Many psychological approaches would agree that behaviour is largely predetermined but disagree on the determinants of human behaviour.

The biological approach displays physiological determinism at is believes that

behaviour is determined by our genes. This is advantageous because the approach
is supported by scientific research where there is control over the IV and DV thus
making treatments quicker and more effective. One effective drug is clozapine, used
to reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia by blocking serotonin and dopamine in
neurotransmitters as suffers cant control themselves. This proves schizophrenia is
determined by brain structure.
The behaviourist approach displays environmental determinism due to its argument
that behaviour is learnt from the environment through operant and classical
conditioning and modelling. This explains anorexia which proposes that body image
is shaped by the media. However, Mischel suggests an interaction between the
individual and the environment is important. A person will chose a social environment
to suit them and will learn behaviour from their social group. Therefore, it can be
argued that learnt behaviour is partially due to choice and thus free will. The
behaviourist approach also show reductionism as it reduces complex behaviour to
simple stimulus responses which isnt the only factor which will affect humans
behaviour.
In contrast, the cognitive approach supports free will as it believes that our schemas
are developed from our interactions with the world and our experiences and these
schemas drive our behaviour. Therefore, these thought processes can be altered.
Dobash supports this as he tested the effectiveness of CBT in anger management
and found that individuals were able to reduce aggression thus control their
behaviour. This shows a person has free will over behaviour.
As psychological research evolves, we are able to prove more assumptions and
attempt to solve the debate. Prices XYY research into criminality gave an
explanation of violent crimes based on chromosome abnormality. He found that
males with an extra Y chromosome were more likely to commit crime than those with
the normal XY chromosomes. This research is beneficial because is it scientific and
gives a cause and effect. Also, it can help to give an early diagnosis of mental
disorders.
There are many psychological arguments supporting free will. Dr Samuel Johnson
believes that people have a subjective sense of free will and so feel that they
possess it, therefore, individuals feel responsibility for their actions. However, free
will has found to be a difficult concept to be defined. Valentine has proposed a
number of explanations of free will. The first is choice, where in a given situation a
person can chose to act differently to the way they did. The second is uncaused
behaviour where behaviour is random, but this would make behaviour unpredictable.
The third is voluntary behaviour. Furthermore, theres no proof free will exists, we
may only think were free due to the causes of our behaviour being hidden from us.

The moral responsibility argument states that and individual must have free will
because we are responsible for our own actions. Our legal system is based on this.
Furthermore, research into criminality suggests there may be a biological basis.
Prices XYY research into criminality gave an explanation of violent crimes based on
chromosome abnormality. He found that males with an extra Y chromosome were
more likely to commit crime than those with the normal XY chromosomes. However,
this has implications as it suggests we have no control over developing criminality.
Our justice system is based on free will, so therefore, criminals will be able to blame
criminal behaviour on their genes.
There are also psychological arguments for supporting determinism. The scientific
argument suggests that determinism is compatible with science because science
can give cause-effect relationships so we can then begin to predict and control
behaviour. A problem with this is that most scientific research is conducted in labs so
cannot be generalised to the real world. Also, it relies on the idea that human
behaviour is 100% predictable but Mischels theory of personality argues that people
behaviour varies in different situations so behaviour isnt consistent and thus not
predictable.
Research into the human genome project is producing evidence of genes effecting
behaviour. Zubrenko has identified a gene for depression proving it may be predetermined. However, its gender specific and can only be applied to females. There
will never be 100% genetic determinism due to the ethical implications involved.
People may begin to create designer babies that have no genetic abnormalities or
any of the genes that may lead to abnormality in behaviour. This would cause many
ethical issues and problems for society. A major concern would be the issues related
with labelling as people may be treated unequally e.g. insurance companies might
not insure a person if they are carrying a mental illness gene.