Free Will V Determinism

• Free will v Determinism

  Free will

  = An individual is seen as being capable of self-determination.

  Individuals have an active role in controlling their behaviour (i.e. they are free to choose and are not acting in response to any external or internal (biological) pressure.

  HOWEVER, free will doesn’t mean randomness
• Free will v Determinism

  Determinism

  = An individual’s behaviour is controlled by either internal or external forces.

  Behaviour should be predictable but isn’t always.
• AO1 - Biological determinism

  Increasing evidence of genetic influences on behaviour

  The more we discover, the more it appears that our behaviours are determined by our genes.

  Example: research on intelligence

  • Particular gene found in people with high intelligence - such as the IGF2R gene, Hill et al. (1999).

  Genes also influence brain structure and neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin that are often implicated in behaviour.
• AO3 - Genetic (Biological) determinism

  Doubtful that 100% genetic determination will ever be found for any behaviour.

  Example: studies that compare identical twins find about 80% on similarity on intelligence or about 40% for depression.

  Genes don’t ENTIRELY determine behaviour
• AO1 - Environmental determinism

  Behaviourists! Our behaviour is caused by previous experience, through the process of classical and operant conditioning.

  • The principles of learning theory have been applied to many areas of behaviour such as aggression and eating behaviour.

  For example, Bandura (1961) showed that children with violent parents will in turn become violent parents through observation and imitation.
• AO3 - Environmental determinism

  Concordance rates referred to within genetic determinism also show that the environment can’t be the sole determining factor in behaviour.

   There is at least some genetic factor. 

  = Environmental explanations cannot completely determine behaviour
• AO1 - Psychic determinism

  Freudian theory of personality suggests that adult behaviour is determined by a mix of innate drives and early experience ie. both internal and external forces.

  Behaviour is driven by the libido which focuses sequentially on erogenous zones such as the mouth or anus. If a child is frustrated or overindulged (external forces) at any stage during dvpt, then the libido remains tied to the relevant erogenous zone and the ind. is thus fixated on that zone. The method of obtaining satisfaction that characterised the stage will dominate their adult personality
• AO1 - Scientific determinism

  = Emphasis on causal explanations

  In scientific research all events have a cause. An IV is manipulated to observe the causal effect on a DV.

  Example: Harlow ( 1959) on attachment. IV?

  IV = wire mother with milk or cloth covered

  DV = attachment formed

  The result demonstrated that contact comfort, not food, determined the formation of attachment
• AO3 - Scientific determinism

  There is no total determinism.

  Causal relationships are probabilistic rather than deterministic: they increase the probability of something occurring rather than being the sole determinant

  • Determinist explanations tend to

  oversimplify human behaviour. They may be appropriate for non-human animals but human behaviour is less rigid and influenced by many factors - for instance cognitive factors (thinking about what you intend to do which can override biological impulses)
• AO3 - Generally 

  • Attempts in criminal cases in the US for murderers to claim that their behaviour was determined by inherited tendencies. In practice, this determinist position is undesirable because it would allow ind. To “excuse” their behaviour.
  • Issue for the treatment of mental disorder. If schizophrenia and depression are determined by an individual’s biology, then it follows that treatment should target their genes or neurotransmitters. 

  HOWEVER, such determinist treatment may then block the consideration of other treatments that might be beneficial such as CBT
• Humanism!

  Maslow and Rogers: Self-determination is a necessary part of human behaviour. Without it, healthy self-development and self-actualisation are not possible.

  Only when an individual takes self responsibility (i.e. self determination) is personal growth possible, resulting in psychological health.
• AO1 - Moral responsibility

  An individual is in charge of their own actions, i.e. can exercise free will.

  The law states that children and those mentally ill do not have this responsibility but otherwise there is an assumption, in our society, that “normal” adult behaviour is self-determined.

  = humans are accountable for their actions regardless of innate factors or the influences of early experience.
• AO3 - Evaluation

  The illusion of free will

  Being able to decide between different courses of actions is not free will, but it may give us the the illusion of having free will (argument put forward by Skinner)

  Example: a person might “choose” to buy a particular car or see a particular film, but in fact these choices are determined by previous reinforcement experiences.
• AO3 - Evaluation

  Culturally relative

  Self-determination concept may be a cultural relative concept, appropriate for the individualist societies only.

  Collectivist cultures place greater value on behaviour determined by group needs.