John Locke's Position to the Learning Perspective

John Locke's Position to the Learning Perspective
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(February 23, 2012)
John Locke's Position to the Learning Perspective of Child Development
Although many psychologists tend to differ on behavioral interpretation of learning, John Locke and David Hume collectively argued that our experiences in life form the basis of our mental development process. Cognitive development is however intended to be the information processing, mental representation and predictions which are paramount in the learning process. It is because of this reason that cognitive psychologists argue that learning is mostly triggered by some cognitive events in life. In most cases the events includes some internal processes which occurs in the mind before being translated into action. Majority of early cognitive ideas are mainly associated to John Locke who is at times referred to as the father of cognitive perspective on learning and behavior. This paper will seek to analyze John Locke`s contribution to the learning perspective.
Initially, both Locke and Hume rejected the previous notion of innate ideas and came up with a theory which argued that individual personalities are mainly earned through mental associations and experiences in life (Bogin, 1999). According to Locke, human beings are usually born with blank mind. Nonetheless, the experiences in life help us formulate some mental relation which is necessary in the learning process. Additionally, the two philosophers believed that human development is dynamic and that the mental representation and process information of our mind gradually increases with time. Their brilliant ideas and principles form the basis of the contemporary cognitive theory of learning.
Most of Locke`s ideas were mainly derived from his experiences which embraced both sensations and reflections in life. For children, sensation is the key factor of learning while abstract reflections of material facts dominate in adult learning. Although other philosophers like Immanuel Kant argued against Locke`s idea of experience being the major attribute in the learning process, his argument still holds in the modern cognitive theories.
Locke acknowledged the possible existence of God, morality and laws of nature whose power are usually exerted and not reasoned out. He also admitted that at times some innate power operates in nature and that`s why children differ in respects and qualities. He nevertheless inclined most of his ideas towards nurturing knowledge (Locke, 1993). According to him, parents should exercise close authority over their children since their tender age. He however...