What was tabula rasa

Philosophers have been arguing that babies are born with minds that are essentially blank slates since the days of Aristotle.

Later, some psychologists took up the case as well. English speakers have called that initial state of mental blankness tabula rasa a term taken from a Latin phrase that translates as "smooth or erased tablet" since the 16th century, but it wasn't until British philosopher John Locke championed the concept in his Essay Concerning Human Understanding in that the term gained widespread popularity in our language.

In later years, a figurative sense of the term emerged, referring to something that exists in its original state and that has yet to be altered by outside forces.

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Words nearby tabula rasa Taborite , tabouli , tabret , Tabriz , tabular , tabula rasa , tabularize , tabulate , tabulator , tabun , TAC. Words related to tabula rasa blank cartridge , clean slate , palimpsest , square one. Tabula rasa Latin: "scraped tablet", though often translated "blank slate" is the notion that individual human beings are born "blank" with no built-in mental content , and that their identity is defined entirely by events after birth. Thomas Aquinas was the first to assert the tabula rasa theory in the 13th century, though it was John Locke who fully expressed the idea in the 17th century.

In John Locke 's philosophy, tabula rasa was the theory that the human mind is at birth a "blank slate" without rules for processing data, and that data is added and rules for processing are formed solely by one's sensory experiences. The notion is central to Lockean empiricism. As understood by Locke, tabula rasa meant that the mind of the individual was born "blank", and it also emphasized the individual's freedom to author his or her own soul.

Each individual was free to define the content of his or her character - but his or her basic identity as a member of the human species cannot be so altered. It is from this presumption of a free, self-authored mind combined with an immutable human nature that the Lockean doctrine of "natural" rights derives. Tabula rasa is also featured in Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis. In recent times, however, tabula rasa has come to be understood fundamentally differently.

While the idea that the individual can be changed remains, the power to effect that change is now ascribed to society, not the self - and that power extends to the whole of human nature. Under this view, one can almost without restriction shape the individual by changing the individual's environment, and thus sensory experiences.

In computer science, tabula rasa refers to the development of autonomous agents which are provided with a mechanism to reason and plan toward their goal, but no "built-in" knowledge-base of their environment.

Meanwhile, operant conditioning refers to learning by positive or negative reinforcement and, for example, causes eating disorders.

Modes of behavior therapy commonly used to treat phobia include:. Systematic desensitization is an effective treatment for specific phobia a fear of a specific object or situation and social phobia social anxiety disorder. The theory is the phobia is a learned behavior you imposed on your blank slate.

The therapist helps you learn to relax in what's referred to as your "target situation. Eventually, you learn not to react, which allows you to feel more comfortable and confident the next time you face your fear. Aversion therapy is useful in cases where you have an attraction to your bad behavior and despite the pleasure, both you and your therapist acknowledge it's an undesirable trait.

You were born with a blank slate but learned a destructive behavior. A good example of this is an alcoholic starting the recovery process. The therapist helps you associate your undesirable behavior with an extremely unpleasant stimulus.

For example, she may ask you to sip an alcoholic drink after you've taken a medication to induce nausea. After vomiting, the hope is the smell of alcohol would trigger your new and unpleasant memory, causing you to skip the alcohol next time. Proponents of flooding believe in confronting your fears and the goal is to ameliorate your phobia by flooding your environment with the situation or object of your fear.

Sort of like teaching someone how to swim by throwing them into the deep end of a pool. The idea behind this treatment is that fear is a response with limited time and the body will exhaust itself by going through the stages of extreme anxiety.

For example, if you are claustrophobic , therapy might involve locking you in a closet for several hours. Once you calm down you've changed your negative association with your fear into a positive one. Behaviorists also believe flooding prevents avoidance behaviors, which reinforce your maladaptive condition. Exposure therapy works by exposing yourself to the source of your phobia over time.

So if you're afraid of spiders, for example, your therapist might start by showing you a picture of a spider. Later in the process, you might look at a live spider or even hold one. With each step, the "power" of spiders to scare you diminishes until the phobia is gone.