Free will and determinism

• What is the determinist approach?

  • proposes that all behaviour is determined and thus predictable
• What is environmental determinism?

  • some approaches in psych see the source of determinism as being outside the individual
• What is biological determinism?

  • some approaches in psychology see the source of determinism as coming from the inside
  • in the form of unconscious motivation or genetic determinism
• What is environmental(external) determinism?

  • the idea that our behaviours caused by some outside influence e.g parental influence
  • Skinner (1971) argued freedom is an illusion and we may think we have free will but the probability of any behaviour occurring is determined by past experiences
• what did skinner think about free will?

  • he believed free will was an illusion and we may think we have free will but this is because we are unaware of how our behaviour is determined by reinforcement
• What are they two types of internal

  • biological determinism- our biological systems govern our behaviours e.g. high IQ may be related to the IGFR2 gene (Chorley et al.1998)
  • Psychic Determinism- Freud believed childhood experiences and unconscious behaviour governed behaviour. He thought free will was an illusions, because he felt the causes of our behaviour is unconscious and stills predictable
• what are the different levels of determinism?

  • Hard determinism - sees free will as an illusion and believes every event and action has a cause
  • SofT determinism - represents a middle ground, people do have a choice, but that choice is constrained by external factors e.g being poor doesn’t make you steal but makes you more likely to take that route
• Evaluation of determinism - strengths?

  • Scientific and allows a cause and effect relationship
  • Gives explanations for behaviour backed up by evidence
• Evaluation of determinism - Limitations?

  • Determinism is reductionist
  • doesn’t account for individual differences as it creates general laws of behaviour
  • Hard determinism suggests criminals can’t be accountable for their actions as it reduces individual responsibility (argument that it’s because of upbringing/ psychiatric/ bang on the head/ stress etc) so their behaviour was determined