William James
Strengths and Weaknesses
The Father of Functionalism
- Structuralism vs Functionalism (Grice, 2010)
Weaknesses
Strengths
- William James wrote the first textbook in psychology
- Functionalism findings are subjective
- Studied living organisms as they adapt to their environment
- the results of the research cannot be measured objectively
- Offered an alternative approach for looking at the mind
- Functionalism research are not easily testable
Contribution to Psychology
- Father of functionalism (Ferriri, 2006)
- Father of American psychology (Oakley, 1995)
- Principles of Psychology (Wozniak, 1999)
Background
1. The stream of consciousness and the self
- Born in New York on January 11, 1842
- Entered Harvard school of Medicine in 1864
- Received his M.D degree in 1869
- Got married in 1878 and had five children
- In 1890 , published " The principles of Psychology"
- Resigned form Harvard and published "Pragmatism: A New for Some old Ways of Thinking"
- Died on August 26, 1910 (Goodman, 2012)
2. Sensation, Perception, Imagination, and belief
Research and Experiments
3. Emotion and Will (Pomerlean, 2011)
- William James Studied in Germany
William James' viewpoints
- Research on sensation and perception
- Theory of emotion (Bjork, 1983)
- William James research focus on the mind