CAUSES OF EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE/UNFAIR MEANS

Education System:

          The education system is the instrument a society uses to equip all its people to lead productive public lives and full personal lives according to their talent and interest. This system must be such that gifted individuals have full opportunity to develop their skills; it must give scope for the training of a leadership group and at the same time provide for the development of all the vocational abilities needed for the creation of a progressive and democratic society.

          The quality of education that we impart to our youth and the priority at which we rate it contribute largely to the formation of the attitudes they carry over into public life.  So whatever kind of seed we sow in the classroom, the manner in which we nurture it and the  strength which it imbibes in its various stages of growth will all determine the harvest that the nation will reap in the form of its educated youth coming out of the schools, colleges and universities. The imprints of these institutions of learning will become indelible marks clearly visible in all fields of our national life; be it a clerk in an office, a soldier in the battle field, a school master in a village school, a University Professor, a bureaucrat running the administration in a seat of power. This great impact of education on the national character is understandable once we recognise both the short term as well as long term power education wields over all who go through its process. Historical evidence proves that nations were made or unmade, battles lost and won, revolution wrought, so much so that entire empires collapsed or emerged due to the educational systems of various peoples of the World. Ancient Greece and Rome at the peak of their political glory were also the seats of learning and a source of intellectual guidance and inspiration for the entire known world, but when intellectual decadence struck, it attacked the very fabric of society and Greece and Rome were no more.

Examination System:

              Examination is the pivotal point around which the whole system of education revolves and the success or failure of the system of examination is indeed an indicator of the success or failure of that particular system of education. It would be pertinent to examine the present system of examination with a view to determine as to whether it actually serves the purposes it purports to serve. The two basic assumptions of any examination worth the name are that (a) it should be valid and (b) it should be reliable. The two are distinct concepts.  An examination is said to be valid if it performs the functions which it is designed to perform.  The concept of reliability, of course, refers to consistency of measurement. In actual fact, the prevailing system of examination and its mode of conduct defy both these assumptions. The system has degenerated to an extent that its validity and reliability are questionable. Examination is no longer regarded as a test for evaluating the performance or judging the scholastic attainment of students. The reason being that there is a complete breakdown of the whole system of examination, almost all over the country, and at all level of education.

              The use of unfair means in examination has assumed a plague some proportion. Barring a few institutions, elsewhere in the country, the educational establishments are experiencing an ever increasing trend towards the use of unfair means in examinations. Such establishments are unable to stop this drive. The concerned governments -- Federal as well as Provincial -- though fully aware of the problem, have failed to take effective steps towards eradicating this evil. The intensity and pervasiveness of this problem can be gauged from the fact that apart from the students, some parents too positively intervene and help and facilitate their children in their cheating adventures. The use of unfair means in examinations in certain areas has indeed become a thriving business for the examination mafia.

What is examination malpractice?

Examination malpractice is defined as a deliberate wrong doing contrary to official examination rules designed to place a candidate at an unfair advantage or disadvantage.

Examination malpractice is any illegal act committed by a student single handedly or in collaboration with others like fellow students, parents, teachers, supervisors, invigilators, printers and anybody or group of people before, during or after examination in order to obtain undeserved marks or grades.

The malpractices that is commonly committed in examination:

Range from leakage of question papers to copying, changing answer books, impersonation, misconduct in examination centre, approaching invigilators/examiners, making false entries in award list/ examination registers and issuing fake certificate/degrees etc.

        Such acts may be broadly categorised as follows

        1-     Allotment of choice examination centre.

        2-     Appointment of choice invigilating staff.

        3-     Leaking information about question papers, identification of invigilating staff and paper setters/examiners.

   4-     Bribing/influencing/terrorising examination staff, invigilators and paper setters/examiners.

      5-     Possessing cheating material (written/printed/electronic device etc) or copying from such material.

        6-     Giving/receiving assistance to copy in examination centre.

        7-     Miss-representation/impersonation.

