Free will & Determinism

• • Determinism= the view that behaviours are controlled by internal or external factors outside of our control, eg our biology or our upbringing etc.
  • This would mean that behaviour is predictable & free will is an illusion.
• There are two extremes of determinism:

  1. Hard determinism
  2. Soft determinism
• Hard determinism:

  • Views that forces outside of our control shape all of our behaviours & there is no free will.
• Soft determinism:

  • The view that people's behaviour is determined, but there is an element of free will with certain limited choices depending on the situation.
• Types of determinism:

  • Environmental determinism
  • Biological determinism
  • Psychic determinism
• Environmental determinism:

  • Behaviour is under the control of the environment experience through operant & classical conditioning, ie our learning history.
  • Example: The Behaviourist Approach demonstrated how phobias could be learnt via classical conditioning, ie through the association of environmental stimuli (or Social Learning Theory predicting aggressive behaviour in children exposed to aggressive role models).
• Biological determinism:

  • Behaviour is innate & under the control of hormones, brain structure, neurotransmitters & genetics.
  • Example: The Biological Approach has found evidence of genes present in family members with OCD, indicating biological control of the disorder (or genetic basis of IQ).
• Psychic determinism:

  • Behaviour is controlled by unconscious processes caused by internal instincts & early experiences, as in Feud's model of psychological development.
  • Example: The Psychodynamic Approach indicating that early childhood trauma would be pushed into the unconscious & cause undesirable behaviours.
• Free will= the view that we do have the power to control our own behaviours through conscious choice & self-direction. This would mean that behaviours are not always predictable (though it does not mean randomness).
• Example of free will:

  • The Humanist Approach believes that people exercise choice in their behaviour rather than being at the mercy of determinism factors such as biology or reinforcement history.
  • Rogers (1959) claimed that if people attribute their behaviours to outside factors, then they will not take the responsibility required for positive change & personal growth.
• The scientific emphasis on casual explanations:

  • Science emphasises casual explanations: X=Y, ie we manipulate the IV to see how it determines the DV.
  • This means that psychology (which favours the scientific methodology) relies on determinism.
  • The repercussion of this is that many theories in psychology can be seen as deterministic because they have used scientific methods to try & predict behaviours.
• Evaluation of free will & determinism- weakness:

  • There is evidence that neither biological nor environmental determinism can account for behaviours; there's an extensive body of research with identical twins on whether intelligence is a result of genetics or environmental influences.
  • No study has ever concluded that either influence accounts for 100% variability in intelligence (or any other characteristic).
  • Indicates that neither biology or environment can be said to solely determine behaviour.
• Evaluation of free will & determinism- strength:

  • There's research evidence that free will is lacking in even the most simple of choices; Libet et al (1983) asked PPs to move their finger at any point in a 60 second interval- an action you would have thought we have free will over.
  • However, they found activity in the motor areas of the brain up to 10 seconds before the movement was recorded.
  • This indicates that the decision to move the finger was simply as a result of a pre-determined action.
  • This questions whether there is any free will at all.
• Evaluation of free will & determinism- weakness:

  • A deterministic explanation for behaviour could allow for people to be 'excused' for immoral behaviours, eg Stephen Mobley murdered a pizza shop owner in 1981 & tried to use the defence that he had been 'born to kill' because of his violent family history- this was rejected by the court & he was found guilty.
  • Indicates that there are important repercussions if we were to accept a deterministic account of behaviour, which may undermine our legal & moral systems.
• Evaluation of free will & determinism- weakness:

  • Many scientists accept that there is no such thing as total determinism.
  • Dennett (2003) argues that in the physical sciences it is now accepted that casual relationships are probabilistic rather than determinist, ie they increase the chances of something happening rather than being the sole determinant.
  • This indicates that determinism is too limited to be able to explain human behaviours.