Question

William James, the father of American psychology, once wrote: "Thinking is for doing." What did he mean by this?

a. The human brain probably developed its current cognitive abilities in large part to enable effective decision-making and to facilitate behavior.
b. People typically engage in conscious thought only when engaged in a task (e.g., only when solving a puzzle, trying to construct an argument, or making a decision about something).
c. Every behavior that a person engages in implies a particular thought or set of thoughts; researchers can therefore infer thoughts from behaviors.
d. Because the primary role of thoughts is simply to plan behaviors, the proper focus of study for psychologists is behaviors themselves (and not thoughts).

Answer 1

The correct response is Option A: The human brain probably developed its current cognitive abilities in large part to enable effective decision-making and to facilitate behavior.

Step-by-step explanation:

William James is considered one of the founders of pragmatism and functionalism. He was the first to teach a psychology course in the U.S. at Harvard University. With pragmatism, James felt that rather than seek truths, the focus should be on the usefulness of an idea. Whereas structuralism focuses on breaking down mental processes into parts, James took a functionalist view and focused on the entire mental process. His two-volume work called the Principles of Psychology (1890) was widely acclaimed and became foundational in establishing psychology as an academic discipline in the United States.