Perspectives in Psychology

Pre-scientific determinism

Big discussion for Ancient Greeks

Causal determinism should be able to be predicted

Libertarianism views present

Pre-scientific determinism

If God is omniscient, do we actually have free will?
How would Karma, Heaven/Hell work?

Debate between omniscience and predeterminism

Jews and Muslims lean more towards free will
Hinduism leans more towards determinism
Buddhism looks at inter-dependent approach

Internal determinism

Evolutionary psychology argues that many of our thoughts and behaviours are the products of natural selection
Have universal drives - e.g. fight or flight, mating

Adaptations 'cause' some behaviours (mating preferences)

Phenotype plasticity means that we don't all behave the same way

Inherited variation in genes, which influence behaviour
   - Associated with eugenic and racism

We may make decisions before we are consciously aware
   Libet = readiness potential

Internal determinism

Freud emphasised the unconscious

Instinctual drives and unconscious forces play deterministic roles in thought, personality, decision-making, behaviour

Id - basic, instinctual drives
Superego - morality
Ego - balance between the 2

Causes of behaviour often unconscious
Look at causes of behaviour in tongue slips, dreams, jokes, defense mechanisms

External determinism

Watson argued that we are passive and malleable, so there is no room for free will
Learning, experiences, and environment all shape who we are
Environmental determinism - behaviours that humans display are determined by past and current environments they have interacted with and been shaped by

Skinner argued that behaviour is driven by things that have made us feel good in the past and that free will is merely an illusion  - not falsifiable, we are often aware of stimuli, spontaneity

Stimulus-response conditioning  - once conditioned, we can have unconscious reactions to certain stimuli

Reinforcements and punishments - encouraged to act a certain way by motivations

Hard to prove, especially in real-world, as 
   - rarely determine stimulus, so hard to manipulate
   - how do new behaviours occur
   - how to explain latent and social learning

External determinism

Bandura's social learning theory - Bobo doll, people demonstrate behaviours, kids generally imitate

Reciprocal determinism - whilst the environment shapes us, we also shape the environment

Cultural determinism - different cultures have different beliefs and customs (e.g. weddings, funerals)

Free will (slight)  - more like compatibilism

People choose how to behave, but their choices are influenced by their biology and environment
See a distinction between causation and coercion

Implicit and explicit processing (perception, not just sensation)

Humans are actively involved in process of acquiring and applying knowledge

Bandura - recognises reciprocal determinism
Interaction with various environments and capability of cognitive system to store, reflect and manipulate data means we can come up with novel ideas
Allows for some ideas of free-will, intentionality, autonomy and agency

Kahneman - thinking fast and slow
   Some behaviours are automatic, whereas others are more conscious

Free will (strong)

Humans are fundamentally free to make their own choices

Emphasises subjective experience and that people have the power to change their own lives

Empowers people, believes people can change - Carl Rogers
Could be a problematic viewpoint when considered scientifically
Saw the inherent value of freedom and of people seen as moral agents with choice

Free will is necessary for self-actualisation - Abraham Maslow

The process whereby certain thoughts and behaviours are determined by external or internal factors

Strengths

• Gives an explanation
• It's scientific, falsifiable
• Doesn't blame people for their actions

Weaknesses

• Reductionist - single cause fallacy
• Doesn't hold people accountable for their actions
• Hard to prove, especially as people are hard to predict
• Doesn't take individual differences into account
• Decline in moral behaviours  - Vohs and Schooler

Humans respond freely, voluntarily, and actively to events around them, and have the freedom to choose options when presented with stimuli

Strengths

• Emphasises the individual
• Encourages personal responsibility
• Feeling of freedom
• Comforting belief

Weaknesses

• No real evidence to support it
• All the responsibility falls on the people
• Behaviour isn't totally random