Child Development Essay -- Psychology Locke Rousseau Essays Papers

Child Development John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau were the founding fathers of the psychology of children. Locke was an environmentalist, while Rousseau was a naturalist. They had opposing viewpoints. They both believed in different things when it came to underdeveloped minds of children. John Locke was an environmentalist. He believed a childs mind develops largely on the environment accordance with his/her experience of the world, and by means of learning. He brings forth the concept of tabula rasa, or unoccupied slate this blank slate is a childs mind that eventually fills up with learning and experience. According to Locke, there are four things of environment that mold a childs mind. The first is associations. This is where one thought is usually associated with another ? for example, when a child is placed in a crib he may start crying, because macrocosm in the crib would be mean that he couldnt be with his mother. The second one is repetition. These are habitual pract ices that we do over and over - to the point where, if we dont do it, things will seem out of place. The third is imitation. Children often like to imitate others, like repeating the same utterance their caregiver may have tardily said. Or, for example, if child A starts playing with an aggressive child B, child A might end up becoming more aggressive as well. This is through influence and modeling. The fourth is rewards and punishment. For example, a child may yearn to receive good grades becaus...