Behaviorism As A Deterministic Perspective

Behaviorism As A Deterministic Perspective

If you look at the deterministic perspective, you realize that it is all about free will. Free will is nothing but the ability to make a choice freely without any pressures and this make it a voluntary decision. Therefore, free will is not determined by physical, environmental or godly factors.

While most animals do not have free will as they invariably respond to environmental stimuli, humans on the other hand have the ability to adapt to their environment and therefore, have greater behavioral flexibility.

Just because a person has a particular gene does not mean that he will display the trait for that gene. Instead the gene will only be dominant if there is a combination of the right and proper environment to trigger it. And we speak about environment, it is not just the natural surroundings but it also refers to a person's society and culture.

Behaviorism believes that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning and this occurs when the individual interacts with his environment. Therefore, behaviorism does not take into account the internal mental state of the person. Free will, as mentioned earlier, is the ability to pick and choose and this means that the person is influenced by other factors besides deterministic elements like environment and heredity.

A person can choose to behave in a particular in spite of his genes and environmental factors. However, there is one school of thought that talks about behaviorism as a deterministic factor. Here it is believed that free will is made up of behaviors that are dependent on genes as well as past environmental experiences. A person who is not aware that he is controlled by his genetics and environmental experiences ends up actually be controlled more by these elements.

And therefore, if you look at behaviorism as a deterministic perspective, it appears that all influences of the past, the biological makeup of a person, the impact of culture and society and the awareness of these elements is what influences a person to make a choice.

More Articles :

Behaviorism As A Deterministic Perspective