Free Will V Determinism In Psychology Flashcards
Free will
The notion of free will suggests that as human beings we are essentially self-determining and free to choose our thoughts and actions. A belief in free will does not deny that there may be biological and environmental forces that exert some influence on our behaviour, but nevertheless implies that we are able to reject these forces as the masters (mistresses) of our own destiny. In other words, the term free will is when we choose our own actions and behaviours and thoughts.
This is a view of human behaviour that is advocated by the humanistic approach. For example, Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers argued that self-determination was a necessary part of human behaviour. Without it, healthy self development and self actualisation are not possible.
Example of free will
Another example of free will is the basis of moral responsibility - this is when an individual is in charge of their own actions, i.e. can exercise free will. The law states that children and those who are mentally ill do not have this responsibility, but otherwise there is the assumption, in our society, that ‘normal’ adult behaviour is self-determined. In other words, that humans are accountable for their actions, regardless of innate factors of the influences of early experience.
Determinism
is the general idea that our traits and behaviours are outside of our control, due to internal or external factors over which we have no control. Therefore it proposes that free will has no place in explaining behaviour.
Two main types of determinism
Hard determinism & soft determinism
Hard determinism
sometimes referred to as fatalism, suggests that all human behaviour has a cause, and, in principle, it should be possible to identify and describe these causes. Such a position is compatible with the aims of science – to uncover the causal laws that govern thought and action – and always assumes that everything we think and so is dictated by internal or external forces that we cannot control.
Soft determinism
the philosopher William James (1890) was the first to put forward the notion of soft determinism – which is the idea that behaviour/actions/traits are to an extent governed/dictated by internal/external forces, despite this, we still have some element of control over/some free will to control our behaviour/actions/traits. This was a position that later became an important feature of the cognitive approach. (For example, cognitive psychologists acknowledge that although we may have some schemas that are inborn, it is a environmental experiences that determine our knowledge and we have choice over how our knowledge is developed.)
Whilst acknowledging that all human action has a cause, soft determinists also suggest that people have conscious mental control over the way they behave. James thought that whilst it may be the job of scientists to explain the many determining forces that act upon us, we have the freedom to make rational conscious choices every day.
Three types of hard determinism
Environmental, biological and psychic
Biological determinism
the biological approach emphasises the role of biological determinism in behaviour. There is no doubt that many of our physiological and neurological processes are not under our conscious control – such as the influence of the autonomic nervous system during periods of stress and anxiety. In addition, lots of behaviours and characteristics such as mental disorders are thought to have a genetic basis and research has demonstrated the effects of hormones – such as the role of testosterone in aggressive behaviour. Modern bio-psychologists would also recognise the mediating influence of the environment on our biological structure (nature-nurture debate) but this simply means that we are doubly determined in ways that we cannot control.
Environmental determinism
BF Skinner famously described free will as an ‘illusion’ and argued that all behaviour is the result of conditioning. Our experience of ‘choice’ is merely the sum total of reinforcement contingencies that have acted upon us throughout our lives. Although we might think we are acting independently, our behaviour has been shaped by environmental events, as well as agents of socialisation – parents, teachers, institutions, etc
Psychic determinism
Sigmund Freud, like Skinner, agreed that free will is an ‘illusion’ but placed much more emphasis on the influence of biological drives and instincts than the Behaviourists. His particular brand of determinism sees human behaviour as determined and directed by unconscious conflicts, repressed in childhood. There is no such thing as an accident, according to Freud, and even something as seemingly random and harmless as a ‘slip of the tongue’ can be explained by the underlying authority of the unconscious.
Scientific emphasis on casual explanations
One of the basic principles of science is that every event in the universe has a cause and that causes can be explained using general laws. Knowledge of causes and the formulation of laws are important as they allow scientists to predict and control events in the future. Hence in psychology, the lab experiment enables researchers to study the effects of the independent variable (IV) ‘the cause’ on the dependent variable (DV) ‘the effect’ and remove all other extraneous variables in an attempt to precisely predict and control human behaviour. In other words, if we are studying the effects of leading questions on EWT in memory, the IV is whether the type of verbs used has an effect on the participants speed estimates – which is the DV.
Advantages of free will
One strength of free will is the idea that everyday experiences ‘ give the impression’ that we are constantly exercising free will through the choices we make – this gives face validity to the concept of free will. For example it makes sense when we say ‘I woke up this morning and chose to eat Weetabix for breakfast’
Furthermore, research suggests that people who have an internal locus of control, believing that they have a high degree of influence over their own behaviour, tend to be more mentally healthy – this suggests that the concept of locus of control exercises free will. According to psychologist Julian Rotter, those individuals who possess an internal locus of control believe that they can change their behaviour – this was found in social influence research where those individuals who had a high internal locus of control score, were more likely to resist social influence suggesting they used their own free will as they did not follow the crowd and show conformity or obedience but rather resisted it.
Another strength of free will is its application to the legal system – legally all citizens are responsible for their actions at the age of 10 onwards. This suggests that we all have free will and are responsible and chose to be criminals which makes sense as if this was not the case then criminals would roam around free in society as they have no control or choice over their behaviour. Thankfully this is not the case as the concept of free will comes into play for criminals.
Disadvantages of free will
One weakness of free will is that neurological studies of decision making have revealed evidence against free will – and slightly disturbing evidence of that! Studies by Chun Siong Soon et al (2008), have demonstrated that the brain activity that outcomes the outcome of simple choices may occur earlier than our knowledge of actually making that choice. In their study, the researchers found that the activity related to whether to press a button with the left or right hand occurs in the brain up to 10 seconds before participants report being consciously aware of making such a decision. This suggests that our decisions are determined before we even make them supporting a strong argument against free will.
Advantages of determinism
One strength of determinism is that it is consistent with the aims of science. The notion that human behaviour is orderly and obeys laws makes psychology more respected and scientific as a discipline. For example, biological determinism means that our behaviour is determined by our biology and this is consistent with the biological approach which argues this. Moreover, most biological abnormalities can be proven through brain and body scans. Similarly environmental determinism can be seen through the behavioural approach which suggests that our environment controls out behaviour as seen in classical and operant conditioning through Pavlov’s and Skinners research.
Another strength of determinism is the value of schizophrenic research for example has led to drug treatment helping to control and manage schizophrenic symptoms. Since schizophrenic patients show loss of control over their thoughts, surely they cannot be exercising any free will and the fact that their symptom such as hallucinations and delusions can be controlled by anti-pychotic drugs suggests that biological determinism is at work here.
Disadvantages of determinism
One limitation of the hard determinism stance – that all our behaviour is caused by internal or external forces and thus we have no control – is not consistent with the way in which our legal system operates. In a court of law, offenders are held morally accountable for their actions. This is a weakness of determinism since this argument suggests that we have no choice or control over our behaviour so how can we choose to be criminals? However, we also must bear in mind that evidence has suggested that there may be a genetic link to aggression in men – the MAOA gene which suggests that males who possess this gene are more likely to be aggressive and more likely to engage in criminal behaviour – this suggests that we should be cautious in the argument of free will since the MAOA gene is an example of determinism as we don’t choose our genetic makeup!
Another limitation of determinism is that this approach is not always falsifiable – it is based on the idea that causes of behaviour exist, even though they have not yet been found. Yet it is difficult to prove wrong as a principle – suggesting that the deterministic approach may not be as scientific as it seems. For example, it has been suggested that the causes of OCD may be due to the SERT and COMT gene, however, individuals who don’t possess these genes may still have OCD therefore we can argue that the cause of OCD is not always genes and could be factors that we are not yet aware of.
