John Locke was an English philosopher and doctor of medicine who lived between the years 1632 and 1704. He is seen as one of the pioneers of Enlightenment. This movement was a consequence of the French Revolution and theirideals included “freedom and equality for all, founded, ostensibly, upon principles of human reason” (Bristow, 2010). Locke was an essential person in the development and field of psychology due to his inquiry as to “the human understanding”(Connolly, 2016). He contributed greatly to the modern emphasis on the self and personal identity, consciousness or self-awareness and free-will. These were all revolutionary concepts and Locke was therefore known to have been a free and liberal thinker in his time (Speaks, 2006). Locke …show more content…
Links are made between successions of similar experiences to form associations (Louw, 1996:63). An example may be that the sound of screeching car tires is linked to an accident because the association with the sound usually leads to the sound and possibly smell of metal crashing. In Locke’s series of four books called ‘Essay’, he explored the human mind in terms of its functioning as well as content (Connoly, 2016). This is an argument in favour of him being a forerunner of Functionalism. Functionalists emphasise the understanding of how the brain functions by analysing the mind and behaviour (Reber, 1985:290). Locke believed that science should rely on objective observation. These fundamental principles lead to the Behaviourist school of thought (Connoly, 2016).Behaviourists state that only that which can be observed and measured is right for scientific inquiry (Reber, 1985). Educationalist Theory also draws on this belief which states that all behaviour is learnt and worked from the premise of Locke’s concept of tabula rasa (Louw, 1996:63). Educationalist Theory concentrates on the l learning and how it is