4. Free will and determinism

• Free will

  • Humans are self-determining and free to choose their own thoughts and actions
  • Implies we are able to reject biological and environmental forces that may influence our behaviour
  • Advocated by the humanist approach
• Determinism

  • Hard determinism - fatalism, suggests all human behaviour has a cause and is identifiable and describable. Always assumes that everything we think and do is dictated by internal and external forces we cannot control
  • Soft determinism - feature of the cognitive approach. People do have a choice, but that choice is constrained by external or internal factors
• Types of determinism

  • Biological - behaviour caused by biological influences we cannot control eg. influence of the ANS on the stress response
  • Environmental - Skinner described free will as 'an illusion' and argued all behaviour is the result of conditioning. Behaviour is caused by features of the environment
  • Psychic - Freud believed free will is an 'illusion' but emphasised the influence of biological drives and instincts. Human behaviour is determined by unconscious conflicts, repressed in childhood
• The scientific emphasis on casual explanations

  • Every event in the universe has a cause and causes can be explained using general laws
  • Allows scientists to predict and control events in the future
  • In psychology, the lab experiment is the ideal of science as it enables researchers to establish casual relationships
• AO3 - Limitation of implications for society

  • Treating offending behaviour, a deterministic stance appears to contradict the legal system's notion of moral responsibility
  • 1991 America - Stephen Mobley walked into a Domino's and fatally shot the manager
  • His attorney's appealed the death sentence on the basis that he could not be held responsible for his actions
  • Biological determinism of a criminal gene, genetic certainty ignores the idea of free will and environmental triggers and influences
  • Cannot self-determine his behaviour
  • Non-holistic
• AO3 - Strength of determinism being consistent with science

  • Eg. adopting a determinist stance allows psychologists to acquire knowledge through systematic and objective investigation, testing hypothesis with the aim of discovering general laws of behaviour
  • Basic principle of science is that every event in the universe has a cause and that causes can be explained using general laws - hard determinism
  • Lab experiment is the ideal of science - causal relationships can be established and control of research has led to practical applications
  • Provides psychology with scientific credibility
• AO3 - Strength of free will having support from humanism

  • Taking a free will stance is supported by the humanistic approach such as Maslow and his hierarchy of needs
  • Argues humans have choices and this can explain behaviour
  • Soft determinism