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Schools of thought in psychology

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Identify the major schools of thought in psychology and examine their major underlying assumptions.

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Early Schools of Thought

When psychology was first established as a science separate from biology and philosophy, the debate over how to describe and explain the human mind and behavior began. Structuralism emerged as the first school of thought and was advocated by the founder of the first psychology lab, Wilhelm Wundt. Almost immediately other theories surfaced to vie for dominance in psychology. In response to structuralism, an American perspective emerged under the influence of thinkers such as Charles Darwin and William James.

In 1906, Mary Whiton Calkins published an article in Psychological Review asking for a reconciliation between these two schools of thought.

Structuralism and functionalism were not so different, she argued, since both are principally concerned with the conscious self. Despite this, aspersions continued to be cast by both sides. William James wrote that structuralism had "plenty of school, but no ...

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