5.3. Free Will Vs Determinism Flashcards
1
Q
What is determinism?
A
An individual’s behaviour is controlled by either internal or external forces -> behaviour is predictable
2
Q
What is free will?
A
Individuals have an active role in controlling their behaviour, they are free to choose and not acting in response to any external or internal pressures.
3
Q
What is biological determinism?
A
- A lot of research on human genomes is proving that our behaviours are determined by our genes.
- I.e. research on intelligence has identified particular genes found in people with high intelligence, such as IGF2R gene.
- Genes influence brain structure and neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine that are often implicated in behaviour.
4
Q
What is environmental determinism?
A
- Behaviourists believe all behaviour is determined by previous experiences, through operant and classical conditioning
- Our experience of ‘choice’ is the sum of reinforcement contingencies that have acted upon us throughout our lives.
- Behaviour is shaped and determined through stimulus response.
5
Q
What is psychic determinism?
A
- Behaviour is determined and directed by unconscious conflicts repressed in childhood.
- Behaviour is driven by the libido, which focuses sequentially on zones such as mouth or anus.
- If a child is overindulged or frustrated during development, the libido remains tied to the relevant erogenous zone and the individual is fixated on that zone.
- The method of obtaining satisfaction that characterises the stage will determine adult personality
6
Q
What is scientific determinism?
A
- All events have a cause and that causes can be explained by general laws
- Knowledge of causes + formulation of laws are important as they allow scientists to predict and control events in the future.
- The laboratory method enable researchers to stimulate the conditions to manipulate an IV to measure the DV and control extraneous variables.
7
Q
What is hard determinism?
A
- Suggests all human action has a cause
- It should be possible to identify the causesW
8
Q
What is soft determinism?
A
Suggests all human action has a cause but people have freedom to make choices with a restricted range of options
9
Q
Free will: humanistic approach
A
- Maslow and Rogers argued that without self-determination, self development and self actualisation aren’t possible.
- Rogers claimed that as long as an individual remains controlled by other people or other things, they cannot take responsibility for their behaviour and therefore cannot begin to change it.
- Things outside a person’s sense of self remain beyond personal control.
- Only when an individual takes self-responsibility is personal growth possible, resulting in psychological health.
10
Q
Free will: moral responsibility
A
- Basis of moral responsibility is that an individual is in charge of their own actions
- Law states children and mentally ill don’t have responsibility but an assumption that normal adult behaviour is self determined
- Humans are accountable for their actions, regardless of innate factors or influence of earlt experience.
11
Q
Free will: causal explanations
A
- Basic principle - every event has a cause and these can be explained by general laws
- Knowledge of laws allow scientists to predict and control events
- Psychologists must: generate a theory and hypothesis whereby cause and effect can be established
- Use empirical methods to test hypothesis
- Apply statistical analysis to see whether prediction is statistically significant
12
Q
Emphasis on causal explanation
A
- Psychologists attempt to use the scientific method by controlling extraneous, confounding variables as far as possible to ascertain the IV has affected the DV.
- Determinism lends itself to using the scientific method, increasing credibility of psychology and allowing predictions to be tested.
13
Q
Free will: paradigm shift
A
- A paradigm is a widely accepted belief or assumption about how behaviour is studied or explained
- An important change in the basic concepts and experimental practices of a scientific discipline
- Changes one way of thinking to another
- Also known as the ‘scientific revolution’
14
Q
Discussion: genetic determinism
A
- Doubtful that 100% genetic determination will ever be found for any behaviour, concordance is never 100%, 80% similarity for IQ and about 40% for depression, therefore genes do not entirely determine behaviour.
– Determinist views imply we can predict behaviour - this is mostly not the case - Biological approach: reduces behaviour down to genetics
- Genes are the explanation for mental health disorders such as sz -> establishes cause and effect and allows for treatments such as antipsychotics to be developed but can cause clinicans and researchers to miss other effective treatments such as CBT by not considering alternative explanations -> reductionist
15
Q
Discussion: environmental determinism
A
- Environment cannot also be the sole determining factor in behaviour as there is some genetic input
- Deterministic views do not account for anomalies or individual diffs
- Behaviourist approach to explain phobiasas it just talks about conditioning the phobia and develops treatments such as SD -> doesn’t take into account biological