        8-     Changing/replacing roll numbers and answer books.

        9-     Disclosing candidates' identity in answer books.

      10-    Misconduct, carrying offensive weapons, refusing/resisting the lawful orders of supervisory staff, creating disturbance, instigating other candidates, threatening or assaulting the invigilating staff, impeding the progress of examination, in or outside the examination.

        11-    Smuggling answer books in or outside the examination centre.

        12-    Addition to answer books after examination.

        13-    Manipulating marks through fictitious entries in award list/examination register.

       14-    Sale of examination centre to organised gangs where cheating/unfair means are arranged.

      15-    Helping the candidates to use unfair means in any form and by any one in or outside the examination centre.

        16-    Helping the candidates in viva voce, practical examination.

        17-    Attempting or abetting the commission of any of the afore-said acts.

        18-    Any other act considered dishonest, unfair, corrupt etc. 

Effects of Examination malpractice:

§  Discourage good candidates from studying hard:

Good candidates are tempted to believe ‘if u cannot beat them, join them’ especially as they see other candidates get away with their corrupt behaviors. This   behavior may be contagious as more and more candidates tend to join in examination malpractice. They believe that even if they are caught, they will get away with it and the end will justify the means

·        Denies innocent students’ opportunity for admission:

Many good students have been denied admission by the corrupt ones who through examination malpractice have better scores and grades. The best brains that could help in research and development are likely to be thrown out or frustrated while seeking admission

·        Delays the processing of examination scores and grades:

Every year, many students are caught for engaging in various examinations malpractices which needs to be investigated before results are released. Though some results are withheld pending the determination of the cases, some are decided before results are released. This extends processing time.

·        Dissatisfies candidates:

Candidates who possess certificates they cannot defend are dissatisfied. They have psychological problems arising from the way they acquired their certificates. In some instances, they will not be bold to present the certificates because they can be presented with tasks that will require them to defend the certificates

·        Decreases job efficiency:

This has a serious implication on the gross domestic product of the country. It also has effect on the general quality and standard. Imagine the havoc of a half backed medical doctor could wreck on human lives. What about teachers who cannot competently handle the subject they are trained to teach. There is a chain effect of examination malpractices on the educational system and the society as a whole.

 

Causes of examination malpractices/unfair means:

The malpractices in examination have mainly contributed to the overall deterioration of the standard of education in our country.

The malpractices are commonly committed in examination at the pre-conduct, conduct and evaluation stages.

Different agents are involved and cause examination malpractice.

v Malpractices on the part of BISE

§  Allotment of choice examination centers

§  Appointment of choice invigilating staff

§  Supervisory staff is unfairly selected on the basis of nepotism .They are not devoted to their duties.

§  Poor paper setting: paper setters are mostly untrained and unaware of modern approaches to assessment. The exam papers are hardly representative of the entire curriculum.

§  Scoring of papers: Examiners hardly receive any instructions for scoring the papers, they prefer to check the papers at home and that most markers mark one paper in only 5 to 10 minutes.

§  Low salary level for invigilators and examination officials. They are provided with very low facility.

§  Examination centers are without rules .There is no check who should be allowed and who should not be allowed.

§  Pre planned seating arrangements.

v Parents involvement:

§  Approach invigilating staff

§  Provide bribe and gifts

§  Nepotism also helps them allot

v Material publication:

There are model papers and, guess paper guides available in the market with ready made answers.

v Negligence of invigilators:

Teachers/supervisors are non-vigilant during supervision. They allow mobile, peon, chowkidar, watchman to provide cheating to students.

v High stakes of examination:

§  Students freely commit unfair means by the force of pistol and klashankove

 

 

v Students personal factors:

§  Inadequate preparation and desire to pass at all cost. Poor preparation promotes poor performance.

§  Affected by the previous experiences/ Friends provide them encouragement.

