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The Functions of The Mind

William James founded functionalism as a philosophy and theory of mind while working in the psychology and philosophy department at Harvard in 1880. Functionalism views mental states by what they do to help the mind adapt to the environment, rather than what they are made of. It was influenced by Darwin's theory of natural selection and promoted the study of educational psychology.

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Leonard Patrick Faunillan Bayno
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49 views6 pages

The Functions of The Mind

William James founded functionalism as a philosophy and theory of mind while working in the psychology and philosophy department at Harvard in 1880. Functionalism views mental states by what they do to help the mind adapt to the environment, rather than what they are made of. It was influenced by Darwin's theory of natural selection and promoted the study of educational psychology.

Uploaded by

Leonard Patrick Faunillan Bayno
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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THE FUNCTIONS OF THE MIND

It was founded by American philosopher


William James who joins Harvard faculty as a
lecturer of anatomy and physiology, in 1880
worked in the department of psychology and
philosophy.
John Dewey a philosopher, functionalist and
educationist.
According to James
The term functionalism comes from an
interest in how the mind functions to adapt
us to our environment.
It is a theory about the nature of mental
states. According to functionalism, mental
states are identified by what they do rather
than by what they are made of.
Functionalism was strongly influenced by
Darwins theory, theory of natural selection.
John Deweys theories focus on education.
Dewy put forward the view that education,
particularly in children, should be based
upon the needs of the children.
It promoted educational psychology ( the
study of learning, teaching, classroom
dynamics and related topics )
It broadened the scope of psychological
research and application.
Structuralisms wanted to understand the
components of the mind. They based their
research mainly on introspection.
While ,functionalists wanted to explore what
the mind could do, and they focused mainly
on behavior.

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