Psychology I / Structuralism and Functionalism
Practice question · Sort into groups

Sort each research question by which school would ask it.

Groups: What the mind is MADE OF (Structuralism) · What the mind is FOR (Functionalism)

Hints
  1. Listen for whether the question hunts for COMPONENTS or for a PURPOSE.
  2. Decomposition questions are structuralist; adaptive-purpose questions are functionalist.
Show the answer

What the mind is MADE OF (Structuralism): What are the elementary sensations involved in tasting a lemon?, Can an emotion be decomposed into simpler feeling-components?

What the mind is FOR (Functionalism): How does memory help a person adapt to their environment?, Why did the capacity for sustained attention evolve?

Why

Questions seeking the mind's components (elementary sensations, decomposing emotion) are structuralist; questions about purpose and adaptation (how memory helps, why attention evolved) are functionalist. The two schools differ in the QUESTION they ask, not in disputed facts.

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