§  Supported by society

§  Supported by parents

§  High parental expectations.

v Lack of school resources:

§  Overcrowded examination centers

§  Not enough space

§  Poor seating arrangement

§  No observational strategies

v Defunct security:

§  Police also provide help and unable to ensure security

§  Law enforcing agencies not dealt with impersonation act etc set the culprit free after taking bribe.

§  Laxity in prosecuting offenders

§  Lack of serious penalty for past offenders.

 

v Teachers role:

·        Gross inadequacy of qualified teachers in our schools

·        Lack of devotion to their profession

·        Unawareness towards teaching learning objectives

·        Not properly trained, no capacity building

·        Not providing moral training to students

The resort to copying and use of other unfair means/ malpractices in examinations is a serious problem. This problem is symptomatic of a disease in our educational system which is eating into the vitals of our society. This malaise is harmful for the moral and intellectual development of our youth. It is afflicting the ethical and social fabric of our society. This state of affairs must not last for long. There is a dire need for taking measures to put an end to this evil. One way of dealing with the problem is to introduce effective and comprehensive legislation, providing for stringent penalties against the use of unfair means in examinations. This step was taken recently in our neighbouring country India, where in the State of U.P., an Act, called the "UP Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 1992 was promulgated to deal with the rising menace of cheating in examinations.

 

Management of  malpractices in examination:

Ø More than one set of question paper in each subject should be generated to create uncertainty as to which paper will be finally used in the examination.

Ø Multiple sets of question paper may also be used to ensure that all the students do not get the same question paper.

Ø Question paper may contain space for answering the question thus eliminating the need for separate answer book.

Ø At present highest attention is paid to the performance of students in the terminal examinations. This induces a tendency of last hour preparation in great hurry leaving no scope for digesting the knowledge. Learning is a continuous process and hence evaluation of learning outcome must be done on a continuous basis.

Ø Give magisterial powers (including right to arrest) to examination board officials.

Ø Conduct frequent and unannounced visits to examination centres.

Ø Conduct a public awareness campaign to highlight the importance of integrity of the examination system.

Ø Not writing names on answer scripts. Writing fictitious roll numbers that will be substituted later with the real candidate’s number.

Ø Adequate sitting arrangement should be provide during exams to discourage cheating.

Ø National and international examination board and organization should share information on new threats to examination security and procedures for counteracting malpractice.

 Subject matter of the Philosophy Of Education

OR

Is There Really a philosophy Of Education?

 Introduction:

  In reality, there is a close Relationship between Philosophy of Education. All education is based on philosophical views. Many Philosophies were also educationists. Education always Remained on important area of Investigation for Philosophers. Let us first define both the fields:

Definition of Philosophy:

Philosophy is a set of, ideas and beliefs about the purpose of man’s life, about the existence of God and about the origin of this surprising world:

Definition of Education:

Education is a Teaching and Learning Process, which aims at an all-Sound Development of an Individuals Personality, that his Moral, Social, Religion, Cultural, Intellectual, Physical and Economic Aspects are Polished and Improved.

From these Definition it is clear that Philosophers are Greatly Interested in the Intellectual, Moral and Social life of Man and Particularly in the education of man. They also Suggest Theories of good life for man. Philosophers have emphasized the Value and Importance of education for the proper Development of man. In their words “ Man becomes a man through education and Training.” Moreover Philosophers Raise many Question with Reference to Education for Example:

Educational Question of Philosophers:

     (a)     What constitutes an Educated Man?

(b)    Is Teaching a Science on an Art?

(c)     What is More Important—content or Method?

(d)    What should be an ultimate aim of education?

(e)     Is it right to prepare an individual for the society?

              The purpose of all these questions is to make educationists and planner to think of a sound system of education. Philosophers also discuss the nature of the aims of education, the kind of the curriculum required, the role of the teacher and pupils and suitable teaching methods. The philosophers provide a guide—line to educationists and policy makes of education. As a result of it educational objectives and of teaching methods.

