issues and debates

Determinism

individuals cannot control their behaviour and is determined by internal and external factors

free will

individuals can control their behaviour and are free to make their own choices

hard determinism

forces outside our control shape our behaviour:

biological

psychic

environmental

These are not compatible with free will

soft determinism

behaviour is constrained by biology or environment but only to a certain degree. You have a certain amount of free will

biological determinism

behaviour is down to genetics/hormones

psychic determinism

freuds approach- human behaviour is down to drive/urges and a result of unconscious conflicts

environmental determinism

our behaviour has been shaped by our environment/socialisation

humanistic free wil

humans have personal control over the choices they make, the directions in life that they take and the consequences these lead to

moral responsibility

an individual is in charge if their actions

nature

the idea that our behaviour is a consequence of heredity

nativists

believe that human characteristics are innate

nurture

the idea that a behaviour is a consequence of the environment

empiricists

the only innate capabilities we are born with are physical, and that behaviour is the result of a persons environment

interactionist approach

one that considers behaviour to be influenced y both nature and nurture

reductionism

the idea that complex behaviours can e reduced and fully explained by looking at the components at a lower level that make up a behaviour

holism

the idea that complex behaviours cannot be fully explained by reducing them to explanations at lower levels, but must be explained at the highest holistic level

cultural bias

when differences between cultures have not been considered properly, leading to a biased or potentially biased conclusion

ethnocentrism

a cultural bias that leans in favour of a particular culture because the research has only been conducted using participants of that culture