paper 3 - issues & debates freewill & determinism L3

What does having freewill suggest and does it fully deny the idea that some of our behaviour can be influenced by biology

Freewill suggests that as human beings we are self determining and free to choose our thoughts and actions

• a belief in freewill does not deny that there may be biological / environmental forces that influence behaviour but we are able to reject these forces and choose our own destiny

Give an example of a study that supports the idea of freewill

• rogers approach to therapy —→ he thinks that the client should discover their own solutions to their problems and make their own choice on how to grow and develop as an individual

Explain what determinism means

Determinism is the view that freewill is an illusion and that our behaviour is governed by internal or external forces which we have no control

What are the two versions of determinism

• soft determinism

• Hard determinism

Explain what soft and hard determinism is

Soft determinism - behaviour is constrained by biological makeup / environment but there is an element of freewill in all behaviour

hard determinism - internal and external forces outside of our control shape our behaviour

What are the three types of determinism

• biological determinism

• Environmental determinism

• Psychic determinism

What does biological determinism mean?

• refers to the idea that all behaviour is innate and determined by an individual genetic makeup

• Many physiological and neurological processes are not under our conscious control e.g the influence of the autonomic nervous system under periods of stress

• Lots of behaviours such as mental disorders are thought to have genetic basis and research has demonstrated the effect of hormones e.g testosterone causes aggressive behaviour

What is are examples of biological determinism

Lewis

• 37% of his patients had OCD and 21% has siblings with OCD —> there is genetic inherited vulnerability

Nestadt et al

• Found that people who have first degree relatives who suffer with ocd are 5 times more likely to suffer from ocd in their life

What is environmental determinism

• behaviour is caused by forces outside the individual ; behaviour is caused by previous experiences

• Our experience of choice is because of reinforcement that have acted upon us

• We think we are acting independently but our behaviour has been shaped by environmental factors & agents of socialisation

Give an example of a study or approach where environmental determinism is implied

Behaviourist approach - suggests phobias are acquired throughout classical conditioning and maintained via operant conditioning so to some extent environmentally determined

Explain what psychic determinism is

Behaviour is the result of childhood experiences and innate drives

• behaviour is determined and directed by unconscious conflicts, repressed in childhood

• Belief that there is no such thing as an accident eg slip of the tongue can be explained by the authority of the unconscious

Explain the basic principle in science

• every event in the universe has a cause and that can be explained using general laws

• Knowledge of causes and the formulation of laws are important as they allow scientists to predict and control events in the future

In psychology why can lab experiments be beneficial to study human behaviour

• lab experiments enables researchers to stimulate the conditions of the test and remove all other extraneous variables to precisely control and predict human behaviour

• This ensures cause and effect relationships to be established