ao1 determinism Flashcards
what is determinism?
The belief that behaviour is controlled by external or internal factors
acting upon the individual and beyond their control.
what is biological determinism? and examples
- behaviour is always caused by internal biological forces beyond our control
- genes which affect brain structure and neurotransmitter
production (i.e. serotonin and dopamine) may also determine our behaviour
what is environmental determinism?
- The belief that behaviour is caused by previous experience
through classical and operant conditioning - e.g. phobias are a result of conditioning, as demonstrated by Watson’s study on Little Albert and Skinner’s Box
- socialisation = teachers and parents
what is psychic determination?
- Freud’s theory suggests that adult behaviour is determined by a mix of innate drives and early experience. These result in unconscious conflicts over which we have no control
- e.g. Freud’s psychosexual stages of the development suggests that each stage is characterised by a conflict which, if unresolved, leads to fixation in adulthood
what is hard determinism?
- The view that all behaviour can be predicted, according to the action of internal and external forces beyond our control, and so there can be no free will.
what is soft determinism?
A version of determinism that allows for some element of free will
and suggests that all events, including human behaviour, has a cause.
the importance of scientific research
scientific research is based on the belief that all events have a cause. An independent variable is manipulated to have an effect on the dependent variable. Repeating the research under controlled conditions (e.g. using a laboratory experiment) and performing statistical tests, a ‘cause and effect relationship can be established between two variables. This increases the scientific credibility of Psychology, by enabling the prediction and control of behaviour.
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