Issues and Debates 16 Marker - June 2017

Dancho is a talented and famous musician. He was taught to play the piano by his father who was a concert pianist. From the age of four years Dancho attended a specialist music school where he spent many hours each day practising the piano. In a recent TV interview Dancho said, ‘My earliest memories are of notes and melodies, so music is a part of me. To hear the applause in the concert hall is what I live for. Even if I wanted to stop playing, I could not.’

Discuss two or more types of determinism. Refer to the case of Dancho as part of your discussion. [16 marks]

Determinism in psychology refers to the view that an individuals behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces, rather than the individuals free will to do something. There are also two levels of determinism - hard and soft determinism. Hard determinsm implies that free will is not possible as our behaviour is caused by internal or external forces that are beyond our control. This can be linked to Dancho’s case where it states, ‘Even if i wanted to stop playing, i could not.’ This shows that irrespective of whether his will is to continue playing or not, his behaviour is being controlled by factors that are outside of his control, which supports the view of hard determinism. Soft determinism implies that all events, including natural human behaviour, have causes, but can also be determined by our conscious choice to do something, in the absnece of coercion.

There are three types of determinsm - biological, environmental and psychic determinism. Biological determinsm holds the idea that all human behaviour is innate and determined by genes and other things that are passed down through generations. An example of where this could be applied in Dancho’s case is where it says, “music is a part of me”. This statement supports biological determinism as the fact that his dad was a concert pianist as well may suggest that the skills and talent required to play the piano at such high levels may be hereditary, and so passed down from Dancho’s father to Dancho.

Environmental determinsm is the view that an individuals behaviour is determined or caused by forces that are outside of the individual. This argues that our behaviour is caused by previous experiences that are learned through classical and operant conditioning and stimulus-response links. This type of determinism can be applied to Dancho’s case where it says, “From the age of four years Dancho attended a specialist music school where he spent many hours each day practising the piano.” This statement supports environmental determinism because of the fact that Dancho’s ability to play the piano well was nurtured by the specialist school from the age of 4. This therefore means that Dancho’s behaviour of playing the piano was influenced and determined by the environment in which he was surrounded by - the specialist piano school.

The third type of determinism is psychic determinism. This type of determinsm claims that human behaviour is the result of childhood experiences and innate drives, such as Freud’s concept of the Id, Ego and Superego. Psychic determinsm also states that experiences may have an effect on the unconscious mind that cannot be directly accessed, and so some behaviours may occur that we may not be able to explain, but were caused by the unconscious mind. Freud also put forward the concept of the oedipus complex. This may be applied to Dancho’s case as after overcoming the oedipus complex as a child, Dancho, according to Freud’s theory, would likely then have identified with his father, which is how Dancho would begin to develop his piano skills.

A criticism of determinism is that it does not reflect how legal systems around the world work. In a court of law offenders are held morally accountable for their actions, but if , according to hard determinism, the individual had no free will over their actions, then it is very difficult to try and convict an individual for crimes they hard no free will or control over. Another disadvantage is that determinism is unfalsifiable. This is because it is based on the idea that causes of behaviour will always exist, even if they have not yet been discovered. This means that it is impossible to prove this theory wrong. This suggests that the deterministic approach may not be as scientific as it appears to be.

An advantage if determinism, on the other hand, is that it is consistent with the aims of science. The notion that human behaviour is orderly and obey’s laws places psychology at an equal footing with the more established sciences. The value of such research is that the prediction and control of human behaviour has led to the development of treatments and therapies that have benefitted many.