called introspection is very vital. Usually, an individual undergoing introspection was asked to write what is on his mind that that very moment. Some criticisms about this method is that it is too subjective and not accurate since it is only focused on the internal behavior which is not readily observable and not measurable as well. But we should be thankful still for the innovations of Wundt that lead to the development of experimental psychology.
Not too late after publication of the structuralism, James has introduced functionalism. Unlike the structuralism that concerns mind’s basic elements, functionalism’s main concern is the functions of the purposes of the behaviors of the human mental processes. It is mainly about the consciousness and how it affects the human behavior in general. If structuralism based their findings in the internal behavior, functionalism researches are more about the external or the observable human behavior – how he acts to a certain stimulus, how he cope with problems and stress, how he expresses emotions, etc.Differences among individuals, then, are one of the implications of their study. After making such observations, these are studied and then are linked to the processes of the brain.
Certainly, when they had started, arguments between two parties came along with them. I think that it good since that makes them to further their study and improve the present standing of the studies in psychology.
