The contributions and weaknesses of William James to psychology as a scientific field (eBook)

Essay from the year 2019 in the subject Psychology - General, grade: A, Zimbabwe Open University, language: English, abstract: This paper seeks to examine the three contribution of William James to functionalism and its weaknesses.

William James contributed much to the development of functionalism and modern psychology. He proposed the theory functionalism as a revolt against the weakness of structuralism by Wundt and his student Techerner. The theory could help to explain how human behaviors can be influenced by the functions of the mind not structures of the mind. William James borrowed the concept from Darwianism of nativism. He believed in nature as the cause of behaviors which influence the brain to cause different types of disorders if damaged.

James made functionalism popular in America which caused him to be regarded as the father of American psychology. His work influenced so many researchers especially cognitivists who were studying memory. The weakness of functionalism influenced the rise of behaviorism in early 20th century. It was also criticized for not being psychological and lacking objectivity.