Free will and determinism

• What does biological determinism mean?

  Proposes that traits/behaviours are the result of internal

  biological factors. It may therefore propose that an individual's behaviour has been caused by their genes, neurochemistry, and/or brain structures and function.
• Example of biological determinism in psychology?

  1. Biological explanations of offending behaviour

  - Neural explanations suggest offending behaviour is caused by abnormalities in the amygdala and pre frontal cortex
• What's a strength of biological determinism?

  1. Animal studies have found that administering testosterone in rats can lead to aggressive behaviour
• What's a limitation of biological determinism?

  1. Biological factors may not be the sole

  cause of behaviour.

  - E.g. concordance rates in MZ twins who share 100% of their genes are never 100%, suggesting other factors such as

  choices an individual makes may also be important.
• What does environmental determinism mean?

  Behaviours are the result of environmental factors.

  - Caused by their upbringing, Influences from their peers, conditioning processes (operant and classical conditioning)
• Example of environmental determinism in psychology?

  1. The two-process model as an explanation of

  phobias

  - Phobias are proposed to develop through classical conditioning and are maintained by operant conditioning, specifically negative reinforcement
• What's a strength of environmental determinism?

  1. Supporting evidence that offending behaviour runs in families.

  - Exposure to pro-crime attitudes within families can lead to

  offending behaviour.
• What's a limitation of environmental determinism?

  1. Environmental factors may not be the sole cause of behaviour.

  - Not everybody who grows up in a criminal family/area

  go on to offend > may be individual choice
• What does psychic determinism mean?

  Behaviours are the result of drives in the unconscious mind.

  + Cause of behaviour is rooted in childhood experiences.
• Example of psychic determinism in psychology?

  1. Psychodynamic explanation of gender development

  - Gender development = unconscious process that occurs in the phallic stage of the psychosexual stages of development - Oedipus complex or electra complex
• What's a strength of psychic determinism?

  1. Practical applications - psychoanalysis.

  - Used to uncover the unconscious mind in order to treat many psychological disorders.
• What's a limitation of psychic determinism?

  1. Lack of evidence to support psychic determinism as the theory is based on the untestable unconscious mind.
• What does the free will argument argue?

  - Individuals are in full control of their behaviour.

  - Means individuals have a choice in how they behave.
• What is soft determinism and what does it propose?

  - Combines both elements of determinism and free will.

  - Traits and behaviours can be determined by external or internal forces but an individuals exercises control over these e.g. via their thought processes/decisions they make.

  - While behaviour may be bpredictable, it does not make it inevitable.
• Examples of soft determinism in psychology?

  1. Cognitive explanations of depression - Ellis' ABC model - depression could be triggered by a negative activating event. It's the individual's belief about that event that affects whether they develop depression.

  
  

  2. Social learning - Behaviour could be triggered by observing a role-model's behaviour. However, mediational thought processes will decide whether an individual will imitate the behaviour they observed.
• How can the scientific emphasis on causal explanations can be achieved by?

  - Manipulating the independent variable (IV) i.e. the supposed cause

  - Controlling all other variables apart from the IV.

  - Measuring the dependent variable (DV).

  - Concluding that any change in the DV must be caused by the manipulation of the IV.
• Explanations taking a deterministic view therefore enable?

  Enable causal explanations to be made.

  - Provide a specific cause that can be manipulated (e.g. hormone levels) while controlling other variables.

  - This enables deterministic explanations to predict, control and modify human behaviour.
• What can explanations focusing on free will/ soft determinism cannot do?

  Establish cause and effect.

  - Due to the recognisation of free will, specific causal factors cannot be identified

  - As a result, a causal variable cannot be manipulated to examine how it affects behaviour.

  - Rejecting the scientific emphasis on causal explanations.