Developmental psychology.pdf

Psychology in Our Times 11
Empiricism in Philosophy This view, certainly not startling today, lay dormant for
hundreds of years and was considered radical even as late as the seventeenth century.
Eventually, it came to be regarded with favor, especially by nineteenth-century
educators, who emphasized the importance of life experiences inside and outside the
classroom. Today the word empiricism, coming from the Greek word for experience,
means that we know through direct experience. Knowledge is not innate, as Plato had
suggested, but acquired through the senses during our lifetime.
This doctrine had important implications for science. Observe the event, such
as a confrontation among three Christs, and let experience tell the story. Bringing the
three Christs together was an empirical test of Voltaire's hypothesis. Voltaire had only
heard about the incident with the deranged man, which allegedly took place decades
earlier. Had it really happened? If so, were the details correct? Or was the report based
on what someone thought would occur? Empiricism is of central importance in all
science. The most substantial test of a hypothesis is through direct observation.
Darwinian Influence One person who made careful observations was Charles
Darwin. Just before the founding of psychology he completed a voyage around the
world and described 'what he had observed. Specifically, Darwin noted the wide
variations in structure and behavior among the species and observed the struggle for
existence among all organisms. Those that survive and therefore reproduce, he decided,
are those most adapted to their environment. The poorly adapted perish and produce
no offspring. Through this process of natural selection, continued over millions of years,
distinctly different organisms appeared (Figure 1.4).
Darwin's theory of evolution, which states that any plant or animal species
developed through modifications of preexisting species, was highly controversial, but
it had a tremendous effect on the study of human behavior and experience. It prompted
all sorts of speculation about a continuity from the animal to the human mind and
about the nature of animal mental life (Darwin, 1859, 1965). Furthermore, the idea
of animal instincts, which was well accepted, led to speculation about human instincts
and to the study of human motivation.
Figure 1.4
Darwin's Investigations. In his
studies of the giant tortoises in the
Galapagos Islands, Darwin was
assisted by sailors from his ship, who
used boat hooks to turn over these
creatures for careful scrutiny.