A01

• What is free will?

  The notion that humans have the power to make choices about their behaviour
• What is determinism?

  The notion that behaviour is controlled by internal or external factors acting upon the individual
• What is hard determinism?

  The view that all behaviour can be predicted and there is no free will
• What is soft determinism?

  The view that human behaviour has causes but it can also be determined by our conscious choices
• What is biological determinism?

  The belief that behaviour is caused by biological influences that we cannot control
• What is environmental determinism?

  The belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment that we cannot control
• What is psychic determinism?

  The belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control
• What are the 3 approaches which are hard deterministic?

  Behaviourist, biological, psychodynamic
• What are the 2 approaches which are soft deterministic?

  Cognitive and social learning theory
• Why is Science deterministic?

  • Science aims to establish general laws by identifying and measuring the cause of all events
  • An IV is manipulated to observe the causal effect on a DV
  • This proposes that all events can be determined by an external or internal factor
• What approach takes a free will stance?

  Humanism
• What is a case study which highlights the free will vs. determinism debate?

  Stephen Mobley
• Explain how the case study of Stephen Mobley raise issues with the criminal justice system

  • Stephen shot manager in Domino's pizza and found guilty of murder and sentenced to death
  • Mobley's attorney appealed his sentence on basis that he had inherited a 'criminal gene' due to family history of criminal acts not responsible for his actions
  • Appeal was thrown out by judge and Mobley executed
  • Sparked questions as to whether an individual's genetic makeup could ever be used as defence in criminal cases