Compare functionalism’s contributions to psychology with the contributions of structuralism.
Structuralism, considered subject matter as the most important aspect of psychology. They divided the mind into elements and analyzed it. They did not consider animal psychology to be of importance. They also did not believe, in applying knowledge of psychology to real life issues.
Structuralism was more of an ordered school of thought, and had its proper founder. While functionalism was found by people, who did not really wanted to start a new school of thought.
Functionalism made great contributions to psychology. It emphasized on the functions of the elements, rather than analyzing each of the elements. Also, the functionalists included the study of animal behavior, which later became an essential part of psychology.
The functionalists had no problem with involving psychology to real world problems. After the death of Wundt and Titchener, structuralism met with its downfall and the functionalist movement was carried forward
Functionalism left its mark on the American psychology. Psychology afterwards, developed keeping in mind the basics of the functionalist movement. The application of psychology in treating real life problems is the landmark step, taken by the functionalist to overshadow structuralism.