Free will and Determinism

Question 1

What is Free Will?

Answer 1

Free Will is the idea that we play an active role and make conscious choices about how to behave. Individuals are free to choose their behaviour (there are no constraints on choice) and are self-determined.

An individual does not act in response to any external forces (e.g. influence of our parents) or internal pressures (biological factors such as genes and hormones).

A person is responsible for their own actions and it is impossible to predict human behaviour with any precision – behaviour is therefore random, unpredictable and voluntary.

Question 2

What is Determinism

Answer 2

Our behaviour is governed by internal or external forces over which we have no control.

Behaviour is therefore predictable. The causal laws of determinism form the basis of science.

An example of an external force would be the influence of parents when rewarding certain behaviours.
An example of an internal force would be hormones influencing the way in which someone behaves.

However, there are varying degrees of determinism, including hard and soft determinism.

Question 3

HARD Determinism (fatalism) is

Answer 3

the view that forces outside of our control (e.g. biology or past experience) always cause behaviour.
Hard Determinism is seen as incompatible with free will (i.e. free will is completely disregarded).
For example, the biological and behaviourist (classical and operant conditioning) approaches.

Question 4

SOFT Determinism suggests

Answer 4

that behaviour is caused by the environment or biological make-up, but only to a certain extent.
It suggests that some behaviours are more constrained than others and that there is an element of free will in all behaviour (although we may have a limited number of behaviours to choose from).
For example, Social Learning Theory (SLT) and the Cognitive Approach.
In SLT there is an element of determinism (environmental and cultural factors), but also mediating cognitive factors, which means that we do not blindly or passively imitate behaviour observed, exercising some free will.

Question 5

Biological Determinism includes

Answer 5

any kind of biological influence on the body (and our behaviour).

Question 6

There are three main biological mechanisms

Answer 6

Genetic
Physiology of the brain
Biochemistry

Question 7

Examples of behaviours that are thought to have a genetic component:

Answer 7

Addiction – the A1 variant of the DRD2 gene (thought to lead to a dopamine deficiency that the addict tries to compensate for by gambling, smoking etc.)
OCD – the COMT gene (regulates dopamine) and SERT gene (involved in the transportation of serotonin).
A mutated form of the COMT gene is thought to lead to excess levels of dopamine.
A mutated form of the SERT gene is thought to lead to a lack of serotonin.
Gender Dysphoria - Variants of the androgen receptor gene, which influences the action of testosterone, involved in the masculinisation of the brain.

Question 8

Examples of behaviours that are thought to be determined by brain physiology:

Answer 8

Biopsychology – localisation of function. For example, damage to Broca’s area can lead to difficulties producing speech.
OCD – the ‘worry circuit’. An overactive OFC and damaged caudate nucleus is thought to be responsible for obsessional thoughts.
Gender – Swaab identified the Sexually Dimorphic Nucleus (SDN), located in the hypothalamus, which was found to be twice as big in the male brain compared to the female brain.
The BSTc may also serve as a biological marker for gender identity, as the volume of BSTc is larger in males than in females or male-to-female (MtF) transgender women

Question 9

Biological Determinism - Physiology of the Brain

Answer 9

There is evidence that certain areas control certain functions and behaviours (as they are affected when damage occurs).
The result is that there may be an effect on our behaviour beyond the individual’s control.

Question 10

Biological Determinism – Biochemistry

Answer 10

There is also a relationship shown between biochemistry and behaviour.
Biochemistry refers to the role of neurotransmitters and hormones

Question 11

Examples of behaviours that are thought to be determined by biochemistry

Answer 11

Addiction – linked to a dopamine deficiency that the addict tries to compensate for by gambling, smoking etc.
OCD – linked to low levels of serotonin and high levels of dopamine.
Gender identity - hormonal differences in the womb (driven by our genes and chromosomes at conception) affect brain development and later behaviour.
Testosterone is associated with masculinisation of the brain and is linked to male-type behaviours such as aggressiveness and competitiveness.
Oestrogen is associated with feminising the brain (promoting neural interconnections between the two hemispheres of the brain) and is linked to female-type behaviours, such as sensitivity and cooperation.

