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Foundation of Psychology
"Psychology is a science of behavior and mental performing that uses the quantitative and qualitative research studies to promote and test hypothesis and put forward theories and models that explain human behavior.( http://www.helium.com/item/-history of psychology)
Identify the major schools of thought in psychology and examine their underlying assumptions, and describe the biological foundations of psychology.
Structuralism
Structuralism was one of the first foundations of psychology that was most famous in the 1800. It was advocated by the founder of the first psychology lab, Wilhelm Wundt. (http://psychology.about.com/od/history of psychology) One of Wundt students, Edward Titchener advocated the use of introspection in experiments with the hopes of devising a periodic table of the elements of human consciousness, much like the periodic table developed by chemists. Because of his interest in studying the structure of consciousness, this is how the school of thought came into existent.(Robin
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Gravestone of Wilhelm Wundt, father of psychology,...M. Kowalski. Psychology. 4e, 2005) Structuralism focused on the characteristics and examined the bases elements of experiences. Titchener believed that experimentation was the only approach methods for a science of psychology and that concept such as "attention" implied too much free will to be scientifically useful.(http://www.coursehero.com/file/ psychology-exam 1 study guide)
Functionalism
Functionalism was the other school of thought that was used in the 1800. It was formed as a reaction to the theories of the structuralist school of thought and was heavily influenced by the work of William James. In(http://psychology.about.com/od/history of psychology) Instead of focusing on the concept of the mind, it emphasized the role or function of psychological processes in helping individuals adapt to their environment,(Robin M. Kowalski, psychology,4e,2005) and focused on the belief that optimal learning conditions can be created by knowing how the brain uses and processes information.(http://www.helium.com/history of...