free will and determinism

Question 1

hard determinism claims that

Answer 1

all behaviour has a cause and can be predicted

Question 2

soft determinism believes that whilst

Answer 2

most behaviour can be predicted there is also an element of free will in making conscious decisions

Question 3

biological determinism claims that all behaviour is

Answer 3

biologically determined through internal forces such as genes , hormones and evolutionary adaptations ie OCD is caused by certain genes

Question 4

environmental determinism claims that all behaviour is

Answer 4

environmentally determined by external forces such as our experiences and classical and operant conditioning ie phobias

Question 5

psychic determinism clams that all behaviour is determined by the

Answer 5

unconscious which is made up of innate drives and childhood experiences , it is beyond our control as we are unaware of it

Question 6

humanistic psychology identifies that humans have free will we are

Answer 6

’ self determining ‘ and control over behaviour .
internal and external forces may exert influence but we are not controlled by these forces .
free will is needed for personal growth because it means we take personal repsonisbility

Question 7

a principle of science is that every event has a cause , we use the principle of cause and effect in experimentation aiming to control and predict human behaviour for example

Answer 7

social support will lower conformity

Question 8

strength and weakness
studies comparing the concordance rates of MZ and DZ twins provide evidence for biological determinism , as MZ (ie depression MZ 45.6% , DZ 20.2%)have high concordance rates suggesting that there is a biological component to psychological traits , however

Answer 8

concordance rates are never 100%v which suggests behaviour is not purely biologically determined

Question 9

a weakness is that determinism may apply accurately to animals such as in mating behaviour but

Answer 9

human behaviour is more complex and involves higher cognitive factors which can override biological impulses

Question 10

another weakness is that the law rejects hard determinism and instead assumes free will for example

Answer 10

Stephen Mobleys defence that he was biologically determined to murder , due to inherited agressive tendencies , was rejected

Question 11

another weakness is that researchers are often against free will, researchers asked ps to make a choice about wether to use their left or right hand to press a button , they found

Answer 11

activity in the motor area of the brain before the person consciously chose which hand to move
suggests that our brain determines actions before were aware of them

Question 12

a strength and weakness is the interactionist approach , SLT identifies that behaviour is largely determined by imitating significant role models and vicarious reinforcements , however

Answer 12

there are also meditational process involved suggesting an element of free will in behaviour