free will and determinism* Flashcards
Define free will
The notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external forces.
Define determinism
The view that an individual’s behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces rather than an individual’s will to do something.
Define hard determinism
Implies that free will is not possible as our behaviour is always caused by internal or external events blond our control.
Define soft determinism
All events, including human behaviour, have causes, but behaviour can also be determined by our conscious choices in the absence of coercion. In contrast with hard determinism.
Define biological determinism
The belief that behaviour is caused by biological (genetic, hormonal, evolutionary) influences that we cannot control.
Define environmental determinism
The belief that behaviour is caused by feature of the environment (such as systems of reward and punishment) that we cannot control.
Define psychic determinism
The belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control.
What does a belief in free will imply?
That while there are biological and environmental forces that have some influence on our behaviour we are able to reject them and control our own destiny.
What does determinism propose?
That free will has no place in explaining behaviour.
What does hard determinism suggest?
All human behaviour has a cause and it should be possible to identify and describe these causes.
What makes hard determinism compatible with the aims of science?
It looks to discover the laws that govern thought and action and assumes everything we think and do is dictated by internal or external forces that we can’t control.
Who put forward the notion of soft determinism?
Philosopher William James (1890)
What does soft determinism suggest?
While it acknowledges that all behaviour has a cause people do have conscious mental control over how they behave. James thought that while it was the job of psychologists to explain the forces that determine our actions, we do have the will to make rational conscious choices in everyday situations.
What does biological determinism emphasise?
The role of biological factors in determining behaviour, pour physiological and neurological processes are not under our conscious control (eg. Role of ANS in periods of stress).
Lots of mental disorders are thought to have a genetic basis.
Research has demonstrated the effect of hormones; testosterone in agressive behaviour.
What approach shows environmental determinism?
The behaviourist approach; Skinner describes free will as ‘an illusion’ and argues all behaviour is a result of previous conditioning. Our ‘choice’ is merely the sum of reinforcements we have received through our lives.
What is psychic determinism and which approach shows this?
HUman behaviour is driven by unconscious conflicts, repressed in childhood. The psychodynamic approach shows this; Freud saw free will as an illusion and emphasised the role of biological drives.
Nothing is an accident, even ‘slip of the tongue’ can be explained by the underlying authority of the unconscious.
What basic principle of science does the lab experiment try to replicate?
That every event in the universe has a cause that can be explained using general laws.
Lad experiments allow psychologists to replicate the environment in a test tube in a chemical reaction by removing all extraneous variables to try to control and precisely predict human behaviour.
Eval
The case for determinism
Consistent with the aims of science, places psychology on equal footing with more established sciences.
The prediction and control of human behaviour has led to treatments and therapies; eg psychotherapeutic drug treatment to manage schizophrenia.
Mental disorders like schizophrenia doubts the concept of free will as sufferers loose control of their thoughts and behaviour. At least in terms of mental illnesses behaviour is determined.
Eval
The case against determinism
Hard determinism is inconsistent with the operating of the legal system; offenders are held morally accountable for their actions.
While is is scientific, determinism is unfalsifiable; argues that the causes of behaviour will always exist even if they haven’t been found yet. This is impossible to prove wrong and shows that determinism isn’t as scientific as it first appears.
Eval
The case for free will
It has face validity; it makes cognitive sense, everyday experiences give the impression that we have free will over our choices.
Research shows that people with an internal LoC, tend to be more mentally healthy.
Roberts et al. (2000) showed that teenagers who are more fatalist were at greater risk of developing depression.
Even if we don’t have free will, believing we do has a positive impact on mind and behaviour.
Eval
The case against free will
Neurological studies show evidence against free will. Libel (1985) and Chun Siong Soon (2008) showed the brain activity that determines simple choices occur before our knowledge of having made a decision.
The activity related to whether to press a button with the left or right hand occurs in the brain up to 10 seconds before participants reported being consciously aware of that decision.
Even the most basic experiences of free will are decided and determined by our brain before we are aware.
Eval
The interactionist approach
May provide the best compromise in the free will-determinism debate. Approaches that include a cognitive element, STL, take the soft determinist position.
Bandura argued that mediation all process ulitmately decide whether or not a behaviour is replicated.
