Free Will And Determinism

Question 1

Define free will. Which approach has this view?

Answer 1

The idea that humans are self-determining and free to choose their own thoughts and actions.

Humanistic approach

Question 2

Define hard determinism

Answer 2

All human behaviour has a cause, which can be identified. It assumes everything is dictated by uncontrollable internal or external forces.

Question 3

Define soft determinism. Who was the first to suggest this, and which approaches is this an important feature of (2) ? What did bandura argue?

Answer 3

William James
Cognitive approach & social learning theory
We have some mental control of determined events.
Bandura argued that although environmental factors in learning are key, we are free to choose when to perform these learned behaviours.

Question 4

Define biological determinism and state which approach uses this.

Answer 4

Behaviour is caused by biological influences that we cannot control.
The biological approach.

Question 5

Give examples of processes which are thought to be biologically determined. (2)

Answer 5

• The influence of our autonomic nervous
  system during periods of stress.
• research has demonstrated the effect of
  hormones such as testosterone in aggressive
  behaviour.

Question 6

Define environmental determinism. Which approach follows this?

Answer 6

The belief that behaviour is caused by
features of the environment that we cannot control.
The social learning theory - conditioning

Question 7

Who described free will as an illusion?

Answer 7

Skinner and Freud

Question 8

Define psychic determinism. Which type of approach follows this?

Answer 8

The belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control.
Th psychodynamic approach

Question 9

Give the case for for determinism (2)

Answer 9

• the prediction and control of behaviour
  has lead to the development of treatments
  which have benefited many (e.g. Drug treatment
  for schizophrenia)
• the experience of mental disorders such as schizophrenia where sufferers lose control over their thoughts and behaviour casts doubts on the concept of free will, so in terms of mental illness behaviour would appear to be determined.

Question 10

Give the case against determinism (2)

Answer 10

• determinism isn’t consistent with the way
  in which our legal system works as
  offenders are held Morally accountable for their
  actions.
• determinism is unfalsifiable as its based on the
  idea that there will always be a cause to a
  behaviour even if it hasn’t yet been found. This
  suggests that this approach may not be as
  scientific as it first appears.

Question 11

Give the case for free will (2)

Answer 11

• face value - everyday experience
  suggests we have free will
• research suggests that people with an internal
  locus of control so believe they have a high
  degree of influence over events and their own
  behaviour tend to be more mentally healthy.
  ^ Roberts et al found adolescents that have a
  strong belief in the idea that their lives were
  decided by events outside of their control had
  a greater risk of developing depression.
  This suggests that thinking we have free will may have a positive impact on mind and behaviour.

Question 12

The case against free will (1)

Answer 12

Studies by libet and soon et al have shown that the brain activity related to wether to press a button with the right or left hand occurs in the brain up to 10 seconds before the participants reported being aware of making that decision, showing even the most basic experiences of free will are determined by our brain before we are aware of them.