FREE WILL VS DETERMINISM Flashcards
Determinism
belief that behaviour is controlled by external or internal; factors acting upon the individual which are beyond their control.
casual explanations
psychology as a scientific study of brain provides casual explanations that behavioirs are set by forces outside of loour control.
testing causal explanations
validated through scientific method which involves testing the hypothesis under controlled conditions where independent variable is altered and measurement of change is done in dependent variable. if the results are significantly consistent under controlled conditions then a casual relationship can be established.
hard determinism
personality traits and behaviours are set by forces outside of our control.
- all behaviours can be predicted and there is no free will.
soft determinism
traits and behaviours to an extent are dictated by external and internal forces however we do have some free will over our behaviour through conscious thought processes.
- suggests all events including human behaviour has a cause.
free will
each individual has toe power to make choices about their behaviour.
biological determinism
- view that behaviour is always caused by internal biological forces beyond our control such as the influence of genes.
- research on intelligence has identified a particular gene in people with a higher intelligence such as the IGF2R gene ( hill et al, 1999).
- the genes that affect the brain structure and production of neuro transmitter may also affect our behaviours, CDH 13 gene being candidate gene for criminality.
environmental determinism
- belief that behaviours is caused through previous experience by classical and operant conditioning
- phobias are a result of conditioning as demonstrated by watson and skinner ( operant conditioning determining beaviour of the rat)
- external forces, which we have no control upon.
psychic determinism
- freuds theory of personality suggests that behaviours is determined by our innate drives and early experiences, resulting in unconscious conflicts over which we have no control.
- freuds psychosexual stages of development suggests that each stage is characterised by a conflict which if unresolved results in a fixation in adulthood.
free will
each individual has the power to make choices about their own behaviour without the control of any internal or external factors. the humanistic approach.
hard determinism
- view that all behaviour can be predicted according to the action of internal and external forces so there is no free will.
example : behavioursim sees behaviour as a productbof classical and operant conditioning
biological approach sees behaviour as a product of genes and neuro chemistry.
importance of scientific behaviour
- based on belief that all events have a cause.
- independebt variable is manipulated by the researcher to see an effect on the dependent variable.
- repeating research under controlled conditions and performing a statistical test , cause and effect relationship can be established between two variables.
- increases scientific creditability of behaviour.
approaches which are hard determinism
- biological approach, behavioural approach
approaches which are soft determinism
cognitive approach, and social learning theory, psychodynamic
free will approach
humanistic
evaluations of determinism ( + )
- by assuming scientific principle of cause and effect applies to human behaviour, psychologists have predicted and influenced behaviour.
- valuable in biological approach as some symptoms of mental illness are linked with neuro transmitters imbalance which has succesfully led to the development of drugs which helps to to correct these imbalanced allowing them to live a normal life.
limitations of determinism
- 100% genetic determinism is unlikely to be found for any behaviour
example : studies comparing monozygotic twins shows that, 80% similarity has been found for intelligence and 40% similarity has been found for depression which thus suggests that genes do not entirely determine a behaviour and takes an interactionist approach. - determinism simplifies human behaviours
human behaviour is less rigid and can be influenced by many other factors such as the cognitive factors.
example : aggression can not only be simplified through endocrine system and adrenaline , there are cognitive factors playing an equally important role.
free will and humanistic approach
humanistic psychologists argue that self determinism is a necessary part of humna behaviour.
rogers ( 1959) claims that as long as individuals remain controlled by other people or things, they cannot take responsibility for their own behaviour. unless people start taking self responsibilty, self actualisation is not possible.
strenghts of free will
- has good face validity
because in everyday scenario we choose our own decisions , we appear to have free will in our day to day lives.
robert et al found that adolescents with high internal locus of control were less likely to develop depression and have a bteer mental health compared to those with external locus of control.
- supports the idea that free will can be used to determine what controls our daily life so we make conscious decisions.
limitations of free will
- as suggested by behaviourist approach, person may choose to do something but these behaviour are already determined by reinforcement contingencies
- chunnsoon et al found an activity in the pre frontal complex 10 seconds before the person was aware of their decision to act. suggests that all behaviour is previously determined.
