Define the terms physical determinism, psychical determinism, indeterminism, and nondeterminism.
While studying humans, determinism is assumed by scientifically oriented psychologists. Determinism can be different types, although it is believed by all determinists that all behavior is caused. Different types of determinism include biological, environmental, sociocultural, physical and psychical determinism.
Physical determinism is the determinism that emphasizes the importance of environmental stimuli, cultural customs, and genes in the explanation of behavior. These determinants of behavior can be quantified and accessed.
Psychical determinism is the determinism that emphasizes the importance of emotional and cognitive experience in the explanation of behavior. This determinism includes subjective determinants of human behavior, that is, emotions, perceptions, values, goals, ideas, sensations, and beliefs of a person.
According to the uncertainty principle of Heisenberg, anything in science can never be known with certainty. Application of this principle in psychology says that some causes of human behavior can never be learned as they got changed in our attempt to observe them. Thus, while searching for the causes of behavior, experimental setting itself functions as a variable.
Some psychologists accept this viewpoint and believe that human behavior has specific causes. However, these causes cannot be known with accuracy. The position of such psychologists is called indeterminism.
The concept to use science to study humans is completely rejected by some psychologists. These psychologists work with either an existential or a humanistic paradigm, and believed human behavior to be a result of self-generated causes.
They believed that behavior is not dependent on psychical or physical causes, and is chosen freely. The position of such psychologists is called nondeterminism. In this determinism, individual is alone responsible for his action, since he freely chooses his course of action.