Final answer:
John Dewey, along with William James and Charles Sanders Peirce, established functionalism in North American psychology, focusing on how mental activities help organisms adapt to their environments.
Step-by-step explanation:
William James and John Dewey played crucial roles in establishing functionalism as a major school of psychological thought in North America. While James contributed an adaptation-oriented perspective on mental activities interacting with the environment, Dewey, along with James and Charles Sanders Peirce, further solidified functionalism as a significant psychological framework.
Functionalism emphasized the study of the functions and purposes of the mind, focusing on how mental processes contribute to an individual's adaptation to the environment. This school of thought aimed to understand consciousness in terms of its practical applications in everyday life. The synergy between James and Dewey, along with Peirce's contributions, highlights the collaborative effort that led to the development and recognition of functionalism as a foundational approach in the history of psychology.