PSY100H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Tabula Rasa, Operant Conditioning, Environmental History

• School: UTSG
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY100H1
• Professor: Whissell, P.

Document Summary

Historically, much of the discussion about the origins or causes of behavior reveals to us the existence of a highly controversial issue. It is the question of innate-acquired (nature-nurture), The basic premise of the environmental approach is that the environment is primarily responsible for forming the basic characteristics of man. The most extreme form of environmentalism was proposed centuries ago by the philosopher john locke (1632-1704); according to him, the newborn"s mind was a tabula rasa (blank page, leaf or canvas) The story to be written there was authored by the environment, that is, the individual"s life conditions and experiences. One of the most important adherents of this position was the psychologist. "cultural" or "environmental" explanation of the development of human behavior, Admitting as a basic premise the fact that human beings are infinitely malleable, Introduced the concept of operant conditioning, conduct would be subject to the regulation of environmental factors;