William James

William JamesAmerican PsychologistJanuary 11th,1842-August 26th,1910

By Kevin Hunt

-Went to Boarding school in Europe, became fluent in french and German-In 1869, James recieved his medical degree from Harvard University.

Education

Pragmatism- Believed the Truth of an idea can never be proven, we instead focus on the usefulness of an ideaFunctionalism- Opposed Wundt's approach known as structuralism, emphasized studying the function of consciousness or the wholeness of an event, and how consciousness helped people adapt to their enviromentJames-Lange Theory of Emotion- proposed that an event triggers a physiological reaction which we interpret, and that our emotions are caused by our interpretations of these reactions.

Theories

-William orginally wanted to be a painter, and studied for over a year until he enrolled at Harvard after giving up his dream.-His brother, Henry James, is a famous American writer from their time.

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-Considered the first American Psychologist-President of APA in 1894 and 1904-Founded Functionalism- Author of first psychology textbook, The Principles of Psychology-Opened first experimental psychology lab in the USA, which led to him mentoring famous psychologists such as Mary Calkins, Edward Thorndike, G. Stanley Hall, and John Dewey.-Taught Psychology & Physiology at Harvard from 1872 to 1907.

Accomplishments

Interesting Facts

Functionalism- Often used today in Educational Psychology, how kids learn and adapt to certain social enviroments.James-Lange Theory of Emotion- Although it was heavily criticized it was one of the first theories based on our emotions, which inspired many theories including the Schachter-Singer Theory.

Contributions to modern research