free will and determinism Flashcards
What does free will suggest for this debate
- Humans are self-determining and free to choose their own thoughts and actions
- Does not deny that there may be biological and environmental forces that exert some influence on behaviour, but implies that we are able to reject these forces if we wish because we are in control of our thoughts/behaviour
- advocated by the humanistic approach
What does determinism suggest for this approach
Hard determinism
- sometimes referred to as fatalism, and suggests that all human behaviour has a cause and in principle should be able to identify and describe these causes. Such a position always assumes that everything we think and do is dictated by internal and external forces that we cannot control. For some, this is too extreme a position.
Soft determinism
- A position that later became an important feature of the cognitive approach
- the view that behaviour may be predictable (caused by internal/external factors) but there is also room for personal choice from a limited ranged of possibilities (restricted free will)
What are the types of determinism
Biological determinism
- emphasises the role of biological determinism in behaviour, such as the influence of the autonomic nervous system on the stress response or the influence of genes on mental health. Modern biological psychologists would recognise the mediating influence of the environment on our biological structures
Environmental determinism
- Skinner described free will as ‘an illusion’ and argues that all behaviour is the result of conditioning. Although we might think we are acting independently, our experience of ‘choice’ is merely the sum total of reinforcement contingencies that have acted upon us throughout our lives.
Psychic determinism
- Freud believed that free will is an ‘illusion’ but he emphasised the influence of biological drives and instincts.He saw human behaviour as determined by unconscious conflicts, repressed in childhood. There is no such thing as an accident, according to Freud, and even something as seemingly random as a ‘slip of the tongue’ can be explained by the influence of the unconscious.
What is the scientific emphasis on causal explanations
One of the basic principles of science is that every event in the universe has a cause and that causes can be explained using general laws - hard determinism. Knowledge of causes and the formulation of laws are important as they allow scientists to predict and control events in the future.
In psychology, the lab experiment is the ideal of science as it enables researchers to demonstrate causal relationships - all variables can be controlled.
Evaluation of free will and determinism debate
PRACTICAL VALUE
P - One strength of free will rather than determinism is its practical value.
E - The common-sense view that we exercise free choice in our everyday lives on a daily basis. However, even if this is not the case, thinking we do exercise free choice can improve our mental health. Roberts et al. looked at adolescents who has a strong belief in fatalism - that their lives were ‘decided’ by events outside of their control. the study found that these adolescents were at significantly greater risk of developing depression. It seems that people who exhibit an external rather than internal, locus of control are less likely to be optimistic.
E - This suggests that, even if we do not have free will, the fact that we believe we do may have a positive impact on mind and behaviour.
RESEARCH EVIDENCE
P - One limitation of free will is that brain scan evidence does not support it, but does support determinism.
E - Libet et al. instructed participants to choose a random moment to flick their wrist whilst he measured activity in their brain. Participants had to say when they felt the conscious will to move. Libet found that the unconscious brain activity leading up to the conscious decision to move came around half a second before the participant consciously felt they decided to move.
E - This may be interpreted as meaning that even our most basic experiences of free will are actually determined by our brain before we are aware of them
HOWEVER… these findings only show that the brain is involved in decision-making which isn’t surprising and is what we would expect. Just because the action comes before the conscious awareness of the decision to act, doesn’t mean that there was no decision to act - just that the decision to act took time to reach consciousness. Our conscious awareness of the decision is simply a ‘read-out’ of our unconscious decision-making. This suggests this evidence doesn’t challenge free will.
THE LAW
P - One limitation of determinism, and a strength of free will, is the position of the legal system on responsibility.
E - The hard determinist stance is that individual choice is not the cause of behaviour. This is not consistent with the way in which our legal system operates. In a court of law, offenders are self responsible for their actions. The main principle of our legal system is that a defendant exercised their free will in committing the crime. This is demonstrated by Stephen Mobley, a murderer, claiming the reason he committed this crime was due to evidence of him having the MAOA gene, linked to increased levels of aggression, however the court turned down this request to shorten his sentence.
E - This suggests that in the real world determinist arguments do not work
