Determinism and Free will Flashcards
Key reading + Lecture
Free Will
the ability to choose, and be in control of, our own actions and thoughts.
or
voluntarily and actively to events around them, that when they encounter or are presented with stimuli, choices or options they have the freedom to choose which to select, or in fact may choose not to select any of them at all
Determinism
“the process whereby certain thoughts or behaviours cannot be said to result from free-will but instead are determined by external or internal factors or forces of some kind”
Causal determinism
all behaviours, thoughts, beliefs have a cause. If we know the cause we can therefore predict these behaviours, thoughts and beliefs.
Libertarianism
humans have free will and can choose how to behave and think without constraint.
Evolutionary psychology view on determinism
argues that many of our thoughts and behaviours may be shaped and determined, at least to some extent, by natural selection.
E.g., apparently free choices, such as what characteristics we find attractive in someone of the opposite sex and who we choose to marry, may in fact be partially determined by evolutionary strategies, designed to increase the chances of spreading our genes and producing healthy offspring (Buss, 1989).
Biological determinism
can be said to refer to any theory or approach in which biological concepts or processes are said to determine our thoughts and behaviours.
e.g., Instincts: the inborn and unlearnt tendencies that William James and the ethologists argued predispose animals (including humans) to behave in certain ways.
Psychic determinism
associated with the psychodynamic approach because it looks for the causes and determinants of conscious thoughts and behaviours in the unconscious influences of the id, ego and superego and the interactions between them.
e.g., For Freud, everything in the person’s conscious mind and everything the person does has a cause. That cause is often unconscious.
Parapraxis
a minor error in speech, memory, or action that’s thought to be caused by unconscious desires or conflicts.
Can be accounted for without using the unconscious
Environmental determinism
the behaviours that humans (and animals) display are determined by the past and current environments they have interacted with and been shaped by. Behaviourist approach.
Radical determinism - Skinner
His central argument was that human freedom is an illusion and a superstition, one that prevents the methods of science from being used to achieve their full potential – the precise prediction and control of human behaviour.
We use basic rules when it comes to human behaviour (avoid bad - punishment, increase good…)
Whenever we are free of the threat or punishment itself the illusion of free will appears
Past behaviours influence future decisions or ‘choices we make’ - we are unwire of the patterns of reinforcement in our lives (environmental control and determinism are unavoidable)
Take one part of skinners radical determinism and critic it
Claim by skinner: Skinner’s belief that all our actions are carried out solely on the basis of past personal experience and learning, and our expectation of future reward or punishment.
Critic: fails to consider the possibility that as conscious agents we are not just passive receivers of environmental stimuli that trigger automatic behavioural responses, we are also often consciously aware of the stimuli and the responses, both in our own case and when witnessing the behaviour of others. It’s been noted that we retain and may later use this information to act on the environment in different ways.
Soft Determinism / compatibilism
accepting some form of free will whilst also trying to explain this within the framework of a scientific psychology. The aim is to be able to show that our behaviour is determined, which fits in within the scientific framework, but to still somehow allow some space for notions of unpredictability and free will.
note: Because of soft determinism’s attempts to show that freedom can be compatible with notions of causation it is sometimes also called compatibilism
Bandura’s reciprocal determinism
Bandura also argues that spontaneous and creative thoughts and behaviours are possible within this version of determinism (refection can allow new ideas)
what is the only one to truly defend the notion of free will (people having power to direct their own lives and subjective human experience)
Humanism
where does behaviourism stand on the determinism and free will debate
more determinism (behaviour shaped and determined by environment)
where does biological stand on the determinism and free will debate
more determinism (behaviour causes by genetics, enviro)
where does cognitive stand on the determinism and free will debate
free will while acknowledge determinism -soft determinism (free choice even if genetics, bio and environment effect)
where does Humanism stand on the determinism and free will debate
strong free will (subjective human experience, therapy often about free to make own choices)
where does psychodynamic stand on the determinism and free will debate
determinism (instinctual drives, unconscious forces…)
Why is free will important?
recent research from Vohs and Schooler (2008) suggests that whether we believe in free will or determinism could actually affect our sense of moral responsibility.
Pre-scientific ideas of determinism
If God is omniscient (knows all, including future events), how can we have free-will? If we don’t have free-will, how can we be judged?
Omniscience (soft theological determinism) vs. predestination (hard theological determinism)
How can we be judged by our behaviour if behaviour is pre-determined
Varying positions within and across religions (e.g., Christians need free will to perform action but god passes judgment (determinism))
biological internal determinism
Products of natural selection
We have universal drives to survive and reproduce
We adapt as a species
Adaptations cause’ some of our behaviours
Due to phenotypic and plasticity we don’t all behave the same
Motivated by sex and survival
biogenetics internal determinism
Inherited variation in genes
Genetic make-up determines how we behave and think
Role of genes began with galton (1883) twin studies (same genes diff. environments)
Neuroscience means we can explore role of specific genes (genomic sequencing)
psychic psychodynamic internal determinism
Freud and the unconscious - Id, ego and super ego
Thoughts/ behaviour determined via psychoanalysis and unconscious
Instiniucal drives (particularly sexual) influence behaviour
Neuroscientific Internal determinism
Being led by unconscious processing
We think we have made up our mind but have we?
Found that (button pushing study) readiness potential, which can predict what behaviour we would do. People had EEG and told to press button at free will. The brain scan showed that the decision and brain recognition to press the button happened way before it was actually pressed.
Uses Fmri
External determinism key points
Watson claimed he could take anyone can turn them into lawyer, thief est..
Blank slate
The environment is the only cause of behaviour (because the mind is not a factor)
We act based on learnt associations built up through reinforcement and punishment
We are a collection of “response tendencies”.
Humans seen more or less as machines.
In a system of psychology completely worked out, given the response the stimulus can be predicted; given the stimulus the response can be predicted
Applied Behaviour Analysis: You can shape and therefore determine (predict) behaviour using behaviourist learning principles.
strength and weakness of determism
Strengths –>
In Psychology we are looking for explanations, for causes, of behaviour (to predict and understand).
Scientific assessment of cause and effect, isolates variables, produces hypotheses, is falsifiable.
Doesn’t blame people for bad behaviour.
weakness –>
Reductionist. May lead to the “single cause fallacy.”
It’s rare to actually “prove” the cause of a behaviour, people are very hard to predict.
Doesn’t account for individual differences.
Doesn’t hold people responsible for bad behaviour.
Opponents commit ‘naturalistic fallacy’
strengths and weaknesses of free will
strengths –>
Emphasises the individual
Encourages individuality
Makes you feel free
weaknesses –>
There is no real evidence except “we feel free” (subjective experience)
Responsibility is placed with the individual
Is behaviour ever 100% free-willed?
Free will - Humanistic approach
Derminsitc in sense everyone has to achieve it but you don’t have to want to strive for the needs (psych needs, safety needs Mazlow)
Free will is essential for self-actualization (have to know you have made it to make it
Free will - cognitive approach
People choose how to behave but this is based on innate mental capabilities (biology) and past experience (environment).
Able to choose how to behave But previous experience and biases Influence choices (in memory and sensory data)
Hard Incompatibilism
Hard in compatibilism is the view that people lack free will and moral responsibilityHard incompatibilists believe that people are subject to causal luck, or factors beyond their control.
They argue that free will is necessary for people to deserve praise or blame for their actions.