(1) Aims and objectives of Education:

 Long before, in Greece, great Philosophers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle have emphasized on the education of man of determined the aims and objectives of education. According to Socrates, education is to produce a virtues man. Plato  talked  about  four cardinal   virtues to be  developed through  a process of education ,  these are wisdom , courage , self-control  and justice .For Aristotle , education  aims at the development  of body , mind  and soul.

          These views of philosophers provided a guideline for education and educationists elaborated their ideas and presented a large number of aims and objectives. Educationists have put emphasis on an all-round development of individuals.

 Personality for this Purpose the Following Aims are presented:

 Intellectual aim will sharpen the thinking power.

Moral aim will develop qualities of character.

Physical aim will keep the body healthy.

Social aim will lead to cooperative life.

Religions aim will develop a love for the creature.

Cultural aim will lead to civilization.

Vocational aim will lead to earning a living by fair means.

Citizenship aim will develop national and international understanding.

Aesthetic aim will develop a love for nature and beauty.

Recreational aim will develop a sense of enjoyment in life.

 (2) Curriculum or structure of knowledge:

    Philosophers also discuss the curriculum and the structure of knowledge to be imported for the progress of man.

According to them, the subjects of study should be organized around cognitive functions. It will include sciences, language, literature, maths religion, ethic etc.

Early Greek philosophers talked about seven liberal Arts to be part of curriculum.

It will be based on the study of (I) Astronomy,

(ii) Grammar (iii) Geometry (iv) Logic (v) Mathematics (vi) Music (vii) oratory. (Coral speech) Plato in his books “republic” and “the laws” recommends subjects of study for different stages of man.

 

Stages               Ages                                      Subjects of study

1-            (7   --- 9 years)          Riding, use of bow and arrow.

2-            (10 --- 17 years)        Games, Gymnastics, Reading, Writing, Music, and literature.

3-           (18 --- 20 years)         Number learning and cadetship.

4-          (21 --- 30 years)         Mathematics and science education.

5-           (31 --- 35 years)         Dialectic   (Logic)

6-           (36 --- 50 years)         Philosophy and Politics.

 

 Again the guidelines, for philosophers of Educationists provide the kind of Curriculum Required for the Education of man, explain it in detail. The educationists would determine the curriculum for different levels as per man’s ability, aptitude and interest. They talk about elementary level, secondary level and higher level. At elementary level, subjects of general knowledge would be included, (Math’s, language, history, geography, art+ Science). At secondary level, there will be a division of science subjects, Arts subjects of technical subjects. At higher level, there will be specialization in different fields medicine, engineering, agriculture, teaching, forestry, computer etc.

 3.                 Methods of Teaching:

 The philosophers of from their guidance new educationists discovered methods have also discussed methods of teaching. Philosophers gone great importance to Dialogue or Questioning method. Here, the discussion begins with the raising of questions, thinking on them and discovering the correct answers. Both the teacher of the pupils have to prepare them selves for this four aspects of discussion of dialogue are the following;

 (1)    Exploration, it means finding a exploring the truth by asking many questions.

(2)    Explanation, it means ability to find out facts, collect information and verify the facts

(3)    Inference, it is the ability to do logical  reasoning to study facts of draw inference.

(4)    Prediction, it is the ability to predict the correct answers on the basis of the collection of information of study. New ideas of concepts are presented.

 With the help the guide lines provided by the philosophers, the Educationist have presented many new methods of teaching which would be suitable for different levels. These are the following :

 

1.     Lecture methods will provide factual knowledge.

2.     Discussion method will fetch many new ideas.

3.     Experimental methods will prove the validity of knowledge.

4.     Activity method will involve pupils in learning situation.

5.     Play way methods will develops interest of the students.

6.     Story-teaching method will correct lessons into stories.

4.                 The role of Teachers of Students.

 

The role of teachers and students has bee highlighted by Philosophers. They have put stress on teachers to provide true knowledge and that they should be the maker of democracy of should have professional excellence. They should have a through knowledge of the subject matter of come well prepared to the class. Moreover, the students should not be passive listener. They must join in discussion of raise QS.

