free will, determinism

• what is Hard determinsism?

  the view that all behaviour can be predicted and that there is no free will, the two are seen as incompatible 
• what is soft determinsism? soft determinism – traits and behaviours are determined by external or internal forces but an individual can still exercise some control, eg via thought processes.
• what is determinism?Determinsism is the concept human behaviour is caused by factors not under a persons’s conscious control
• describe Biological determinsim

  • research has found increasing evidence of our behaviour being caused  by genetic influences, genes in turn influence brain structures and neurotransmitters which also have an implication on behaviour 
  • Examples, research has found that a particular gene (IGF2r) is implicated in intelligence (Hill et al., 1999).
  • Neurotransmitters with mental health disorders
  • Genes cdh 13 causing offending behaviour , 
• what is Environmental determinism?

  - suggests that our traits and behaviour is caused by previous experience and external forces such as experiences, upbringing, learning, schools, parents, peers etc

  • learned through classical and operant conditioning,principles applied to phobias
• psychic determisism

  – the idea that traits and behaviours are governed by unconscious instincts and drives, the cause of behaviour is rooted in childhood experiences

  as in Freuds psychoanalytic theories
• describe scientific determinsm ;emphasis on casual explanations?

  • scientific research is based on the idea all behaviours have a cause
  • an independent variable can be manipulate to see the effect on a dependent variable

  • Use of control of other variables enables the researcher to infer causality/cause and effect
• non determinism view?


  • Humanist psychologists would argue against these views, 

  claiming that humans have self-determination and free 

  will, and that behaviour is not the result of any single 

  Cause.

  • Moral responsibility also links with the idea that an individual is responsible for their own actions, people can exercise free will and are accountable for their actions regardless of innate factors or childhood exoperiences.
• defintiton of free will Free will is when people can choose how they behave. Their behaviour is not determined by internal or external factors