Functionalism: Antecedent Influences

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FunctionalismAntecedent Influences
Chapter 6
By Marina Swanson
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Jenny Scientists Captivated by Childlike Jenny
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A two-year old orangutan on display in Europe in
1838 Displayed human qualities Used spoon,
plate, teacup Would throw tantrums like a
child One visitor was Charles Darwin, who was
impressed
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The Functionalist Protest
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Functionalists central interest how the
organism uses the mind to adapt to the
environment First uniquely American system of
psychology Deliberate protest against Wundts
and Titcheners systems Interest in applying
psychology to real world
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The Functionalist Protest
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Forerunners of Functionalism Darwins On the
Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection
(1859) Fechners Elements of Psychophysics
(1860) Galton and individual differences (1869)
Wundts Principles of Physiological Psychology
(1873-1874) Animal psychology experiments (1880s)
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Charles Robert Darwin 1809 - 1882
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EducationAs a youth, he was taught by his
sisters, private tutors and occasionally by his
uncle (the father of his cousin, Francis Galton)
Dr. Butler's school in Shrewsbury, England
(1818-1825) Studied medicine at Edinburgh
University (1825-1827) Studied for the ministry
at Christ's College, Cambridge (1838-1831)
Career
Served as an unpaid naturalist aboard the British
Navy ship H.M.S. Beagle (1831-1836) Darwin was
financially independent, and spent the remainder
of his career experimenting, writing and
lecturing (1836-1882)
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Charles Robert Darwin 1809 - 1882
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Publications by Charles Darwin On the Origin of
Species by Means of Natural Selection or The
preservation of favoured races in the struggle
for life (1878) The Voyage of the Beagle
(1909) The Expression of the Emotions in Man and
Animals (1913) The Descent of man and selection
in relation to sex (1909) The Variation of
Animals and Plants Under Domestication
(1878) The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin
Including an Autobiographical Chapter (1911)
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Charles Robert Darwin 1809 - 1882
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Darwin's ideas influenced psychology by
broadening the methods the new science could
legitimately use.
"a high degree of intelligence is certainly
compatible with complex instincts, and although
actions, at first learnt voluntarily can soon
through habit be performed with the quickness and
certainty of a reflex action, yet it is not
improbable that there is a certain amount of
interference between the development of free
intelligence and of instinct,--which latter
implies some inherited modification of the brain.
Little is known about the functions of the brain,
but we can perceive that as the intellectual
powers become highly developed, the various parts
of the brain must be connected by very intricate
channels of the freest intercommunication
(Darwin, 1871)
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Charles Robert Darwin 1809 - 1882
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Charles Darwin changed the focus of the new
Psychology from the structure of consciousness to
its functions.
spontaneous variability among members of a
species is inheritable there is a variation
among members of a species ...species that
cannot adapt do not survive.
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Charles Robert Darwin 1809 - 1882
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Darwin focused on animal psychology which formed
the basis of comparative psychology, an emphasis
on the functions rather than the structure of
consciousness, the acceptance of methodology and
data from many fields and a focus on the
description and measurement of individual
differences. The study of animal behavior was
vital to their understanding to human behavior.
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Wallace's Theory of Evolution?
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Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913)
Wrote Darwin about a theory of evolution similar
to Darwins that Wallace developed in 3
days Created an ethical dilemma for
Darwin Darwin had worked 22 years on
Theory Darwin took friends suggestion to have
Wallaces paper and portion of his forthcoming
book presented at scientific meeting on same day
that Darwins son was buried
Wallace not bitter over Darwins fame instead
was happy to have brushed fame and content to
have unconsciously spurred Darwin to complete his
book Wallace turned his energies to writing an
account of his time in Brazil, Travels on the
Amazon and Rio Negro (1853) Read a review and
excerpts
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The EvolutionRevolution
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natural selection process that leads to survival
of organisms which adapt to the environment
elimination of those which do not
Amerigo Vespucci how could they all fit in
Noahs ark?
Darwins grandfather, Erasmus Darwin all
mammals evolved from a single strand made alive
by God
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The EvolutionRevolution
Many new species discovered
chimpanzees and orangutans available for
viewing intelligent, humanlike
behavior skeleton of gorilla and human
strikingly similar fossils and bones of extinct
species found constant change in everyday
life industrial revolution causing migration to
urban areas growing domination of
science change was the order of the
day Darwins data could not be ignored given
the zeitgeist
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The EvolutionRevolution
Thomas Malthus, Essay on the Principle of
Population (1789) Read before articulating
ideas about the most fit surviving a.             
  food supply increases arithmetically b.         
      human population increases
geometrically c.               result many
humans live in near-starvation state d.           
    only the most aggressive, intelligent, and
flexible survive generalized from Malthus
observations and principles to all living beings
to develop theory of natural selection organisms
that live to reproduce transmit to offspring
characteristics that led to their own
survival failure to adapt results in failure to
survive offspring show variation among
themselves some offspring have advantageous
qualities to higher degree than parents over
generations, changes occur
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Thomas Henry Huxley1825 - 1895
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1860 -British Association meeting at
Oxford Archbishop Samuel Wilberforce ridiculed
evolution and asked Huxley whether he was
descended from an ape on his grandmother's side
or his grandfather's.
striving biologist leader among Englands
scientists champion of Darwins theory and his own
" If then, said I, the question is put to me
would I rather have a miserable ape for a
grandfather or a man highly endowed by nature and
possessed of great means of influence yet who
employs these faculties that influence for the
mere purpose of introducing ridicule into a grave
scientific discussion, I unhesitatingly affirm my
preference for the ape.(Huxley, 1860)
Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley
Darwin's Bulldog
Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature
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The Finches BeaksEvolution at Work
Dr. Peter and Rose Mary Grant
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The Finches BeaksEvolution at Work
Dr. Peter and Rose Mary Grant