          The educationists have benefited from the philosophers and have pointed out many characteristics of good teachers. The chief role of the teacher is to build the character of the students. Teacher should present a practical model of polite speech. Teacher should have a balanced personality. They should be dedicated of devoted to teaching. Teacher must teach with interest and should act as a guide for the students.

          The students must be hardworking. They should be obedient of respectful to the teachers. They should read the lesson before hand so that they can participate in discussion. They should be allowed to express their ideas. 

Psychological Foundation of education Meaning and Historical background of Psychology:
Meaning:
The word ‘Psychology’ comes from the Greek words Psycho-logos. While
 ‘Psycho’ means ‘Soul’ and ‘logos’ means ‘Science’. Thus the meaning of
 
Psychology is the ‘Science of Soul’.
 
                        We know that Psychology as an independent discipline acquired separate status very recently. Formerly it was studies as a sub-branch of philosophy.
 
1) The arm-chair philosophers were interested in the nature of soul.
 
Democritus was the first Greek philosopher who argued that everything is
 
composed of indivisible, unitary material atoms in constant motion. People
 
are constituted of soul atom and body atom. The nature of soul was not
 
defined in definite terms. Therefore his views were opposed by other
 
contemporary philosophers; hence the definition of psychology as a science of
 
soul was given up.
 
2) The philosophers evolved another definition of psychology as the ‘science of mind’. This definition remained in vogue for a long time but the same controversy arose on the nature of mind and ultimately this definition was too discarded by philosophers.
3) we see that a human being engages himself in a number of activities from morning till evening. He is conscious of external environmental influences. Psychology was defined as the science of consciousness or immediate experiences. But later on psychologists rejected this definition too on the ground that consciousness is very negligible portion of our personality. We can not study an individual by observing his conscious activities.
 
            All these definitions were given by philosophers-psychologists prior to the beginning of experimental psychology.
 
4) a great revolution occurred during and after the Renaissance in the field of Psychological thoughts which helped in developing a science of psychology. 

Psychology was brought out from the warfare of mentalistic-mechanistic point of view. It was defined as science of behavior

 Psychology is the ‘Science of Behavior’.

 Meaning of ‘Science’:

           

            Science maybe defined as a systematic body of knowledge which maybe verified at any time by any number of individuals under given conditions.

             Science is engaged in discovering those conditions and factors that determine or cause the occurrence of a particular event using scientific method of experimentation and observation.

            In the same way psychology as a science uses the scientific methods to collect data about individuals and groups to analyze and predict their behavior. We try to find out new truth in psychology. We deal with the observable behavior and establish facts by objective proof or evidences.

            Psychology as a science helps us to understand, control and predict behavior. It uses experimental method, by controlling variable, checking and rechecking findings and stating its results in objective terms which can be verified and understood by any one in a given condition. It is established beyond doubt that psychology is a science but question arises, is it a biological science or behavioral science?

            Psychology as a biological science began with the study of physiology in Germany during later half of nineteenth century. In modern times psychologists are engaged to search biological determinants of motivation, memory, learning and mental disorders. We can draw the conclusion that psychology is biological science.

          Psychology as a behavioral science aims to study the behavior in groups. Human beings are by nature social they live in social situation from birth to death. Their personality is shaped by the interaction of external social environment. In modern psychology we study how society influences the behavior of an individual and vice versa. How individual learns in group. We know that the behavior of an individual is studied in terms of social interaction. Psychology as a social science studies scientifically cultural and social problems of the society. Psychology has successfully collected enormous data on problems of minority groups, group dynamics etc, and has devised measured to solve social problems. Thus we see that psychology is a behavioral science.

 

        Meaning of Behavior:

The term behavior is popularized by J.B Watson, an American psychologist who defined behavior as an action which can be seen and observed in an objective way. The meaning of behavior includes internal and external stimulation both. Behavior is observed and also measured in an objective manner.

 Science can be divided into two broader categories.

1)       Normative science.

