Issues And Debates: Free Will And Determinism

Question 1

What Is The Definition Of Free Will?

Answer 1

• The notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external forces.

Question 2

How Does The Humanistic Approach Link To Free Will?

Answer 2

• Only approach which accepts that people have free will and are self-determining.

Question 3

What Is Determinism?

Answer 3

• The view that an individual’s behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces.
• No notion of free will.

Question 4

What Is The Difference Between Hard And Soft Determinism?

Answer 4

• Hard determinism implies that free will is not possible as our behaviour is always caused by internal or external factors beyond our control. (No Free Will)
• Whereas soft determinism argues that all human behaviour has a cause but behaviour can be determined by our conscious choice. (Some Free Will)

Question 5

What Is Biological Determinism?

Answer 5

The belief that behaviour is caused by biological influences that we cannot control.
- E.g. Schizophrenia is caused by high levels of dopamine.

Question 6

What Is Environmental Determinism?

Answer 6

• The belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment that we cannot control.
• E.g. Behaviourist’s explanation of phobias.

Question 7

What Is Psychic Determinism?

Answer 7

• The belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control.
• E.g. Psychodynamic Approach, Oedipus and Electra complexes.

Question 8

Scientific Emphasis On Causal Explanations.

Answer 8

• Science aims to find the cause of things.
• It is based on the principle that every event has a cause which can be explained using general laws.
• This means that science is deterministic.
• Psychology wants to be a science so it too has to employ scientific method, therefore psychology would also be considered deterministic.

Question 9

Evaluation: Supporting Determinism.

Answer 9

• Determinism is consistent with the aims of science.
• The hard determinist view says that human behaviour is orderly and obey laws.
• Psychology is therefore placed on an equal footing with other more established sciences.
• This view means that human behaviour can be predicted and controlled which has led to the development of treatments, therapies and behavioural interventions that have benefitted many.

Question 10

Evaluation: Criticising Determinism.

Answer 10

• One limitation of determinism is the position of the legal system on responsibility.
• In a court of law, offenders are held responsible for their actions.
• The suggestion is usually that the defendant exercised free will in committing the crime.
• This suggests that in the real world, determinist arguments do not work.

Question 11

Evaluation: Supporting Free Will.

Answer 11

• Everyday experiences gives the impression that we are constantly exercising free will.
• The choices that we make on any given day are believed to be made by ourselves.
• This gives face validity to the concept of free will.
• Research suggests that those who have an internal locus of control tend to be more mentally healthy, suggesting that even thinking that we have free, even though we may not, may have a positive impact on behaviour.

Question 12

Evaluation: Criticising Free Will.

Answer 12

• Brain scan evidence does not support the concept of free will.
• Libet instructed participants to choose a random moment to flick their wrist while he measured activity in their brain.
• Participants had to say when they felt the conscious will to move.
• Found that the unconscious brain activity leading up to the conscious decision to move came around 1/2 a sec before the participant consciously felt they had decided to move.
• This may be interpreted that even our most basic experience of free will are actually determined by our brain before we are aware of them.

Question 13

Evaluation: Middle Ground.

Answer 13

• Approaches which adopt a soft determinism point of view may be more appropriate in explaining behaviour.
• For example, SLT says that although environmental factors are key in learning, we are free to choose who or what to attend and when to perform certain behaviours.
• This suggest that an interactionist approach may provide us with the best compromise in the free-will determinism debate.