Free Will & Determinism

• Free Will

  Suggests that human beings are essentially self-determining and free to choose our thoughts and actions. A belief in free will doesn't deny that there may be biological and environmental forces which exert an influence on our behaviour, but it implies that we are able to reject these forces to be masters of our own destiny. Advocated by the humanistic approach.
• Determinism

  The view that an individual's behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces, rather than an individual's will to do something.
• Hard Determinism

  Referred to as 'fatalism', suggesting that all human behaviour has a cause, and it is possible to identify these causes. This position is compatible with the aims of science- to uncover causal laws which govern thought and action. It assumes that everything we think or do is governed by uncontrollable internal or external forces.
• Soft Determinism

  James put forward this notion, a position which has later become an important feature of the cognitive approach. It acknowledges that all human action has a cause, but it also suggests that there is room to manoeuvre, seeing people as having conscious mental control over their behaviour. Though there are external forces, we have rational conscious choices in everyday situations.
• Biological Determinism

  The belief that behaviour is caused by biological influences (genetic, hormonal, evolutionary) that we cannot control. Many physiological and neurological processes aren't under our conscious control; and many behaviours and characteristics, like mental disorders, are said to have a genetic basis, or be a consequence of hormonal levels. Modern biopsychologists recognise the effects of our environment on our biological structures- meaning we are 'doubly-determined' in ways out of our control.
• Environmental Determinism

  Skinner described free will as an 'illusion', arguing that all behaviour is the result of conditioning. Our experience of 'choice' is merely the sum total of our reinforcement history that has been acted upon throughout our lives. Though we may think we're acting independently, our behaviour has been shaped by environmental events and agents of socialisation (through their reinforcement).
• Psychic Determinism

  Freud, like Skinner, agreed that free-will is an 'illusion' but placed more emphasis on the influence of biological drives and instincts than Behaviourists. This sees behaviour as determined and directed by unconscious conflicts, repressed in childhood. Accidents don't occur, according to Freud even something as seemingly random as a 'slip of the tongue' can be explained through the underlying authority of the unconscious.
• Scientific Emphasis on Causal Explanations

  Basic principle of science is that all events have a cause which can be explained using general laws. Allowing for prediction and control for future events. Hence, in psychology, lab experiments enables researchers to stimulate conditions (like there would be in a test tube) and remove all extraneous variables to attempt to control and predict human behaviour.
• AO3: A case for Determinism

  Consistent with the aims of science; placing psychology on an equal footing as the natural sciences. The research has high value as the control and prediction has produced the development of treatments, therapies, and interventions (e.g. psychotherapeutic drug treatments for SCZ).
• AO3: A case for Determinism

  The experience of mental disorders, like SCZ where individuals experience a total loss of control over their thoughts and behaviour casts doubt on the concept of free-will (no one would 'choose' to have SCZ). When looking at mental disorders, behaviour would then appear determined. IDA: Socially sensitive
• AO3: A case against Determinism

  Hard determinist stance isn't consistent with the legal system and its operations. In the court, offenders are held morally accountable for their actions. Only in extreme circumstances is the 'Law of Diminished Responsibility' is applied to state that the defendant is assumed to have not acted in accordance to their free will (e.g. self-defence, mental disorder, crimes of passion).
• AO3: A case against Determinism

  Despite its scientific credibility, determinism as an approach is unfalsifiable. Based on the idea that causes of behaviour will always exist, even though they may not have been found. This principle is then impossible to prove wrong. Suggesting the determinist approach may not be as scientific as initially thought.
• AO3: A case for Free Will

  Everyday experiences give us the impression that we constantly exercise free will through the choices that we make continuously. Meaning the concept of free will has face validity- it makes cognitive sense.
• AO3: A case for Free Will

  Research suggests that people who have an internal locus of control (believing that they have a higher degree of influence over events and their behaviour) tend to be more mentally healthy. Roberts et al demonstrated that adolescents with a strong belief in fatalism (ELoC) were at a significantly higher risk of developing depression. Suggesting that even if we don't have free will, the notion that we might has a positive impact on the mind and behaviour.
• AO3: A case against Free Will

  Neurological studies of decision making have revealed evidence against free will. Studied by Libet and Soon et al have demonstrated that brain activity that determines the outcome of simple choices may predate our knowledge of having made such choice. Finding brain activity related to whether to press a button with R or L hand occurs in the brain up to 10 seconds before p's report being consciously aware of making the decision. Showing our most basic experiences of free will are determined by our brain before we are aware of them.
• AO3: An Interactionist Approach

  Those approaches in psychology which have a cognitive element, such as the Social Learning Theory, are those which tend to adopt a 'soft determinist' position. For example, Bandura argued that although environmental factors in learning are key, we are free to choose what to attend to and when to perform certain behaviours (Reciprocal Determinism).
• AO2: Humanistic Psychology and Free Will

  Humanistic approach adopts a free will perspective on behaviour. A central concept in Rogers' client-centred therapy, in that people are seen as being free to effect change in their lived by choosing to view their situation differently. By removing the psychological barriers that prevented personal growth, people can then work towards their potential (reaching self-actualisation). Clients make their own choices on how to grow and develop.