Question

________ is an early psychological approach that emphasized the function or purpose of behavior and consciousness.

Answer 1

Functionalism is an early psychological approach that emphasized the function or purpose of behavior and consciousness. Functionalism is the belief that an object's ability to be classified as a thought, desire, or pain (or any other form of mental state) depends only on its function, or the part it plays in the cognitive system of which it is a part, rather than on its internal makeup.

More specifically, according to functionalist views, a mental state's identity is determined by the causal connections it has with sensory input, other mental states, and behavior. For instance, a functionalist theory would define pain as a condition that typically results from physical harm, creates the perception that something is wrong with the body and the desire to escape it, creates anxiety.

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