Functional Psychology

the study of psychic phenomena from the point of view of their function in the adaptation of an organism to its environment. This approach was first used in the late 19th century under the influence of the theory of evolution and the resulting shift in the analysis of consciousness—namely, the shift from element-by-element analysis in the structural psychology of W. Wundt and E. Titchener to the study of consciousness as a factor in the individual’s problem-solving process.

Various schools of functional psychology emerged in Europe; for example, T. Ribot in France, N. N. Lange in Russia, and E. Claparède in Switzerland studied psychological functions from the point of view of the natural sciences, while C. Stumpf and the adherents of the Würzburg school in Germany represented the idealist approach.

In the USA, functional psychology goes back to W. James; the two major trends were represented by J. Dewey, J. Angelí, and H. Carr of the Chicago school and R. Woodworth of the Columbia school. Psychology was regarded as the study of the functions, or “operations,” of consciousness in the organism’s adaptation to a changing natural and social environment. In addition to consciousness, the field of psychological inquiry was enlarged to include behavior (adaptive action), behavioral motivation, and learning mechanisms. While the advocates of this approach made a significant contribution to experimental psychology, their views eventually became less influential; what led to the loss of scientific standing of this approach was its dualistic concept of the relationship between bodily and psychic functions as well as its teleological view of consciousness functioning as a goal-directed entity. American functional psychology was replaced by behaviorism in the 1920’s.