determinism vs free will

Question 1

what is free will

Answer 1

the notion that human beings essentially are self determining and free to choose their own thoughts and action. doesnt deny the role of biological and environmental forces in behaviour but instead claims we can ignore them/we have the power to ignore them
assumes complete autonomy over our actions
-HUMANISM

Question 2

hard determinism

Answer 2

sometimes referred to as fatalism suggesting that all human behaviour has a cause and in principle should be able to identify and describe these causes
everything we say and do is dictated by external and internal forces that are outside of our control
however it is argued that this standpoint is too extreme

Question 3

soft determinism

Answer 3

a combination of both determinism and free will
not entirely our internal and external factors and not entirely our own independent choice

Question 4

biological determinism

Answer 4

emphasises the role of biological forces. takes a largely hard deterministic stance in explaining behaviour suggesting that it is innate and biologically hardwired. however modern psychologists appreciate the mediating influence of the environment (diathesis stress model) this is also determinism but softer.

Question 5

environmental determinism

Answer 5

skinner described free will as an illusion and suggested that we learn all behaviour from our environment. while we may think we are acting with autonomy our behaviour may simply be a sum of reinforcement contingencies that have acted upon us throughout our lives.

Question 6

psychic determinism

Answer 6

freud also believed that free will was an illusion but emphasised the role of biological drives desires and instincts in determining our behaviour. he saw pur behaviour as a consequence of unresovled childhood conflicts and placed resposnibility heavily on the unconscious
eg a freudian slip conflicts with the concept of an ‘accident’

Question 7

scientific determinism (causal explanations)

Answer 7

every event has a cause and can be explained by general laws
this allows as they allow us to control and predict future events

Question 8

strengths of free will

Answer 8

+practical value- the belief that we have the freedom to control daily events has been proved to have a positive effect on our mental health. this is because fatalism has often correlated to the development of depression. those who have a high internal locus of control are often less likely to develop depression because they see events are controllable and not predetermined.

Question 9

limitation of free will (favouring determinism)

Answer 9

-libet instructed pps to choose a random moment to flick their wrist whilst he measured activity in the brain (readiness potential)
pps had to say when they felt the conscious will to move. the unconscious was found to be operating before the conscious
HOWEVER just because the action came before the conscious thought doesnt mean there was an absence of conscious thought

Question 10

determinism limitation

Answer 10

the hard determinism stance is inconsistent with how the court of law operates as offenders would be seen as completely blameless for their behaviour if it was said to be a pure result of factors outside of their control. this means that in the real world, arguing hard determinism is not useful.

Question 11

determinism advantage

Answer 11

real world applications
by adopting a deterministic approach, the development of drugs for mental illnesses have been given rise to and successful. SSRIs for OCD treatment are 75% effective
-HOWEVER not 100% effective therefore an interactionist approach should be applied