Empirical experience is a concept that is not only characteristic of psychology, but also for other areas of life. In this article you will find out what it is, and most importantly, why this phrase is not the most correct. If you are interested in what is an empirical experience, an empirical method, and so on, then this article is for you.
What does empirical mean?
To begin with, empirical experience is a kind of tautology, which is sometimes allowed to be used. The fact is that “empirical” means “knowable by experience”. Accordingly, it would be more correct to use the phrase “empirical method”, rather than “empirical experience”. However, this does not change the essence - if we are talking about something empirical, it means that something is learned empirically, and not through the study of other people's conclusions, for example, by reading books, encyclopedias, watching educational programs and so on.
Learning through experience
The empirical method is a learning method in which information comes exclusively through independent direct study of the subject of interest. Simply put, the essence of this method is to try to do something on your own, the expression "trial and error" is often used. Most often, such a method does not imply the participation of any teacher or mentor in the process, that is, a person must himself study a topic of interest to him, an object of interest to him, and so on.
However, in some cases it is useful when another person is involved in the process, who can help you analyze the experience gained empirically. If training in accordance with this method is competently built and planned, then it can give incredible results. However, there is a second side to the coin - if the training is not organized correctly through experience, you can make frequent mistakes that will discourage you from further study. Accordingly, this method is not as simple as it is imagined by many.
Empirical knowledge
If we talk about the empirical method, then we can not but mention empirical knowledge. This is the term used to describe the rational knowledge of the lower level, that is, what a person has tested on his own experience, but has not yet been able to analyze. It is with empirical knowledge that the construction of human knowledge begins. First, he learns something through experience, and then begins to analyze, rationalize, invent ways of use, and so on. However, it is empirical knowledge that is the lowest level from which it all begins.
Use in psychology
Naturally, one should not forget that empirical experience in psychology is also described. In the framework of this science, empiricism as such is characterized by the question of the fact that the value of cognition of a person is closely dependent on what experience concrete knowledge has come from. It is believed that the data obtained through the empirical method are reliable, because the source is direct experience. However, one should not think that it is necessary to confine oneself exclusively to the empirical method in cognition - other approaches are also very important and play a role in the formation of full-fledged human cognition.
As a matter of fact, it is precisely in psychology that empirical knowledge is opposed to theoretical, the essence of which is to obtain information not through experience, but through literature, stories, audio and video recordings, as well as all sorts of other sources from which you can get ready-made information that does not require study empirically, because someone had already done this before.