2)       Positive science.

 In which category should psychology be included?

          Psychology studies facts and describes ‘what is’. It does not concern with ‘ought to’ as emphasized by Normative sciences like Ethics, logic and philosophy etc. therefore it is quite proper to describe psychology as a Positive science.

 

What kind of positive science is psychology?

 

1.        It is not as perfect as the sciences like physics, mathematics, chemistry etc, is. It is a behavior science which deals with the behavior of organisms.

2.        This behavior is quite dynamic and unexpected. We are not consistent in our behavior. On the other hand, physical reactions which are studied by the natural sciences are always predicted. This makes the study in natural sciences more exact, accurate and objective. Psychology has not yet attained this status of these sciences although it is trying hard to be more objective, exact and accurate. Therefore it is better to name it as developing positive science.

 Definition of Psychology:

 “Psychology is a developing positive science which enables us to study the behavior of a living organism in relation to his environment”.

 The History of Psychology:

 The Roots of Psychology:

       Philosophical Roots of Psychology

      Scientific Roots of Psychology

      The Roots of Psychology:

Psychology’s roots are in philosophy and science. When physiologists of the late nineteenth century began to use scientific methods to study the mind, psychology became an independent scientific discipline. As a science, psychology relies on objective, systematic observation as its primary source of knowledge. Philosophy relies more on reasoning. While philosophers argue about reality, scientists make predictions called hypotheses and test them in the physical world, fully accepting the possibility of being wrong.

The Philosophical roots of Psychology:

           The philosophical roots of psychology reach back to the philosophers of ancient Greece, most notably Plato (427-347 B.C) and Aristotle (384-322 B.C): who were especially interested in the origin of knowledge. Plato, who was renowned for both his physical and mental prowess, excelling as both a soldier and an intellectual, was suspicious of the senses as a source of knowledge. He believed that our senses can deceive us, as in illusions such as the bent appearance of a straight stick that has been partially inserted into a pool of water. Plato also believed that human beings enter the world with an inborn knowledge of reality, a position called nativism. He believed that reasoning provided access to this knowledge, a philosophical approach to knowledge called rationalism. Plato used reason to study a variety of psychological topics, including- dreams, perception and mental illness. Yet, when using reasoning to retrieve supposedly inborn knowledge, even Plato and other philosophers were sometimes wrong. For example, Plato reasoned incorrectly that we see objects because they are illuminated by beams of light emanating from our eyes.

 Though Aristotle accepted the importance of reasoning, he was more willing than Plato to accept sensory experience as a source of knowledge___a philosophical approach called empiricism. But Aristotle, like Plato, reached some erroneous calculations. For example, because the heart seemed more responsive than the brain during emotional experiences, he believed the heart was the site of mental processes. Aristotle contributed to psychology by being one of the first thinker to speculate formally on psychological topics, as indicated by the title of his works, including “On Dreams”, “On Sleep and Sleeplessness”, and “On the Senses and the Sensed”.

 Following the decline of the ancient Greece, the early Christians and Medieval eras were given answers to psychological questions more often by theologian philosophers than by secular philosophers like Plato or Aristotle. The dominant western authority was Saint Augustine (354-430). As a young man, Augustine sowed his wild oats as a flower of epicurean philosophy, which proclaimed, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die”. He pursued the life style until he experienced a religious conversion at age 33_but not before making his famous plea, “lord make me pure, but not right now!”. Augustine wrote of his views concerning memory, emotion, and motivation in the self analysis he conducted in his classic autobiographical work Confessions. He provided insights into the continual battle between our human reason and our animal passions. Though Augustine contemplated about psychological processes, neither he nor his contemporaries used the scientific method to study them (Pratt, 11962)

 During the middle ages, when the Christian west was guided largely by religious dogma and those who dared to conduct empirical studies risked punishment, scientific investigations became almost the sole province of Islamic intellectuals. Perhaps the most noteworthy of these was Abu Ibn Sina (980—1037), better known as Avicenna, who kept alive the teaching of Aristotle. With the reemergence of western intellectual activity in the late Middle Ages scholars who had access to Arabia translations of the Greek philosophers rediscovered Aristotle. But most of these scholars limited their efforts to reconciling Aristotle’s ideas and Christian teachings. One brave exception was the Franciscan friar Roger Bacon (1220—1292). Bacon was influenced by his contact with Arab scientists who stressed the importance of gaining knowledge through the senses. As a consequence, Bacon urged philosophers to favor empiricism over authority.

