Structuralism is a systemic movement in psychology often associated with Wilhelm Wundt and Edward B. Titchener in Germany. This theory sought to examine the adult mind regarding the simplest components that could be defined and then identify the complex forms’ relationship. It was a term that was originally coined to define the relationship between elements of human culture to their behaviour. The examination covers areas of sociology, linguistics, and anthropology, and a relationship is built on the perception that human interactions can only be understood if linked to a broader perspective (Flack, 2016). Structuralism suggests that structures influence human behaviour in terms of how they think, perceive and feel.
The ideology originated from Wilhelm Wundt, who was the founder of an experimental psychology laboratory. He mentored one of his students, Edward B. Titchener, who later established the ideology and named it structuralism. However, in his attempts to expand the ideology, Titchener deviated from some of his mentor’s teachings and misrepresented some parts of it (Martin & Torok-Gerard, 2019). The school of thought gained dominance, and almost immediately, other theories were developed to compete for dominance. American perspective, commonly described as functionalism, emerged from thinkers such as William James and Charles Darwin to counter structuralism. In 1906, Mary W. Calkins published an article asking for reconciliation between the two ideologies in the Psychological Review (Flack, 2016). Functionalists argued that structuralism had little ‘thought’ and was overly focused on ‘school’. In response, Wundt dismissed functionalism as a school-based on ‘literature’, instead of science.
Structuralism came out as the first school in psychology, which based its arguments on the idea of breaking down mental processes into the most basic components. One way used by researchers in their attempt to understand the concept was through analysis of introspection. In self-examination, self-reports of sensation, perspectives, emotions, and feelings were presented and carefully examined. Unlike Wundt, Titchener had somewhat strict guidelines for the experimental procedures and suggested that introspection was only applicable if it took the form of psychophysical techniques (Malim, 2017). Titchener began his theory by evaluating what each element of the mind represented. He thus concluded that the mind’s primary elements were limited to sensations and some of these elements were perception, ideas and emotions.
The three elements interacted amongst themselves and with the mind hence, they could be broken down further to determine properties such as clearness, duration, extensity, intensity, and quality. Sensation and images are contained in the properties, although affection lacks clearness and extensity. From the analysis, Titchener concluded that images and affection were merely clusters of sensations. How the components interacted to form conscious experiences was based on ideas of associationism. As such, he rejected Wundt’s assessment that the relationship was based on apperception and voluntary action, as stated in voluntarism (Malim, 2017). Titchener believed that psychological processes generate their continuity from the unceasing substratum provided by the specified procedures.
Titchener dominated American Psychology for about two decades with his several publications and research work. He trained several students, including doctoral levels, who became highly influential psychologists too. However, Titchener is currently remembered in a purely historical context. He elevated psychology to be a respected field of science separate from philosophy (Malim, 2017). The basis of Titchener’s argument was on Wundt’s influence, who proposed voluntarism, the ideology of perception, and appreciation. These elements are due to a combination of passive and active elements or structures of consciousness.
Wundt is believed to be the father of modern experimental psychology. He was a philosopher, a psychologist, and a linguist who was active when the future of psychology as a discipline was uncertain. He carefully examined behaviour in controlled conditions, which acted as the basis of his experimental works. Wundt believed in reductionism, where he assumed that the consciousness could be broken into basic elements without destroying any of its properties. Wundt focused on three significant elements that are still studied today in cognitive psychology: feelings, images, and thoughts. He believed that these higher mental processes required anthropological, naturalistic, and historical analysis for a holistic grasp of the concepts (Martin & Torok-Gerard, 2019). Therefore, the goal of experimental psychology was to uncover the elements of thought and the existing combinatory laws by which fundamental building blocks are combined to create complex mental experiences.
In conclusion, modern psychologists believe that introspection was not scientific, even if the methods of its analysis were. For instance, in most cases, the results of introspection are subjective, yet only visible behaviour can be observed. Both Wundt and Titchener developed the theory that gave rise to other subsequent ideologies that better understood cognitive experiences. The school of psychology, known as functionalism, which rose as a counter-theory, has evolved into behaviourism and is still applied in various fields of psychology. Some scholars, especially in cognitive psychology, are currently working on experimental approaches to explain conscious experience. They have advanced on the concepts of sensations and perceptions in highly controlled situations as enabled by technology.
References
Flack, P. (2016). Roman Jakobson and the transition of German thought to the structuralist paradigm. Acta Structuralica, 1, 1-15. Web.
Malim, T. (2017). Introductory psychology. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Martin, J. L., & Torok-Gerard, S. E. (2019). Educational psychology: History, practice, Research, and the future. ABC-CLIO.