free will vs determinism

• Free will:

  belief that humans are free to choose our thoughts and actions. There may be biological and environmental forces that influence our behaviour, but we are the masters of our destiny and therefore choose to reject these forces. We are active in choosing our behaviour, and self - determining.
• Determinism:

  States that we cannot choose our thoughts and actions, and they are determined by internal and external factors beyond our control. All behaviour is predictable.
• Hard determinism:


  Forces outside of our control e.g biology, experiences, the environment shape our behaviour. It is compatible with the aims of science - to uncover laws which explain our behaviour sometimes called fatalism. It is incompatible with free will.
• Soft determinism


  acknowledges that behaviour is determined, but there is some room for manoeuvre. The environment, biology etc determines our behaviour to certain extent, but we have an element of free will. People have conscious mental control over some of the forces placed upon us.
• Biological determinism

  emphasises the role of biology in determining our behaviour. It is the belief that our behaviour is caused by biological factors we have no control over. It states that behaviour is innate
• Examples of biological determinism:

  Nervous system: when we are stressed or experience fight or flight. This is driven by our autonomic nervous system over which we have no control. The role of neurotransmitters in our behaviour.
• Examples of biological determinism:

  Genetics: many psychological disorders are thought to have a genetics basis.
• Examples of biological determinism:

  Hormones: testerone can determine aggression levels in people.
• Examples of biological determinism:

  Evolutionary explanations: relationships and sexual selection, psychologists recognise the important of the environment in shaping our behaviour and modifying/mediating our biology. This is called ‘doubled-determinism’ as we are influenced in both ways that we cannot control.
• Examples of biological determinism in psychology:

  Fight or flight: when a person is stressed the sympathetic division of the ans is activated and has a number of effects on the body e.g pupil dilate/ increase heart rate.
• Examples of biological determinism in psychology:

  Relationships: its in a males interest to try and impregnate as many women as possible as this will guarantee that his genes are passed down through through generations. Females best chance is to ensure a healthy survival of her offspring which would guarantee that her genes ae passed on. Sexual promiscuity in males is genetically determined.
• Examples of biological determinism in psychology:

  Bowlbys theory of attachment: States that we have an innate tendency to become attached to one main cg.
• Examples of biological determinism in psychology:

  OCD: individuals may carry a gone that makes them more likely to develop OCD. E.g SHT1- D BETA
• Environmental determinism:

  skinner described free will as an illusion and argued that an behaviour is the result of conditioning out ‘choices’ only extended to the ‘reinforcement’ consequences that we have experienced throughout life. Behaviour is determined or caused by forces outside our body  (external forces). Although we think we are acting independently and with free will, all of our behaviour has been determined by environmental events and agents of socialisation (parents, peers, teachers and media).
• Examples of environmental determinism in psychology:

  Forensics: when a prisoner is placed in prison they will undergo a behavioural management scheme (token economy). Obedient behaviour is reinforced by giving a token and disobedient behaviour is punished by taking away the token so the behaviour becomes extinct. Tokens are exchanged for rewards e.g extra privileges.
• Examples of environmental determinism in psychology:

  Behaviourist approach: reinforcement - rat learns through negative reinforcement

  Classical conditioning- dog learns through association.
• Psychic determinism:

  Freud believes that free will is an illusion.

  Emphasises innate biological drives and instincts and States the behaviour is determined by unconscious conflicts and experiences repressed in childhood. This means its internal and external forces. There is no such thing as things happening by accident.E.g you call your new partner by your old partner name. This means you are unconsciously thinking about your ex. Its called a 'slip of the tongue’ or Freudian slip. The unconscious mind is determining the behaviour.
• Examples of psychic determinism in psychology:

  Psychodynamic approach- unconscious conflicts in childhood determined by interaction with parents determine whether someone will commit crime.
• Examples of psychic determinism in psychology:

  Schizophrenia- schizophrenogenic mother are rejecting, cold, controlling etc. These types of mother we a significant factor in causing schilopherena according to psychodynamic explanations of sz.
• Free will:

  humans are self-determined and free to choose thoughts and actions. A free will approach does not necessarily reject the possibility of environmental influences, but suggests that we have the power to ignore and reject them. We are the master of our destiny.
• Examples of free will in psychology:

  Humanistic approach - argues against determinism. And claims that human have self determination and free will.  They claim behaviour is not the result of any single cause.
• The scientific emphasis on casual explanations:

  basic principle of science is that everything In the universe has a cause and effect. We can generate general laws about the world. Psychologists use lab experiments to create controlled conditions and eliminate as many extraneous variables as possible so we can control and predict human behaviour. In experiments, they manipulate the iv to see what effect this has on the dv. This allows us to establish cause and effect. can use this to predict human behaviour.
• The scientific emphasis on casual explanations:

  Heavy use of experiments in psychology implies determinism in the theories of behaviour developed. 
• Examples of scientific emphasis on casual explanations in memory:

  Loftus and Palmer - misleading info

  I.V- verb they used e.g smashed, crashed

  D.V- speed the car was travelling according to pps.
• Examples of scientific emphasis on casual explanations in memory:

  Johnson and Scott- EWT accuracy with anxiety.

  I.V -if they seen a weapon of pen 

  D.V - anxiety
• Strength

  Determinism is consistent with the aims of science. The idea that behaviour is orderly and predictable is inline with the more established sciences, e.g biology and chemistry. If we can predict behaviour, we can try and prevent certain behaviours occurring or deal with them effectively when they do occur. This means that determinism has led to the development of many biological treatments that have been beneficial e.g antipsychotic drugs for sz and SSRIs for OCD.
• Weakness

  This view is not consistent with how our legal system works. In a court of law offenders are held responsible for their own actions, they can’t blame their DNA of the environment. Despite evidence for particular genetic combinations (MAOA and CDH13) being linked to offender behaviour, thus cannot be used as an ‘excuse’ to commit crime. This suggests that it would be difficult to prove that a behaviour was definitely the result of determinism and that it is limited when explaining deviant behaviour.
• Strength Research suggests free will plays an important role in our behaviour. Those with an internal LOC tend to be more mentally healthy than those with an external LOC. Also, Roberts et al found that adolescents who had a strong belief in fatalism were more likely to suffer from depression. This links to the humanistic approach which states individuals have free will to determine their own behaviour. suggests that if we have free will, have a positive impact on our mind and behaviour which is further supported by the humanistic approach and the impact this approach has on counselling.
• Weakness

  There is evidence to suggest that free will does not exist. Neurological studies have shown that brain activity, which makes the decision to do something, happens before we are aware that we are going to do it. The choice is made before we choose it. This suggests that even our most basic experience of free will are determined before our brain even becomes aware of it.