However, individuals could make a conscious decision to control a chemical imbalance by opting for drug therapy – SSRI’s have been used to treat addiction and OCD.

Question 12

Environmental Determinism

Answer 12

This is the idea that our behaviour is determined by environmental influences (e.g. the behaviour of other people – conformity/obedience research) and previous experience.
Environmental determinism is most commonly associated with the Learning Approach.

Question 13

Behaviourist Approach:

Answer 13

Behaviourism (classical and operant conditioning) advocates a stimulus-response explanation for behaviour.
The key assumption is that an external trigger prompts a behavioural response.
For example, Skinner argued that the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated depends on the consequences e.g. the addition of a positive stimulus (‘reward’) will increase the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated (positive reinforcement).

Question 14

Social Learning Approach:

Answer 14

The social learning approach is less deterministic than classical and operant conditioning, because it recognises the role of mediational processes (cognitive processes moderate the response i.e. whether the person completes the action or not).

Question 15

Examples of behaviours that are thought to be determined by the environment:

Answer 15

Attachment – the learning theory of the formation of attachment.
Addiction – the learning theory of smoking (cue reactivity) and gambling (partial and variable reinforcement); behavioural interventions (aversion therapy and covert sensitisation).
Phobias – the behavioural approach to explaining (the two-process model) and treating (systematic desensitisation, flooding) phobias.
Gender – Social learning theory of gender development; the influence of culture and media on gender roles; social explanations for gender dysphoria

Question 16

Psychic determinism considers

Answer 16

the role of the unconscious and childhood experience on conscious thought and how that affects behaviour.
This type of determinism is linked to the psychodynamic approach.

Question 17

Psychic Determinism

Answer 17

Freud argued that every action we take has a cause, and that this cause often has its origins in the unconscious mind.
As the cause is from the unconscious mind, the individual would often be unable to say why they had behaved in a particular way (this could be uncovered in psychotherapy).
Freud suggested that even everyday behaviour has its roots in the unconscious (which we are unaware of and unable to control) and as such it should be examined:
For example Freudian slips, which are when an individual says the wrong word - seemingly by accident - and this indicates what is going on in the unconscious mind.
Effect of childhood experiences on adult behaviour: Fixation in one of the psychosexual stages can result in certain traits being dominant in the adult personality e.g. strict potty training can result in an anally retentive personality (stingy, stubborn, perfectionist).

Question 18

Scientific emphasis on causal explanations (SCIENTIFIC DETERMINISM

Answer 18

Involves the use of methods from the natural sciences to find causal mechanisms for behaviour and thought.
As psychology is usually considered to be a science, the use of the scientific method tends to be commonplace.
The use of empirical methods and specifically experiments (laboratory) is the most common method to establish cause - if one factor (the independent variable) changes behaviour (the dependent variable in an experiment where all other factors are controlled for, then the original factor independent variable) must be responsible for the change (effect).

Question 19

Genetic determinism
It is doubtful that 100% genetic determination will ever be found for any behaviour.

Answer 19

As research currently stands there is no gene where its existence means that a behaviour will definitely occur i.e. there is no research to suggest that a behaviour can be purely determined by one’s genetic make-up (their genotype).
Until research exists that provides evidence for a purely genetic cause of behaviour, the hard determinism stance cannot be proven and so a softer viewpoint must be adopted.

Researchers have not found a 100% concordance rate between identical (MZ) twins in terms of depression, schizophrenia, intelligence or OCD, despite the fact that they are genetically identical

Question 20

Environmental determinism
Environmental explanations cannot solely determine behaviour.

