FUNCTIONALISM

noun Date: 1914 a late 19th century to early 20th century American school of psychology concerned especially with how the mind functions to adapt the individual to the environment, a philosophy of design (as in architecture) holding that form should be adapted to use, material, and structure, a theory that stresses the interdependence of the patterns and institutions of a society and their interaction in maintaining cultural and social unity, a doctrine or practice that emphasizes practical utility or functional relations, functionalist noun functionalist or functionalistic adjective