Free will and Determinism

Question 1

Free will

Answer 1

the notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external forces

Question 2

Determinism

Answer 2

the view that an individual’s behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces rather than an individual’s will to do something

Question 3

Hard determinism

Answer 3

implies that free will is not possible as our behaviour is always caused by internal or external events beyond our control

Question 4

Soft determinism

Answer 4

all events, including human behaviour, have causes, but behaviour can also be determined by our conscious choices in the absence if coercion.

Question 5

Biological determinism

Answer 5

the belief that behaviour is caused by biological (genetic, hormonal, evolutionary) influences that we cannot control

• biological approach
• there is no doubt that many of our physiological and neurological processes are not under our conscious control - influence of the autonomic nervous system during periods of stress and anxiety
• testosterone in aggressive behaviour

Question 6

Environmental determinism

Answer 6

the belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment (systems of reward and punishment) that we cannot control

Skinner described free will as ‘an illusion’ and argued that all behaviour is the result of conditioning
- behaviour has been shaped by environmental events, as well as agents of socialisation parents, teachers etc.

Question 7

Psychic determinism

Answer 7

the belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control

Question 8

The scientific emphasis on causal explanations

Answer 8

laboratory experiment enables researchers to stimulate the conditions of the test tube and remove all other extraneous variables in an attempt to precisely control and predict human behaviour