Answer 20

The concordance rates referred to below equally show that the environment cannot be the sole determining factor in behaviour; there is some genetic input.
If there wasn’t any genetic input then you would expect the concordance rates to be more similar between MZ and DZ twins.
For the most part it seems that behaviour is determined by both biological and environmental factors, although some behaviours are more environmentally determined than others.
A hard (environmental) determinism stance is difficult to prove.

Question 21

Scientific determinism
Dennett (2003) argues that, in the physical sciences, it is now accepted that there is no such thing as total determinism.

Answer 21

Chaos Theory or the ‘butterfly effect’ proposes that very small changes in initial conditions can subsequently result in major changes.
Causal relationships are probabilistic rather than determinist i.e. they increase the probability of something occurring rather than being the sole determinant

Question 22

The case FOR determinism

Answer 22

Behaviour is more predictable according to determinist explanations.

Why is this a strength?
It enables researchers to generate hypotheses regarding human behaviour, that can then be tested.

General laws i.e. theories for human behaviour can then be established, providing a better understanding of behaviour.

Question 23

The case AGAINST determinism

Answer 23

A determinist position may be undesirable because it would allow individuals to ‘excuse’ their behaviour.
There have been attempts in criminal cases in the US for murderers to claim that their behaviour was determined by inherited aggressive tendencies and therefore they should not be punished with the death penalty.
For example, Stephen Mobley, who killed a pizza shop manager in 1981, claimed this happened because he was ‘born to kill’.

Question 24

Determinism is an issue in the treatment of mental disorder.

Answer 24

If disorders such as schizophrenia and depression are determined by an individual’s biology (genes and neurotransmitters), then treatment should target genes or neurotransmitters, but what is the drawback to such determinist treatments?
This may prevent the consideration of other treatments that might be beneficial, such as CBT (which relies on patients exercising free will).

Question 25

Determinist explanations tend to oversimplify human behaviour.

Answer 25

They may be appropriate for non-human animals (e.g. rats, pigeons, dogs), but human behaviour is less rigid and influenced by many factors e.g. cognitive factors such as thinking about what you intend to do can override biological impulses.

Question 26

The case FOR free will

Answer 26

The subjective experience of most people is that they are in control of their own actions and behaviours.
The Humanistic Approach acknowledges this feeling and argues that we do have free will.

Humanistic psychologists (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.

Question 27

The case AGAINST free will

Answer 27

Free will is practically impossible to test.
It is a non-physical phenomenon and as such is difficult to quantify and measure. As psychology is a science, the idea that something without a physical presence can affect behaviour is at odds with the discipline.
Arguably, free will is not measurable because it does not exist.

Free will is an illusion.
B.F. Skinner argued that free will is an illusion and that our choices are always influenced by previous reinforcement experiences.
Libet et al. (1983) found that the motor regions of the brain become active before a person registers conscious awareness of a decision, i.e. the decision to move the finger was actually a pre-determined action of the brain (actions are the product of brain states).
This strongly suggests that many responses are biologically determined and that although we may believe that we have free will Skinner’s claim that free will is an illusion may be correct.
A ‘soft determinism’ perspective that recognises an element of free will in our behaviour is probably the most appropriate stance.

Question 28

examples of free will and determinism in attachment topic

Answer 28

Learning Theory of Attachment (environmental determinism)
Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment (biological determinism) - evolutionary theory (attachment is innate)

Question 29

examples of free will and determinism in psychopathology topic

Answer 29

The biological approach to explaining (COMT, SERT gene) and treating (drug therapy) OCD (biological determinism)
The learning approach to explaining (two-process model) and treating (systematic desensitisation, flooding) phobias (environmental determinism)
The cognitive approach to explaining (negative triad) and treating (CBT) depression (soft determinism)

Question 30

examples of free will and determinism in approaches topic

Answer 30

The biological, behaviourist (environmental) and psychodynamic (psychic) approaches (hard determinism)
The cognitive approach and social learning theory (soft determinism)
The humanistic approach (free will)