a direction in psychology that considers the mental life and behavior of a person from the point of view of his active and purposeful adaptation to environmental conditions. Taking into account the place of origin and some features, in the general course of functional psychology, two separate branches are distinguished: European and American; the latter is often also called functionalism (see FUNCTIONALISM in Chapter 5 Famous Scientists, Their Scientific Schools and Organizations in Psychological Science). In European countries, the idealist interpretation of the adaptive functions of the human psyche was adhered to by K. Stumpf and representatives of the Würzburg school of psychology, headed by O. Külpe (see Külpe, Oswald (1862-1915) in Chapter 5 Famous Scientists, Their Scientific Schools and Organizations in Psychological Science).