Free Will Vs Determinism Flashcards
What is meant by determinism?
D: human behaviour is a a physical event that is caused
Hard= no action or behaviour is free
Soft= people’s behaviour a direct result of environment but to an extent
I: ✔️quantitaive data
✖️ no casual relationship found
A: behaviourist
M: lab experiment
Research that takes the deterministic approach
Biological:
•Bruner: aggression caused by mutation in X-chromosome
•Maguire: memory caused by size of hippocampi
Environmental:
•Bandura: observing aggression causes it
•Pavlov’s dog: association with meat caused salivation
Psychic:
•Freud: internal unconscious processes caused behaviour
•Y&S: maladaptive thoughts caused criminality
Research that takes the free will approach
- MILGRAM?: could decide to take part or not
- WAKEFIELD: students could decide whether to smoke or not
- PILIAVIN: witnesses could decide whether to help or not
- KOHLBERG: can decide whether to accept moral development stage
Strengths of deterministic?
✔️Allows for cause and effect to be established
E.g Milgram: NAZIs performed horrific acts coz under authoritative figure
✔️ Identifying negative causes of behaviour= can be tackled
E.g knowing people respond to authoritative figures
Weaknesses of deterministic?
✖️Inconsistent with society on a legal basis
E.g people held responsible for actions+sent to prison, was it their fault?
✖️ Suggests behaviour is beyond the control of the individual, reductionist?
E.g Milgram: can experimenter be the only cause of PPs behaviour?
Strengths of FW?
✔️ Embraces uniqueness of individuals in society
✔️ Fits with societies views of humans being responsible for their own actions
What is meant by FW in psychology?
D: humans have the choice to make their own decisions
I: ✔️gives insight into people’s opinions
✖️social desirability
A: individual differences
M: self report= gives PPs choice
What is the humanistic approach?
Believes humans are unique and free to plan their own actions and ultimately their own destiny.