Free will and Determinism

• Free will - people have the power to make choices about and control their own behaviour/thoughts. These are not determined by biological or external factors.
• Determinism - behaviour is controlled by either internal or external forces acting upon the individual, rather than an individuals will to do something
• Hard determinism - all human behaviour has an internal or external cause and in principle it should be possible to identify and describe these causes. Such causes are completely outside a persons control.

  Example - behaviourist approach
• Soft determinism - the idea that behaviour 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.

  Example - social learning theory
• Biological determinism - behaviour is determined by biological factors outside of our control.

  Example - the influence of the ANS on the stress response or the influence on genes, neurotransmitters and brain structure on mental health
• Environmental determinism - behaviour is determined by environmental factors outside our control.

  Example - reinforcements and punishments, Skinner claimed free will is an illlusion
• Psychic determinism - behaviour is determined by unconscious conflicts, repressed in childhood that are outside out of our control.

  Example - between the ID and Superego. The cause of behaviour is rooted in childhood experiences. No such thing as an accident.
• The Scientific emphasis on causal explanation - Determinism focuses on the causes of behaviour. A causal explanation is based on the scientific notion that behaviour is caused by internal/external factors - cause and effect relationship.

  Laboratory experiments are controlled so the only thing that changes is the IV all other extraneous variables are controlled allowing researcher to establish if there is a significant effect on the DV
• Evaluation for Determinism 


  Determinism is consistent with the aims of science.

  There is no point studying something if it tells us nothing about what causes it.

  The idea that human behaviour is orderly places psychology on equal footing with other sciences.

  Has lead to The development of therapies and treatments that have been beneficial.
• Evaluation against determinism


  The hard determinist stance is not consistent with the way our legal system operates. In a court of law offenders are held morally accountable for their actions.

  Determinism is unfalsifiable as it based on the idea that causes of behaviour will always exist even if they have not been identified yet. Suggests it may not be as scientific
• Evaluation for free will


  Everyday experiences give us the impression that we are constantly exercising free will through the choices we make each day. This gives face validity to the concept of free will.

  Research also suggests that people with an internal locus of control tend to be more mentally healthy.
• Evaluation against free will

  Libet demonstrated in neurological studies of decision making that the brain activity determines the outcome of simple choices may predate our knowledge of having made such choice.

  Even the most basic experiences of free will are decided by are brain before we are even made aware of them
• Scientific emphasis on causal explanations

  Scientific research is based on the idea that all events have a cause.

  An Iv is manipulated to observe the causal effect on the DV and extraneous variables are controlled
• Scientific emphasis on causal explanations

  Research should focus on cause and effect (emphasis on causal explanations) in order to predict and control behaviour (be scientific)