Personal Theory of Psychology (Human Nature) - Essay Example

As such, experiences of the child are gradually imprinted on the slate as he grows and mature. Using Locke’s idea, as the foundation of the new theory, termed as Multi-Structured Theory of Human Nature, it is suggested that an infant’s mind is not totally a tabula rasa but instead, a slate which already has writings on it but are blurred and needs to be highlighted. Experiences will not write on the slate but instead will only highlight what is already written on it. For the purpose of convenience, the word “mind” will be used throughout this paper in place of “slate”.

This mind is the same for all humans and is composed of many different aspects of behavior, hence, multi-structured. The core of this new theory is the mind, comparable to Freud’s idea of the unconscious part of the personality. According to Freud, the unconscious constitutes suppressed impulses, drives, wishes, desires, conflicts and guilt that strongly influence behavior and personality (Griffin, 2010). However, in this new theory, mind is seen as an inborn reservoir of all the aspects of behavior of every individual.

The impulses and drives mentioned by Freud are just some of the aspects of behavior that are present in the mind. . This idea is in line with the contemporary behavioral perspective such that it suggests that experiences shape the way individuals respond to their environment (Griffin, 2010). Based on this perspective, an individual’s behavior is determined by environmental factors and the consequences of previous behaviors (Griffin, 2010). However, unlike the contemporary behavioral theory, the new theory does not regard behavior as merely product of environmental influence because, as reiterated previously, there are already some “pre-written” aspects in the brain.

Highlighting by means of experience triggers the aspects of behavior that are already in the mind upon birth. As such, experience merely reinforces these aspects. For example, a saint and a criminal are both born with aggressive or violent tendencies. However, the criminal’s behavior is more likely to be violent since that aspect of behavior is what is highlighted most by his experiences. On the other hand, the violent aspect of the saint remains blurred in the mind and is not highlighted, perhaps, because of more favorable experiences.

Meanwhile, the abovementioned example shows that aspects of behavior occur in extreme opposites. Opposite aspects may be both highlighted in a person but they cannot be both highlighted at the same time by the same experience. Meaning, a particular experience cannot highlight both the peace-loving and aggressive tendencies. For example, it is expected that a kind person has a lot of positive aspects highlighted in his/her mind. However, when somebody hit the person without reason, there is a tendency that the person will fight back out of impulse.

In this case, the experience of someone hitting the person will only highlight either