Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsTabula Rasa in BehaviorismTabula Rasa in TherapyCriticisms of Tabula Rasa

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Table of Contents

Tabula Rasa in Behaviorism

Tabula Rasa in Therapy

Criticisms of Tabula Rasa

Tabula rasa translates to “blank slate.” In therapy, it refers to either the idea that we are solely the product of our upbringing and experiences or to the technique therapists use when they themselves become “blank” and allow the recipient to project their own needs, desires, and beliefs onto them.

In psychology, the term “blank slate,” or tabula rasa, actually has two meanings. The first refers to the belief that all humans are born with the ability to become literally anything or anyone. This belief downplays the effects of genetics and biology on the development of the human personality.

Behaviorists believe you are born with your mind as a blank slate and you learn all your behavior from your environment.Therefore, therapy focuses onunlearningunproductive behaviors. Behaviorists posit any symptoms of apsychological disorderare the result of classical and operant conditioning.

Tabula rasa is also a principle that underlies several different therapeutic techniques. Such techniques suggest that people are born with a blank slate that is then changed through learning experiences. Therapy then focuses on changing these learned beliefs or behaviors.

For example, tabula rasa suggests that people are blank slates, but a terrifying experience as a child may lead to developing a specific phobia. Therapy would then focus on changing these associations and developing new coping strategies, beliefs, and behaviors.

Exposure Therapy

Systematic Desensitization

Systematic desensitizationis a type of exposure therapy that is an effective treatment forspecific phobia(a fear of a specific object or situation) and social phobia (social anxiety disorder). The tabula rasa theory suggests that phobia is a learned behavior you impose on your blank slate.Therefore, you can unlearn your feelings of anxiety.

The therapist helps you learn to relax in what is referred to as your “target situation.” After reaching a state of deep relaxation, you vividly imagine or interact with your target situation repeatedly over time.

Eventually, you learn not to react, which allows you to feel more comfortable and confident the next time you face your fear.

A 2019 review inFrontiers in Psychologyfound thatvirtual reality exposure therapyis as effective as the non-virtual kind and anticipates that it might one day be considered more effective with further advances in technology.

Behavioral Rehearsal

Flooding

For example, therapy might involve sitting in a closet for several hours if you are claustrophobic. 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.

Aversion Therapy

Aversion therapyis helpful in cases where you have an attraction to bad habits and behaviors, and despite the pleasure it brings you, both you and your therapist acknowledge it’s anundesirable trait.

Tabula rasa suggests that you were born with a blank slate but learned a destructive behavior. Aversion therapy may help change your associations and avoid these maladaptive behaviors.

For example, aversion therapy may help a person with analcohol use disorder (AUD)overcome their addiction. The therapist helps them associate their undesirable behavior with a highly unpleasant stimulus. The therapist might ask the individual to sip an alcoholic drink after they have taken a medication to induce nausea. After vomiting, the hope is the smell of alcohol will trigger this new and unpleasant memory, causing them to skip the alcohol next time.

Skills Training

For some people, phobias develop as a result of not having the appropriate skills to handle certain situations.Cognitive behavioral therapyskills training can take the form of direct instruction or role-playing.

For instance, the therapist might pretend to be an interviewer for a job, and you would pretend to be interviewing for the job. The idea is that you’d have learned some skills to implement during a real job interview.

How Behavioral Therapy Works

Not everyone agrees that people are born with a completely blank slate. While behaviorism suggests that learning and experience play a primary role in learning, other theories have stressed the contribution of genetic and biological factors.

For example, while learning may play an important role in developing phobias, other factors, including inherited genes, temperament/personality traits, and brain differences, can create a predisposition for the development of phobias. Research has shown that people who have relatives with phobias or other types of anxiety disorders are at a higher risk of developing similar conditions.

People with anxious personality traits may also be more likely to form fear generalizations, increasing their vulnerability to anxiety disorders.

RecapAs the idea of tabula rasa suggests, experience does play an important part in the development of mental disorders. However, factors such as genetics, brain chemistry, brain structure, and temperament also influence behavior and mental health.

