Issues and debates: free will vs determinism Flashcards
What is free will?
The notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external forces. It is advocated by the humanistic approach.
What is determinism?
The view that an individual’s behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces rather than an individual’s will to do something.
What is soft determinism?
According to soft determinism, behaviour is constrained by the environment or biological makeup, but only to a certain extent.
What is hard determinism?
Implies that free will is not possible as our behaviour is always caused by internal or external events beyond our control.
What are the 4 main types of determinism?
- Psychic determinism
- Scientific determinism
- Biological determinism
- Environmental determinism
What is psychic determinism?
Determined by unconscious conflicts, biological drives and instincts - psychodynamic approach.
What is scientific determinism?
Emphasises causal relationships in creating general laws and rigorous tests to allow events to be controlled and predicted.
What is biological determinism?
Behaviours influenced by physiological and neurological processes that cannot be controlled - biological approach - doubly-determined when influenced by environmental factors e.g. diathesis-stress model.
What is environmental determinism?
Shaped by environmental factors and agents of socialisation, such as teachers and parents - social learning theory and behaviourist approach. Skinner F described free will as an illusion and argued behaviour is the result of conditioning.
A03: Free will vs determinism
- For free will
- Against free will
- For determinism
- Against determinism
A03: For free will
There is face validity in support of the concept that everybody holds free will. For example, everyday experiences ‘gives the impression’ that we are constantly exercising free will through our choices on any given day. Furthermore, research suggests that people who have an internal locus of control (internal Locus of Control an individual feels that they are completely responsible for their behaviours and actions), tend to be more mentally healthy. In contrast, Roberts (2000) demonstrated that adolescents who believed in fatalism (believed that their lives were decided by events outside of their control) were at significantly greater risk of developing depression.
A03: Against free will
For example, Libet (1985) and Siong Soon (2008) have demonstrated that the brain activity that determines the outcome of simple choices may predate our knowledge of having made such a choice. The researchers found that the activity related to whether or not to press a button with the right or left hand occurs in the brain up to 10 seconds before participants report being consciously aware of making such a decision. This goes against the idea of free will because it suggests that elements of our biology are already being drafted into our decision-making before we are even consciously aware of our decision or choice.
A03: For determinism
The notion that human behaviour is orderly and obeys laws places psychology on equal footing with other more established sciences. The value of this research is the prediction and control of behaviour have led to the development of treatments, therapies and behavioural interventions.
The experience of mental disorders like schizophrenia where sufferers experience a total loss of control over their thoughts and behaviour casts doubts over the notion of free will no one would choose to have schizophrenia. This suggests that at least in terms of mental illness, the behaviour would appear to be determined.
A03: Against determinism
In terms of hard determinism and the idea that individual choice is not the cause of the behaviour is not consistent with the way the legal system in the UK operates. For example, in a court of law, offenders are held morally accountable for their actions very few individuals would represent themselves in a court of law by trying to appeal to a judge or jury that their offence was biologically, environmentally of psychically determined. This goes against a deterministic approach because it suggests that we are in control of our own behaviours and that free will can override any ‘biologically determined’ ideal.
A03: Comprimise
An interactionist perspective may offer the best compromise in the free will vs determinism debate. Approaches in psychology that have a cognitive element (like Social Learning Theory), tend to adopt an interactionist or soft determinism perspective. For example, Bandura argues that environmental factors are key to learning behaviour, but that we are free to choose (or make decisions about) who or what to attend to and when to perform certain behaviours (think about the four requirements of social learning theory.
