free will and determinism Flashcards
what is free will?
-humans are self determining free to choose their thoughts and actions
hard and soft deter
Hard determinism rejects free will, while soft determinism allows some conscious choice.
biological determinism
Behaviour is controlled by genetics, brain structure, and hormones (e.g., schizophrenia, aggression).
psychic deter
Unconscious childhood conflicts shape behaviour (e.g., Freud’s psychodynamic theory, Little Hans’ phobia).
env deter
Behaviour is shaped by external forces like reinforcement, conditioning, and observation (e.g., Skinner).
fatalism
All behaviour is predetermined and unavoidable, linked to genetic predispositions (e.g., schizophrenia, depression).
science and free will
Science assumes all events (including people’s actions) have causes (hard determinism) and follow set laws, allowing prediction and control.
In psychology, lab experiments help identify cause-and-effect relationships by controlling all variables, like a test tube in chemistry.
Free will suggests behaviour is unpredictable and not fully determined by external or internal forces.
Since science relies on discovering clear, testable patterns, free will does not align with the scientific method, which focuses on identifying causes and general laws.
what did william james discuss
-put notion of soft determinism and said that whilst it is the job of scinetists to explain what determines out beh
-it doesnt detract from freedom and the idea we have free will to make rational concious everyday choices
what did rogers discuss
-humanisitic appr
-client therpay is seen as being free to effect change in lives by choosing to see situ differently
-remove psych barriers that prevent self growth to achieve self actualisaiton
for free will
-people believe they have free will even if its an illusion it benefits their MH
-so roberts et al = teens who believed in falatlism (lack of control) prone to dep
-internal locus of control promotes optimism
what does the legal system say
-assumes that people have free will and are responsible for their actions
- goes againsit hard determinsim bc of their behaviour is not a choice
what does inuitive appeal say
-most ppl feel they make their own chocies
-free will empowering espcially for those from diadv background
againisit free will
-neuroscientifc evidence
-libet et al = brain activity occured b4 PS felt a conscious decision to move
-action determined by brain b4 concsious awareness
-some say activity shows decisions take time to reach conscious
scientific credibility of determinism
-helped psych become a science through like objective study
-e.g biological and behaviourist have lead to effective treatments e.g therpay and beh interventions
strengths of this
(practical value)
-robert et al - fatalism and adolscents and depression
limitations
(research evidence)
-brain scans support determinism
-libet et al choose rnadom movement to flick their wrist while he measured brain acvtiivty
-had to say when they felt consious they were gonna move
-brain activity came around half a sec before PS conciously felt to they had been inclined to move
-our brains aware before us
(the law)
-in real world determinist arguments are invalid in the legal system
-offenders hold resp
-seen as them having free will
counterpoint to reserach evidence
-just bc the action comes before concious awareness of the decison to act doesnt mean there was no decision to act
-but took time to reach consciouness
-our concious awareness of decision simply ‘read out’ of our uncousious decision making
do we want determinism
-determinist helped establihs psych
-helped invent therapies
-free will could however be liberating e.g not accpeting ones fate e.g from criminal background or theres a mental disorder
