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Contributions Of John Dewey

Decent Essays

John Dewey transformed the United States educational system as a philosopher, reformer and psychologist. He published thousands of writings on art, social theory, logic, and ethics, but is best known for his promotion of pragmatism and democracy. His work in the birth of functional psychology made him one of the most cited and influential psychologists in the 20th century.

==Youth and Education==

John Dewey was born in Burlington, Vermont on October 20, 1859, to parents Archibald Sprague Dewey and Lucina Artemisia Rich. His parents named him after his older brother who died less than a year before his birth. Dewey attended the University of Vermont along with his two surviving brothers. He studied the writings of T. H. Huxley and learned evolutionary theory from G. H. Perkins which influenced his focus on the relationship between humans and their environment. He began teaching after graduating in 1879. When the Journal of Speculative Philosophy’s editor, W. T. Harris, accepted a philosophical essay he submitted, Dewey decided to apply to Johns Hopkins University. In 1884, he received …show more content…

Functional psychology emphasizes the influence of external environments on social behavior and the functioning of the mind. He believed in a fluidity between stimulus and reaction and did not agree with modern psychological thought that they existed as separate, linear events.Dewey, J. (1896). The Reflex Arc Concept in Psychology. Psychological Review, 3(4), 357–370. doi:10.1037/h0070405Dewey understood that the human mind did not cease emotional or social development upon birth, but is ever changing in response to external influence.Functional psychology examines changes in behavior and mental stimulation by a human actively adapting to their external environment. Vandenbos, G. R. (2006). APA Dictionary of Psychology. United States: American Psychological

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