Free Will and Determinsim

Question 1

What is the free will and determinism debate?

Answer 1

Revolves around the extent to which our behaviour is the result of forces over which we have no control or whether people are able to decide for themselves whether to act or behave in a certain way

Question 2

What is the scientific emphasis on causal explanations ?

Answer 2

Everything has a cause and these causes can be explained by general laws. This knowledge allows us to predict events hence a psychologists can simulate a test and remove all extraneous variables

Question 3

What is free will?

Answer 3

It suggests that we all have a choice and can control and choose our own behaviour. This approach is about personal responsibility and plays a central role in humanist psychology

Question 4

What do psychologists that take the free will approach suggest?

Answer 4

That determinism removes freedom and dignity and devalues human behaviour

Question 5

What supports the idea of free will but to a lesser degree?

Answer 5

Cognitive psychology

Question 6

What is the reality of free will?

Answer 6

Although we do have free will we are constrained by our circumstances and other people e.g. when you go shopping your choices are constrained by how much money you have

Question 7

What are the strengths of the free will side of the debate?

Answer 7

It emphasises the importance of the individual and studying individual differences
It fits society’s view of personal responsibility
The idea of self-efficacy is useful in therapies as it makes them more effective

Question 8

What are the limitations of the free will side of the debate?

Answer 8

It is subjective and some argue it doesn’t exist
It is impossible to scientifically test the concept
Few people would agree that behaviour is always completely under the control of the individual

Question 9

What is the determinist approach?

Answer 9

Proposes that all behaviour is determined and thus predictable
Some approaches in psychology see the source of this determinism as being outside the individual, known as environmental determinism , others see it as coming from inside, biological determinism

Question 10

What is environmental (external)determinism?

Answer 10

The idea that our behaviour is caused by some sort of outside influence e.g. parental influence

Question 11

What did Skinner argue about free will?

Answer 11

That freedom/freewill is an illusion - we may think we have free will but the probability of any behaviour occurring is determined by past experiences/reinforcement

Question 12

What is biological (internal) determinism?

Answer 12

Our biological systems, such as the nervous system govern behaviour e.g. a high IQ may be related to the IGF2R gene

Question 13

What is psychic (internal) determinism?

Answer 13

Freud believed childhood experiences and unconscious motivations governed behaviour
He thought that free will was an illusion because he felt that the causes of our behaviour in unconscious and still predictable

Question 14

What is hard determinism?

Answer 14

Hard determinism sees free will as an illusion and believes that every event and action has a cause

Question 15

What is soft determinism?

Answer 15

Represents a middle ground - people do have a choice but that choice is constrained by external factors e.g. being poor doesn’t make you steal but it may make you more likely to take that route through desperation

Question 16

What are the strengths of determinism?

Answer 16

It is scientific and allows cause and effect relationships to be established
It gives plausible explanations for behaviour backed up by evidence

Question 17

What are limitations of determinism?

Answer 17

It is reductionist
It doesn’t account for individual differences. By creating general laws of behaviour, deterministic psychology underestimates the uniqueness of humans and their freedom to choose their own destiny

Question 18

What is a weakness of hard determinism?

Answer 18

Hard determinism suggests criminals cannot be held accountable for their actions. Deterministic explanations for behaviour reduce individual responsibility
Criminals therefore may argue their actions were due o their upbringing (were determined)

Question 19

What is the relationship between free will and the law?

Answer 19

Determinism is incompatible with out notions of legal responsibility, that criminals are held personally and morally accountable
Only in extreme circumstances are juries instructed to consider diminished responsibility e.g. mental illness, self defence
However there are circumstances where biological determinism is used e.g. Stephen Mobley