Schools and Movements
Structuralism
Also Known As Structural Psychology
Citation Formats
General Reference
APA Style
BibTeX
Structuralism, considered the first school of psychology, sought to analyze the adult mind in terms of the simplest definable components of experience using controlled introspection. Wilhelm Wundt pioneered its experimental methods at Leipzig from 1879, but it was his student Edward B. Titchener who named structuralism as a distinct system, identifying sensations, images and affections as its basic mental elements. It later drew criticism from functionalism and behaviorism for its reliance on subjective introspection.
Facts
Central QuestionWhat are the simplest definable components of conscious experience, and how do they combine to form the adult mind? 1 Founded Year Cross-Tradition Connections
Rejected Here
Watson's 1913 behaviorist manifesto rejected introspection and the analysis of consciousness into elementary mental constituents that structuralism had made its method and subject matter, redefining psychology as a purely objective science of behavior.
Held Differently
Gestalt psychology arose as a direct reaction against structuralism, offering a different account of how perception is organized (as wholes) rather than structuralism's decomposition into elemental sensations.
Founded By
Wundt pioneered structuralism's experimental introspective method at Leipzig; his student Edward B. Titchener later named and systematized structuralism as a distinct school (Titchener is not separately minted in this atlas).
In Branch
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Structural psychology
Wikimedia FoundationleadQuote, lead
Structuralists seek to analyze the adult mind...in terms of the simplest definable components of experience
1. Wikipedia: Structural psychology
Wikimedia FoundationLead sectionQuote, Lead section
Structuralism in psychology (also structural psychology) is a theory of consciousness developed by Edward Bradford Titchener
2. SimplyPsychology: Structuralism
Simply Psychologyn/aQuote, n/a
Wundt pioneered controlled introspection at Leipzig in 1879
Wikipedia: Gestalt psychology
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Gestalt Psychology, History/Overview sectionQuote, Associated With: Gestalt Psychology, History/Overview section
psychological phenomena as organized, structured wholes
Wikipedia: Functionalism (psychology)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Functionalism, History sectionQuote, Associated With: Functionalism, History section
Structural psychology was concerned with mental contents while functionalism is concerned with mental operations
Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It (Watson, 1913)
Classics in the History of Psychology (York University)Associated With: Behaviorism, Opening paragraphsQuote, Associated With: Behaviorism, Opening paragraphs
Psychology as the behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior. Introspection forms no essential part of its methods, nor is the scientific value of its data dependent upon the readiness with which they lend themselves to interpretation in terms of consciousness.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.