 With the coming of Renaissance, extending from fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries, western authorities relied less on theology and more on philosophy, once again, to provide answer to psychological questions. The spirit of the Renaissance inspired Rene Descartes (1596—1650), the great French philosopher-mathematician scientist. Descartes had broad interests, including gambling, traveling, and inventing. Among his inventions were wheelchair and a method of dying gray hair.

 Descartes, the first of the modern rationalists, insisted that we should doubt everything unless proved self-evident by our own reasoning. In fact, in his famous statement “I think therefore, I am”, Descartes went to the extreme of using reasoning to prove to his own satisfaction that he existed. Descartes contributed to the modern intellectual outlook, which places skepticism above blind acceptance of dogma put forth by authority that his works were put on its list of banned books.

 Other intellectuals, though favoring empiricism instead of rationalism, joined Descartes in rejecting the authority of theologians to provide answers to scientific questions. Chief among them was the English politician-philosopher-scientist Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626). Bacon inspired the modern scientific attitude that favors skepticism, systematic observation, and verification of claims by independent empirical observations. He was also a founder of applied science, which holds that science should have practical applications. According to Bacon, “to be useless is to be worthless”. But his interest in the application of scientific findings cost him his life. In studying the possible use of refrigeration to preserve food, he experimented by stuffing chickens with ice. This led to a fatal case of pneumonia.

 Following in Francis Bacon’s empiricist footsteps was the English philosopher John Locke (1632-1704).according to Locke (borrowing from Aristotle), each of us is born a black slate_ or tabula rasa_ on which are written the life experiences. We acquire through our senses. While rationalist like Descartes believe our knowledge primarily inborn, empiricists like Locke believe knowledge is acquired primarily through life experiences. Thus, Descartes attributed intellectual abilities chiefly to heredity, and Locke attributed them chiefly to educational experiences. This concern with the relative importance of heredity and life experiences is known as the nature versus nurture controversy. This issue, which is a recurring theme in psychological theory and research, appears throughout this textbook in discussions about a host of topics, including language, intelligence, personality, and psychological disorders.

 A compromise between strict rationalism and strict empiricism was offered by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724—1804). Kant was the ultimate “ivory tower” intellectual. He never married, never traveled more than 50 miles from his home, and maintained a strict scheduled, eating lunch everyday at exactly 1:00p.m. He was so renowned that he had fans from many countries who visited his hometown just to catch a glimpse of him eating lunch. To avoid them, Kant continually had to change restaurants.

 Kant taught that knowledge is the product of inborn mental faculties that organize and interpret sensory input from the physical environment. For example, though the kind of language we speak (whether English or otherwise) depends on experience with your native tongue, your ability to learn a language depends on inborn mechanism. If not, other animals that can hear speech and that have a vocal apparatus would also develop language. Despite studying psychological topics, Kant denied that psychology was a science, assuming that psychology studies the mind. He believed that the mind is not tangible, it can not be observed, manipulated, or measured directly. Moreover, its contents are in a state of flux. This, according to Kant makes it impossible to study the mind objectively.

 Scientific Roots of Psychology

 By the nineteenth century, psychologists were making more progress than philosophers in answering questions about the nature of psychological processes. As a consequence, intellectuals began to look more and more to physiology for guidance. For example, in the mid-nineteenth century, popular belief, based on reasoning, held that nerve impulses travel the length of a nerve as fast as electricity travels along a wire---- that is, almost instantaneously. This claim was contradicted by research conducted by the German physiologist Hermann von Helmholtz (1821—1894), arguably the greatest scientist of the nineteenth century. Helmholtz also made important contributions to our knowledge of vision and hearing, including the ophthalmoscope, which is used to examine the inside of the eye.

