Final answer:
Structuralism, advanced by Wundt and Titchener, is a psychological approach that focuses on analyzing the structure of the mind using introspection, unlike behaviorism or psychoanalysis, which study observable behaviors and the unconscious, respectively.
Step-by-step explanation:
Structuralism, as developed by Wilhelm Wundt and furthered by his student Edward Titchener, is focused on understanding the conscious experience through introspection. Instead of examining the function of mental processes, structuralism aims to identify and analyze the different elements that make up the mental state. Titchener's approach involved a rigorous methodology wherein subjects reflected on their experiences in response to stimuli. This method sought to reveal the structure of the mind by dissecting the responses into their most basic components.
Structuralism represents the earliest school of thought in psychology, with a significant emphasis on the study of the structure of the mind. It contends with the complexity of psychological phenomena by breaking them down into smaller parts. Titchener's structuralism differs from the later behaviorism, which focuses solely on observable behaviors rather than conscious experiences. Unlike Freudian psychoanalysis, which delves into the unconscious, structuralism limits its scope to elements of consciousness accessible through introspection.