• 20 year study found
• finches evolution occurred quicker than Darwin
  predicted
• severe drought food supply large, tough spiky
  seeds
• only the 15 of finches with thickest beak could
  open seeds many with slender beaks couldnt and
  died
• thicker beaks tool for adaptation
• offspring inherited that characteristic 4-5
  thicker beaks
• adaptation in one generation
• rain and floods large seeds swept away only
  small ones left
• same cycle but reverse outcome as above slender
  beaks a survival advantage
• only the most fit in a given environment lived

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The Missing Link2006
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Tiktaalik roseae is being hailed as a missing
link between fish and land animals. A newfound
380-million-year-old fossil suggests that the
animal had limblike fins, which could have been
used haul itself out of the water, scientists
say. It also apparently had strong ribs to
support its trunk on land a long, wide snout for
hunting like a crocodile and nostrils for
breathing air.
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Sir Francis Galton1822 - 1911
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Education Trinity College, Cambridge - Degree in
Mathematics Career African Explorer and
elected Fellow in the Royal Geographic Society
Creator of the first weather maps and
establisher of the meteorological theory of
anticyclones Coined term "eugenics" and phrase
"nature versus nurture" Developed statistical
concepts of correlation and regression to the
mean Discovered that fingerprints were an index
of personal identity and persuaded Scotland Yard
to adopt a fingerprinting system First to
utilize the survey as a method for data
collection Produced over 340 papers and books
throughout his lifetime Knighted in 1909
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Sir Francis Galton1822 - 1911
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Publications Hereditary Genius An Inquiry Into
Its Laws and Consequences (1891) eminent men have
eminent sons specific forms of genius inherited
founded eugenics improve inherited human traits
through artificial selection applied statistical
concepts to heredity problems eminence not a
function of opportunity English Men of Science
Their Nature and Nurture (1895) Natural
Inheritance (1889) 1901 founded journal,
Biometrika established Eugenics Laboratory at
University College, London 1904 founded
organization for promoting racial
improvement The art of travel, or, Shifts and
contrivances available in wild countries(1872)
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Sir Francis Galton1822 - 1911
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worked on inheritance and the individual
differences in human capacities, effectively
brought the spirit of evolution to bare on the
new psychology. Galton was very intelligent with
an IQ of 200. The Mental Test tests of motor
skills and sensory capacities use more complex
measures of mental abilities originated from
him. Galton spent 15 years investigating
psychological issues, and his efforts had a
significant impact on the direction of the new
psychology even though he was not truly a
psychologist.
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George John Romaines1848 - 1894
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a British physiologist who formalized and
systematized the study of animal
intelligence. Darwin chose Romanes as his
successor to carry on the aspects of his work on
animal behavior. Romanes published Animal
Intelligence which was considered to be the first
book on comparative psychology. He used the
Anecdotal method which was the use of animal
behavior. C. Lloyd Morgan 1852-1936 recognized
the weakness inherent in the anecdotal and
introspection-by-analogy methods. Romanes
designated him as his successors.
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George John Romaines1848 - 1894
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physiological selection'
DARWIN, AND AFTER DARWIN AN EXPOSITION OF THE
DARWINIAN THEORY AND A DISCUSS OF POST-DARWINIAN
QUESTIONS
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C. Lloyd Morgan1852 - 1936
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Morgan was a student of Thomas Henry Huxley and
became a professor of psychology and education at
the University of Bristol, England. He proposed
a Law of parsimony to interact the prevailing
tendency to attribute excessive intelligence to
animals. Law of parsimony states that an
animal's behavior must not be interpreted as the
outcome of a higher mental process when it can be
explained in terms of a lower mental
process. Morgan was the first scientist to
conduct large-scale experimental studies in
animal psychology.