free will and determinism

• define free will

  the notion that humans can make choices and that their behaviour and thoughts aren't determined by internal (biological) or external (environmental) forces
• define determinism

  the view that an individual's behaviour is shaped/ controlled by internal (biological) or external (environmental) forces, rather than an individuals free will to do something
• what is the difference between hard and soft determinism?

  hard determinism is called fatalism- all behaviours has a cause and free will is not possible. everything we do is determined by internal/external causes. however, soft determinism was put forward by James- all behaviours and events have causes, but behaviour can be influenced by our conscious choices
• biological determinism

  our behaviour is determined by our biological make up e.g. levels of hormones/neurotransmitters, neural structures, our genes and our nervous system
• environmental determinism

  our behaviour has been chosen for us due to a combination of all the reinforcement and punishment we have received in our lives.

  we are therefore shaped by our parents, schools, peers
• psychic determinism

  sexual drives and instincts determine our behaviour

  e.g. conflicts in the psychosexual stages and repressed traumas (due to the defence mechanisms) that occur in childhood ditact our future adult behaviour
• determinism is worse for your mental health

  Research by Roberts et al found that adolescents who believe in fatalism are at higher risk of being depressed, compared to those who believe that they have free will. perhaps it is a better stance to believe in, whether rightly or wrongly
• highly, objective, scientific evidence to support determinism

  Libert et al instructed ps to randomly flick their wrists whilst he was measuring their brain activity. ps asked to report the moment they felt the conscious will to move the wrist

  it was found that the unconscious brain activity leading up to the conscious decision to move came around 1/2 second before ps felt they had decided t conscious move.

  it suggests that brain signals for voluntary action precede the conscious intention to act (disputed idea of free will)
• determinism helps to establish psychology as a science

  approaches such as behaviourist approach and biological approach are highly scientific, have led to psychological advances e.g. therapies (flooding, SD, token economy systems and drug treatments- SSRI's)

  both deterministic-whereas ones that take free will stance e.g. humanism, tend to be less scientific and have fewer real world applications
• free will stance is compatible with the law

  determinism is not

  in court of law, offenders held responsible for their crimes an circumstances e.g. genetics rarely considered when determining guilt.

  should determinist ideas be used in court of law, anyone could argue that 'it was not their fault' or that they were 'predetermined to commit the crime' and avoid punishment
• free will has more 'intuitive appeal' or 'face validity'

  everyday experiences gives the impression that we are constantly exercising free will through the choices we make.

  this gives the concept of face validity-does this assessment look like it's measuring intended psychological construct
• free will is consistent with the ideas of humanism approach

  free will is central to Roger's idea that, during client centred therapy, people can choose to work towards self-actualisation by changing the way that they think about themselves.

  e.g. if people choose to have a better self-image or lower ideal self they may achieve congruence. As CCT is widely regarded as successful therapy, it seems to offer good support for the notion of free will
• how can we comprise between free will and determinism using the interactionist approach?

  some psychologists take an interactionist approach position, this offers a compromise between free will and determinism.

  approaches in psychology with cognitive element such as SLT and cognitive approach take this stance.

  e.g. Bandura believed that although environmental factors are key in determining our behaviour (vicarious reinforcement, modelling and rewards) we are free to choose what to pay attention to and when to perform certain behaviours (mediational processes)
• scientific emphasis on causal explanations

  a basic principle of science is that every event in the universe has a cause and they can be explained using general laws (hard determinism)

  knowledges of these causes and laws is important as it allows scientists to predict and control events in the future.

  e.g. in chemistry x chemical + y chemical= z reaction

  this why lab experiments (with highly controlled variables) are often used by researchers to try to control and predict behaviour.

  highly controlled lab studies in psychology increase the scientific standing of psychology as a discipline