free will/determinism

• Free will

  • free to choose our behaviours, thoughts and actions
  • external (environment) or internal (biological) forces can impact this choice
  • can reject these these pressures and self-determine
• types of determinism:

  • hard
  • soft
  • biological
  • environmental
  • psychic
• Hard determinism

  • All human behaviour is a result of external and internal factors, free will does not play a role, individuals do not have a choice
  • Topic - individuals vulnerability to developing OCD is caused by internal factors such as inheritance of mutated SERT gene which causes anxiety
• Soft determinism

  • All behaviour is result of internal and external factors yet as an individual we have ability to make conscious decisions about what we want in life, which also impacts behaviour
  • Topic - social learning theory, learn behaviour through observing a role model and imitating them, however thought processes must play a part and determine if we identify someone as a role model
• Biological determinism

  • behaviour controlled by biological factors such as genetics, evolution and hormones
  • Topic - vulnerability to an addiction to a substance can be increased through lower levels of D2 receptors
• Environmental determinism

  • behaviour is controlled by external factors within individuals surroundings such as parents, peers, society
  • attachment - infant learns to attach to caregiver via stimulus, response association with the food provided
• Psychic determinism

  • behaviour controlled by unconscious conflict within the mind, which have been repressed from early childhood
  • anxious personality could be caused by an overactive super ego (morality principle)
• Determinism

  • behaviour is controlled by internal and external factors as individual has no free will over their behaviour
  • biological approach
• Scientific emphasis on casual explanations

  • deterministic research makes psychology more scientific because can establish cause and effect as we are controlled by external and internal factors
  • measure this by controlled lab experiment - high controls
  • high control = no Evs, more certain that the IV has impacted DV
  • therefore meaning we can create general laws about behaviour
  • use these laws to treat people if we have a deterministic theory = easier for us to create specific treatments - prac app