 In studying nerve impulses, Helmholtz found that they took a measurable fraction of a second to travel along a nerve. He demonstrated this in experiments on animal and human subjects. In one experiment he had human subjects press a button as soon as they felt a touch on the foot or thigh. A clock recorded their reaction times. Subjects reacted slower to a touch on the foot than a touch on the thigh. Helmholtz attributed this difference in reaction time to the longer distance that the nerve impulse must travel from the foot to the spinal cord and then to the brain. This indicated that nerve impulses are not instantaneously.

 Other physiologists were making important discoveries about brain functions. The leading brain researcher was the French physiologist Pierre Flourens (1794—1867) who studied the effects of damage to specific brain structures on the behavior of animals. For example, he found that damage to the cerebellum, a large structure protruding from the back of the brain, caused motor in-coordination. His fellow Frenchman, Paul Broca (1624-1880), a surgeon and anthropologist, conducted similar research on brain damage in human beings. He found that patients with damage to a region on the left side of the front of the brain would lose their ability to speak.

 In his research, Fechner used a technique called psychophysics which had been invented by his colleague, the German physiologist Ernest Weber (1795—1878). Psychophysics enabled Fechner to quantify the relationship between physical stimulation and mental experience. This accomplishment would have surprised his predecessor Immanuel Kant, who had failed to devise a way to study the mind scientifically. Psychophysics considers questions such as, “How much change in the intensity of a light is necessary for a person to experience a change in its brightness?” and “How much change in the intensity of a sound is necessary for a person to experience a change in its loudness?” Psychophysics contributed to psychology’s maturation from a child of philosophy and science to an independent discipline with its own subject matter. Psychophysics has also had important application during the past century. For example, the scientists who perfected television relied on psychophysics to determine the relationship between the television picture and the viewer’s mental experience of qualities such as color and brightness (Baldwin, 1954)

 Early psychologists were also influenced by the theory of evolution, put forth by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809—1882). Darwin announced his theory in The Origin of Species (Darwin, 1859/1975). Which described the results of research he conducted while studying the plants and animals he encountered during a five-year voyage around the world on the H.M.S. Beagle. Though other thinkers as far back as ancient Greece had proposed the possibility of animals having evolved from common ancestors, Darwin was the first to propose a process that could account for it. According to Darwin, through natural selection physical characteristics that promote the survival of the individual are more likely to be passed down to offspring, because individuals with these characteristics are more likely to live long enough to reproduce.

 Darwin’s theory had its most immediate impact on psychology through the work of his cousin, the English nobleman Sir Francis Galton (1822—1911). Galton was an eminent scientist and a man of many interests. He explored Africa and drew some of the first maps of it; he studies meteorology and invented the concept oh highs, lows, and fronts; and he invented the practice of fingerprinting, which helped Scotland Yard solve crimes. In applying Darwin’s theory of evolution, Galton argued that natural selection could account for the development of human abilities. Moreover, he claimed that individuals with the most highly developed abilities would be most likely to survive. This led him to found the field differential psychology, which studies variations among human beings in intellectual, personality and physical characteristics.

 Differential psychology was introduced to America by the psychologist James Mckeen Cattell (1860—1944), who had studied with Gilton. Cattell coined the term mental test, which he used to describe various tests of vision, hearing and physical skills that he administered to his students at the University of Pennsylvania. Cattell was a leading psychologist of his time. He served as president of the American Psychological Association in 1895 and became the first psychologist to be elected to the National Academy of science. But Cattell fell into disrepute after being fired by Columbia University for opposing American’s entrance into World War 1. This led him to start his own business, The Psychological Corporation, which to this day is active in the development of tests that assess abilities, intelligence, and personality.