Psychological determinism

• Psychological determinism stems from behavioural psychology and the work of Skinner and Pavlov
• All behaviour is the result of genetic and environmental conditions, and all human actions are conditioned by the good or bad consequences of previous decisions
• Evaluation of Skinner's radical behaviourism

  • Experiments were conducted on animals, the human mind is more complex
• Strengths of psychological determinism

  • Supported by science and empiricism
  • It is easy to understand that we are conditioned by past experiences- this is why abused children find it harder to make emotional attachments as they grow older
• Limitations of psychological determinism

  • Chomsky rejects Skinner's behaviourism- he uses animal behaviour to back up his points regarding human behaviour
  • Skinner himself has been condition by past experiences so why should we trust him
• Chomsky argued against Skinner saying that language must be innate as children often are not spoken to in ways that would allow them to understand the nuances of their native language, however they do
• Chomsky proposed that humans have an innate Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
• Genie and Victor of Aveyron did not acquire language in childhood, and were never able to learn a first language (Genie) or speak at all (Victor), however they both learned to communicate non-verbally