Recap

As the idea of tabula rasa suggests, experience does play an important part in the development of mental disorders. However, factors such as genetics, brain chemistry, brain structure, and temperament also influence behavior and mental health.

Final Thoughts

Tabula rasa is a theory of knowledge in psychology that suggests people are born without innate mental content and that all knowledge originates from the external world. This approach played an important role in the development of behaviorism, a school of thought that suggests all human learning stems from experience.

This idea also influenced the development of several different therapy approaches. Such techniques suggest that psychological problems result from learning, so therapy works to modify the acquired information imposed on a person’s blank slate.

History of Behavioral Psychology

5 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Simply Psychology.Learning theories.Stevens TG.Self-desensitization instructions: The most proven method to reduce phobias, anxiety, and fear. California State University.Wechsler TF, Kumpers F, Muhlberger A.Inferiority or even superiority of virtual reality exposure therapy in phobias?— A systematic review and quantitative meta-analysis on randomized controlled trials specifically comparing the efficacy of virtual reality exposure to gold standardin vivoexposure in agoraphobia, specific phobia, and social phobia.Front Psychol. 2019;10:1758. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01758Loken EK, Hettema JM, Aggen SH, Kendler KS.The structure of genetic and environmental risk factors for fears and phobias.Psychol Med. 2014;44(11):2375-2384. doi:10.1017/S0033291713003012Sep MSC, Steenmeijer A, Kennis M.The relation between anxious personality traits and fear generalization in healthy subjects: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 2019;107:320-328. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.09.029

5 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Simply Psychology.Learning theories.Stevens TG.Self-desensitization instructions: The most proven method to reduce phobias, anxiety, and fear. California State University.Wechsler TF, Kumpers F, Muhlberger A.Inferiority or even superiority of virtual reality exposure therapy in phobias?— A systematic review and quantitative meta-analysis on randomized controlled trials specifically comparing the efficacy of virtual reality exposure to gold standardin vivoexposure in agoraphobia, specific phobia, and social phobia.Front Psychol. 2019;10:1758. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01758Loken EK, Hettema JM, Aggen SH, Kendler KS.The structure of genetic and environmental risk factors for fears and phobias.Psychol Med. 2014;44(11):2375-2384. doi:10.1017/S0033291713003012Sep MSC, Steenmeijer A, Kennis M.The relation between anxious personality traits and fear generalization in healthy subjects: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 2019;107:320-328. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.09.029

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Simply Psychology.Learning theories.Stevens TG.Self-desensitization instructions: The most proven method to reduce phobias, anxiety, and fear. California State University.Wechsler TF, Kumpers F, Muhlberger A.Inferiority or even superiority of virtual reality exposure therapy in phobias?— A systematic review and quantitative meta-analysis on randomized controlled trials specifically comparing the efficacy of virtual reality exposure to gold standardin vivoexposure in agoraphobia, specific phobia, and social phobia.Front Psychol. 2019;10:1758. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01758Loken EK, Hettema JM, Aggen SH, Kendler KS.The structure of genetic and environmental risk factors for fears and phobias.Psychol Med. 2014;44(11):2375-2384. doi:10.1017/S0033291713003012Sep MSC, Steenmeijer A, Kennis M.The relation between anxious personality traits and fear generalization in healthy subjects: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 2019;107:320-328. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.09.029

Simply Psychology.Learning theories.

Stevens TG.Self-desensitization instructions: The most proven method to reduce phobias, anxiety, and fear. California State University.

Wechsler TF, Kumpers F, Muhlberger A.Inferiority or even superiority of virtual reality exposure therapy in phobias?— A systematic review and quantitative meta-analysis on randomized controlled trials specifically comparing the efficacy of virtual reality exposure to gold standardin vivoexposure in agoraphobia, specific phobia, and social phobia.Front Psychol. 2019;10:1758. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01758

Loken EK, Hettema JM, Aggen SH, Kendler KS.The structure of genetic and environmental risk factors for fears and phobias.Psychol Med. 2014;44(11):2375-2384. doi:10.1017/S0033291713003012

Sep MSC, Steenmeijer A, Kennis M.The relation between anxious personality traits and fear generalization in healthy subjects: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 2019;107:320-328. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.09.029

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