CCC- Volition Flashcards
What is metaphysical libertarianism?
Claim that determinism is false- free will exists.
What is hard determinism?
Hard determinism is the view that forces outside of our control (e.g. biology or past experience) shape our behaviour.
Hard determinism is seen as incompatible with free will.
What do incompatibalists think?
Hold that determinism is the crucial factor in free will.
If your conscious choice is determined by something other than itself- you aren’t free.
What do compatibalists believe?
Deny that determinism is relevant & maintain that alternative constraints are key.
Examples are being free from coercion, or your conscious self contributing in some way to the decision, rather than being the sole determination.
Compatibilism is the belief that free will and determinism are mutually compatible and that it is possible to believe in both without being logically inconsistent.
Do incompatibalists believe in the illusion of free will?
No
Libet 1983
The unconscious initiation of voluntary acts
What occured in the study?
Participants watch a dot rotating on a clock face.
At a time of their choosing, they spontaneously press a button.
They report where the dot was when they first “felt the urge to move”
Electrodes on prefrontal motor areas record the readiness potential (RP) - a negative shift in electrical potential occuring before the action.
Reported will to act was around 200ms before the action.
Crucially the RP began some 350 ms before the reported “will” to move.
What are the implications of the Libet study?
It demonstrates that unconscious brain processes precede conscious decisions to act.
If you are an incompatibalist- you may take this as evidence against free will.
compatibalists - do they believe in free will ?
If their thoughts are a part of the causal chain- the believe they are free.
What are the criticisms of the Libet study?
Action= trivial, the real decision was to join the study.
The time of “will” is subjectively reported & may vary depending on the division of attention.
It makes assumptions about the nature of RP, specifically that it reflects a preconscious decision process.
It assesses only the choice of time, not the choice of action.
EEG has limited spatial resolution- so it provides only limited insight into the specific brain regions involved.
Challenging the basis of readiness potential
What has it long been assumed?
What did Schurger say?
What do simulations recreate?
Assumed-the readiness potential- reflects some form of planning or preparation for movement.
They showed how this same pattern would be present if decisions to move were made based on placing a threshold on the accumalation of random fluctuations in neural activity.
Simulations- recreate the characteristic patterns & successfully make new novel predictions- the RP may not reflect a preconscious decision process.
Soon et al 2008- unconscious determinants of free will
What was the study?
Participants- in an fMRI
Participants watch a stream of letters at half second intervals.
At the time of their choosing, they spontaneously press either the left/ right button (a choice of actions)
They then indicate which letter was present when they decided to press a button.
Soon et al 2008- unconscious determinants of free will
What were the results?
Used sophisticated pattern classification algorithm- which identified areas of the prefrontal cortex- predicting which hand, 7 seconds before the decision (through looking at pattern activation in brain)
Represent an earlier stage in the causal chain- RPs must also have antecedent causes.
Areas identified are known to be involved in prospective memory (remembering to do something in the future)
Soon et al 2008- unconscious determinants of free will
What were the limitations of the study?
EEG has limited spatial resolution, but good temporal resolution.
fMRI has good spatial resolution- but poor temporal resolution.
Soon et al 2008- unconscious determinants of free will
What do we really need/ would prevent the methodological limitations?
Intracranial electrodes are sometimes used for evaluation prior to neurosurgery.
They can record the firing patterns of single neurons in awake functioning individuals.
Placement of electrodes is solely driven by clinical need (can’t do it on anyone- as bad for brain. Epileptic individuals have this done).
But when clinical needs coincide with those of scientific inquiry, they can provide a very rich source of data.
Fried et al 2011- the Libet Paradigm with single neuron recordings.
What was the study?
12 epileptic patients- with intracranial electrodes in medial frontal areas.
Replicate the ramp like increase before movement, for a subset of medial frontal neurons (pre-SMA & SMA)
Time of conscious intention could be predicted by small subpopulations of these.
