I&D - Free will and determinism

Question 1

Determinism

Answer 1

Behaviour is controlled by external or internal factors (situational factors) acting upon the individual.

Question 2

Free will

Answer 2

Each individual has the power to make choices about their behaviour.

Question 3

Hard determinism

Answer 3

The view that all behaviour can be predicted and there is no free will. The two are incompatible.

Question 4

Soft determinism

Answer 4

A version of determinism that allows for some element of free will.

Question 5

What was Nick Heather’s (1976) view on behaviour?

Answer 5

The proposed that behaviour may be predictable but this doesn’t make it inevitable. Individuals are free to choose their behaviour, but this is usually from within a fairly limited repertoire.

Question 6

What did William James (1890) suggest about behaviour?

Answer 6

Suggested that we should separate behaviour into a physical and mental realm. The former is determined, whereas the latter is subject to free will.

Question 7

What did Elizabeth Valentine (1992) claim about behaviour?

Answer 7

That behaviour is always determined - it just sometimes appears to be less determined: behaviour that is highly constrained by a situation appears involuntary, whereas behaviour that is less constrained by a situation appears voluntary.

This was supported by Westcott’s study.

Question 8

Hard determinism

Answer 8

Direct causality

A causes B

Question 9

Soft determinism

Answer 9

Indirect causality

A causes B when C is present

Question 10

Reciprocal determinism

Answer 10

(Bandura, 1985)

Interactive causality

A, B and C contribute to causing each other.

Question 11

What are the determinism positions?

Answer 11

Hard determinism, soft determinism and reciprocal determinism.

Question 12

What are our genes a product of?

Answer 12

Natural selection.

Question 13

How are our genes a product of natural selection?

Answer 13

Smaller sequences will have survived better; they’re able to replicate accurately, quickly and last a long time.

Question 14

What are the types of determinism?

Answer 14

Biological determinism.
Environmental determinism.
Psychic determinism.
Scientific determinism.

(Hard determinism, soft determinism and reciprocal determinism.)

Question 15

What is biological determinism?

Answer 15

The idea that behaviour (not just our physical characteristics) are determined by our genes.

Certain genes mean you will turn out a certain way.

Question 16

Why do we have biological determinism?

Answer 16

Research into the human genome is producing increasing evidence of genetic influences on behaviour. The more we discover, the more it appears that our behaviours (not just our physical characteristics) are determined by our genes.

Genes, in turn, influence brain structure and neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine that are often implicated in behaviour.

Question 17

How can the biological approach explain behaviour?

Biological determinism

Answer 17

Genes, in turn, influence brain structure and neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine that are often implicated in behaviour.

Question 18

Give evidence of research done into the human genome that has contributed to biological determinism

Answer 18

Research on intelligence has identified particular genes found in people with high intelligence, such as the IGF2R gene (Hill et al., 1999).

MAOA gene related to violence.

Question 19

What is environmental determinism?

Answer 19

Behaviourist believe that all behaviour is caused by previous experience, through the processes of classical and operant conditioning (which may be direct or indirect).

Experiences shape who you are and what you do.

Question 20

Give evidence of research done into environmental determinism

Answer 20

Phobias may develop as a consequence of conditioning - a new stimulus response relationship can be learned if the item ‘dog’ is paired with being bitten. Such phobic response is also unlearned through conditioning (e.g. systematic desensitisation). (Pavlov and Skinner.)

The principles of learning theory have been applied to many areas of behaviour, such as aggression and eating behaviour.

Question 21

What is psychic determinism?

Answer 21

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality suggests that adult behaviour is determined by a mix of innate drives and early experience, i.e. both internal and external forces.

Internal unconscious factors decide our behaviour.

Question 22

Explain further psychic determinism and how behaviour is determined by Freud’s theories

Answer 22

Behaviour is driven by the libido, which focuses sequentially on erogenous zones, such as the mouth or anus. If a child is frustrated or overindulged (external forces) at any stage during development, then the libido remains tied to the relevant erogenous zone and the individual is thus fixated on that zone. The method of obtaining satisfaction that characterised the stage will dominate their adult personality.

Phallic fixation causing mis-assigned gender identity (oedipus/electra complex)).

Question 23

What is scientific determinism?

Answer 23

Emphasis on causal explanations.

Scientific research is based on the belief that all events have a cause. An independent variable is manipulated to observe the causal effect on a dependent variable.

Question 24

Give an example of scientific determinism

Answer 24

Harlow’s (1959) research on attachment involving an independent variable (wire mother with milk or cloth covered) and a dependent variable (attachment formed). The result demonstrated that contact comfort, not food, determined the formation of an attachment.

Question 25

What are the types/approaches of free will?

Answer 25

Humanistic approach

Moral responsibility

Question 26

Explain the humanistic approach of free will

Answer 26

Maslow and Rogers argued that self-determination was a necessary part of human behaviour. Without it, healthy self-development and self-actualisation are not possible.

Rogers (1959) claimed that as long as an individual remains controlled by other people or other things, they cannot take responsibility for their behaviour and therefore cannot begin to change it. Things which are outside a person’s sense of self remain beyond personal control.

Only when an individual takes self-responsibility (i.e. self-determination) is personal growth possible, resulting in psychological health.

Question 27

Give an example of the humanistic approach to free will

Answer 27

A person who says ‘I lied but that isn’t like me’ does not admit that they are a liar and therefore will not seek to change the behaviour. Only when an individual takes self-responsibility (i.e. self-determination) is personal growth possible, resulting in psychological health.

Question 28

Explain moral responsibility as an explanation of free will

Answer 28

The basis of moral responsibility is that an individual is responsible for their own actions, i.e. can exercise free will. The law states that children and those who are mentally ill do not have this responsibility, but otherwise there is the assumption, in our society, that ‘normal’ adult behaviour is self-determined. In other words, that humans are accountable for their actions, regardless of innate factors of the influences of early experience.

Question 29

Give evidence for determinism and free will

Answer 29

• Your brain makes a decision and acts before you’re aware (Koenig-Robert et al., 2019). Motor cortex - 5 secs, mPFC - 10 secs.
• Other neuroscience research concluded that brain activity before consciousness and/prf action was just a ‘state of readiness’ rather than a fully-formed decision (Trevena and Miller, 2009).
• Stephen Mobley.
• Cultural relativism (meanings differ between cultures), individualist cultures believe in self-determination whereas collectivist cultures believe in group determination.
• Diathesis-stress shows genetic determinism isn’t 100% accurate - concordance rates are never 100% because environmental triggers are required.