The Blank Slate Or Empiricism Theory

As the study of child development has evolved, so has many theories of how a child develops. Throughout the centuries three main theories came about to describe child development: original sin, innate goodness and blank slate, with other theories having their roots within these three. Depending on the ideas of Psychologist Old has on child development, his advice to Teacher New would vary between many theories.
One of the aforementioned theories is the Blank Slate, or Empiricism theory which was coined by John Locke in the 17th century. This theory suggests that at birth a child is "entirely devoid of any ideas or other mental content” (Buck, 794). Due to this, a child’s development is based solely off of that child’s experiences. Locke further believed that a person or child’s knowledge was based solely off of education and experience.If Psychologist Old believed in John Locke’s Theories he would

suggest that in order for Teacher New to foster optimal development she should provide the children with plenty of experiences and opportunities to learn new things through practice.
Psychologist Rousseau suggested the idea that all humans are born with an innate goodness. He believed, “that humankind naturally has all it needs to achieve the most important goal— Virtue” (Phares, 25), and because of corruption humans now suffer “this contagion of vain knowledge” (Phares, 26). If Psychologist Old practiced these beliefs he would advise Teacher New to focus her teaching style in a way that promotes the need to live and learn simply and to focus on how to improve themselves as a person without giving into the greed of needing more when you already have what you need.
The final of the three main theories presented early is original sin. Psychologist John Calvin practiced this theory in his teaching and believed that teachers and adults need to guide their children in righteous way in order to steer them away from their evil ways they were born with. For a person to overcome this original sin they must practice diligent religious training and a spiritual rebirth. A person’s development following this theory is development in the eyes of God and overcoming the separation between man and God. If Psychologist Old is a supporter of this theory he should suggest that Teacher New support the teaching of good values and morals that will lead them away from doing wrong.
Johann Comenius was a believer in that a persons life was “a series of educational stages in which objects from nature would serve as the basis of learning” (Johann Comenius Contributions). Comenius felt that true knowledge could be achieved when a person understood reality and how things came to be. In order to do this he taught that one must have an understanding things natural, things human, and things divine and how they work together to form the bigger picture that is life. He frowned upon teaching students to memorize and study and favored the idea that “the acquisition of new material began through the senses” (Johann Comenius Contributions), a similar view of Locke. In advising Teacher New, Psychologist Old would suggest ideas similar to the blank slate theory; providing opportunities to learn and develop through experiences of the mind and body.
Another psychologist, John Watson, supported the idea of a child’s environment and interactions have an impact on their development.

Watson is most know for his ideas on classic behavioralism. In a study Watson did, known as “The Little Albert Study”, he introduced objects to a nine month old to test how he would react to it. Using white, fluffy objects, such as a rabbit or cotton, produced no negative reactions from Albert. However, when he paired those objects with another stimuli, a loud noise, Albert reacted in a fearful way. This lead to an overall fearful reaction to white fuzzy objects (Plucker, 2669). He used this experiment to show how even things that come to human naturally, emotions, can be manipulated by ones environment to produce a different outcome. Thus proving that a person or child’s environment has a significant role in development. To advise Teacher New on this approach, Psychologist Old would suggest creating an environment where students can interact in a positive way with their learning material and peers to create maximum development in

school.