Effects of Empiricism in Modern Psychology.
The definition given to us in class of Empiricism was the idea that all knowledge comes through experience. Also talked about was the word Tabula Rasa, which refers to a blank slat, or knowing nothing. So the idea of Empiricism is that when we are born, we start out with brains, but no smarts in the brains. Meaning we are a totally fresh and new creation and everything we do and experience becomes our building blocks toward becoming smarter and more knowledgeable in life.
Even though Empiricism took place a long time ago, there are still ways in our culture and modern psychology that echo the same beliefs and thoughts. One way we can see some similarity is from the Nature vs. Nurture concept in personality. This thought is one that says that we all learn and grow in experience and knowledge from the environment, friends, and family that we are in. It's the things around us that teaches us and makes us who we are today. This sounds a lot like the Empiricist thought. .
People can argue that the different experiences from when they were growing up have made them who they are today. For example having some sort of disorder like posttraumatic stress syndrome or some sort of phobia. Some other examples could be a divorce of your Mom of Dad, abuse, or even a death of someone close. All of these events in a way would shape and take some kind of toll or impact on a person. John Locke says that those things that make the deepest and most lasting impression are those, which are accompanied with pleasure or pain. .
Another way we can see Empiricism in modern psychology is through the way we research and test theories. Lots of knowledge and understanding comes from research and performing experiments to see if your hypothesis is right or wrong. This is happening each and everyday that people are becoming smarter and mentally formed. Not really saying that people had no brainpower before the research, but they come out smarter and knowing something when they are done.