A History of Psychology

1. A History of Psychology Chapter 5: Structuralism

2. Wundt: (experimental psychology) 1. organization of elements 2. through Apperception 3. Mind has the power to organize mental elements voluntarily Titchener: (structuralism) 1. focused on elements 2. through Association 3. Analyze consciousness into its component parts and determine its structure. Introduction

3. A. His life: 1. Born in England 2. Attended at Oxford U. a. philosophy and the classics b. research assistant in physiology c. interested in Wundt’s psychology Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927)

4. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927) • 2. 1892, studied with Wundt and earned Ph.D at Leipzig • 3. Back to Oxford U. and wished to become the English pioneer of Wundt’s psychology. • 4. However, his colleagues were skeptical of scientific approach to philosophical issues. Thus, he left England to Cornell U.

5. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927) • 5. Cornell University (1893-1927) • a. 1893-1900 established lab, did research, and wrote articles. • b. supervised more than 50 doctoral candidates • c. directed students’ research topics • d. built his system of structuralism • e. translated Wundt’s books such as Principles of Physiological Psychology

6. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927) • B. His work • 1. His books • a. 1896: An Outline of Psychology • b. 1898: Primer of Psychology • c. 1901-1905: Experimental Psychology: A Manual of Lab Practice • 1) stimulated growth of lab work in US • 2) influenced a generation of experimental psychology • 3) popular text, translated in to 5 languages

7. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927) • 2. 1904: Titchener Experimentalists organized; men only. • 3. Accepted women in psychology graduate programs • a. one-third of his doctoral students were women • b. Margaret F. Washburn • 1) first woman Ph.D in psychology • 2) wrote important book on comparative psychology (The Animal Mind, 1908) • 3) first woman psychologist elected to National Academy of Sciences • 4) president of the APA

8. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927) • C. the content of conscious experience • 1. Subject matter of psychology • a. conscious experience • b. as that experience is dependent on the person who is actually experiencing it. • 2. Dependent on the experiencing individual • Other sciences: independent of experiencing persons (e.g., temperature)

9. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927) • 3. Consider phenomena in terms of how human observe and experience these phenomena, e.g., light and sound. • 4. Stimulus error: • Confusing the mental process with the object we are observing. • See an apple and describe that object as an apple instead of reporting the elements of color, brightness, and shape they are experiencing.

10. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927) • 5. Immediate versus mediate experience • Color, brightness, or shape (immediate experience) • Other than color, brightness, or shape (mediate experience: interpreting the object)

11. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927) • 6. Consciousness: the sum of our experiences as they exist at a given time • 7. Mind: the sum of our experiences accumulated over a lifetime

12. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927) • 8. Pure science • a. only legitimate purpose: to discover the facts (structure) of the mind • b. no applied aspects • c. only normal adult humans

13. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927) • D. Introspection • 1. Self-observation • 2. Relied on trained observers • reporting the elements of their conscious state • 3. Adopted Kulpe’s label, “systematic experimental introspection” • Used detailed, qualitative, subjective report of mental activities during the act of introspecting

14. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927) • 4. Opposed Wundt’s approach • Wundt: synthesis (Whole) • Titchener: component parts (Parts) • 5. Goal: analysis; to discover the atoms of the mind

15. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927) • 6. Mechanist: • subjects were “reagents” and were like mechanical recording instruments • 7. Proposed an experimental approach to introspective observation in psychology: • an experiment is an observations that can be repeated, isolated, and varied

16. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927) • E. Elements of consciousness • 1. Defined three essential problems for psychology • a. reduce conscious processes to simplest components • b. determine laws by which elements were associated • c. connect the elements with their physiological conditions

17. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927) • 2. Aims: the same as those of the natural sciences • 3. Proposed three elementary states of consciousness • a. sensations • basic element of perception, e.g., sound or smell • b. images • the element of idea, e.g., memory of past experiences • c. affective states • the element of emotion, e.g., love, hate, and sadness

18. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927) • 4. Discovered 44,500 basic elements of sensation • a. each is conscious • b. each is distinct from all others • c. each could combine with others to form perceptions and ideas

19. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927) • 5. characteristics of mental elements • A. quality • B. intensity • C. duration • D. clearness • 6. Rejected Wundt’s tridimensional theory, suggested only pleasure/displeasure

20. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927) • 7. 1918: • a. dropped concept of mental elements • b. suggested study of dimensions instead of basic elements • 8. Early 1920s • a. questioned term structural psychology • b. called his approach as “existential psychology” • c. considered replacement of introspection with phenomenological approach (i.e., examining experience just as it occurs, without trying to break it down into elements)

21. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927) • III. Criticisms of Structuralism • A. Introspection • 1. Method of introspection • If the mind were capable of observing its own activities, it needs to have two parts. • 2. Definition of introspection • Difficulty defining exactly what he meant

22. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927) • 3. Definition of psychology • Animal psychology and child psychology (not psychology) • 4. Precise task of trained observer is unclear/unknown • a. unreliability within and between subjects • b. special vocabulary

23. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener(1867-1927) • 5. Introspection is retrospection • Artificial • 6. Could not explore the unconscious mind

24. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener (1867-1927) • IV. Contributions of Structuralism • 1. Subject matter clearly defined • 2. Research methods: good science • Observation, experimentation, or measurement • The most appropriate method for studying conscious experience was self-observation

25. Structuralism----Edward Bradford Titchener (1867-1927) • 3. Introspection method is still used in many areas of psychology • Clinical reports from patients on personality tests are introspective in nature • 4. Impact on cognitive psychology • Introspective reports involving cognitive processes such as reasoning • 5. Strong base against which others could rebel