Free will and determinism Flashcards
1
Q
Free will
A
- Humans respond freely, voluntarily and actively to events around them
- Free will depends on having a mind but having a mind does not imply free will
2
Q
Importance
A
- Understanding the causes of behaviour
- To investigate the influence of mental events on behaviour
- To diagnose mental disorders
- Understanding the behavioural effects of belief in free will
- To discuss moral accountability
3
Q
Mental disorders
A
-Partial or complete breakdown of control a person normally has over behaviour, emotions and thinking
4
Q
Moral accountability
A
Forensic psychologists consider whether a criminal us fit to plead, has diminished responsibility and their mental state
5
Q
Nichols and Knobe (2007)
A
- Asked participants to imagine a universe in which everything that happens is completely caused by whatever happened before it
- Participants were split into two groups
- Abstract thinking: The first was asked ‘is it possible for people to be fully morally responsible for their actions?’ - 86% said No
- Affective response: The second group was told of a man who plotted to kill his wife and three children and were asked ‘Is Bill fully morally responsible for killing his wife and children?’ - 76% said Yes
6
Q
Factors affecting free will
A
- choice
- Coercion and constraints
- voluntary
- deliberate control
7
Q
Voluntary behaviour and phenomenology
A
- During brain surgery the motor cortex was stimulated while patients were awake
- Patients reported their limbs moving passively
- Subjective experience of free will - cannot be reduced to brain stimulation
8
Q
Subjective experience
A
- Demonstration of free will as a psychological reluctance
- Common response to feeling that freedom is being threatened ‘Don’t tell me what to do’
9
Q
Three levels of functioning
A
- Funny automatic processing (little conscious awareness of processes involved)
- Partially automatic processing (conscious awareness, resolving conflicts)
- Deliberate control (decision making, flexible response to novel situations)
10
Q
Humanistic view
A
- Focus on human behaviour and the importance of personal experience
- we all have the capacity to act on evil/bad thoughts
- evil behavior depends on social conditioning and voluntary choice
- therapy and life are about free human beings struggling to become more free
- most human behavior is based on striving for self actualization
- sometimes we fail to acknowledge behaviors/feelings when faced with in-congruence
11
Q
Libet
A
- Flex finger/wrist 40 times at own choosing - Who/what made the decision and initiates movement? - inner self or brain processes
- Time at which action occurred (M) using EMG
- Brain activity in motor-cortex using EEG - measuring ‘readiness potential, RP
- Time consciously decided to act (W) - moment of Willing
12
Q
evaluation of libet
A
- methodological issues (replications find the same results)
- can movement be considered free will if the action has no consequences
- what exactly are participants reporting on when they decide to move? - they can choose when to act
- -instrictions were not strict - diverse lnguage used to describe willing, urge, desire etc. framed as passive registration
13
Q
Conscious VETO
A
- Libet argued that we have the ability/will to veto an action after the neurological information has started - free won’t (Gregory, 2008)
- Choices of action need to be made faster than consciousness
14
Q
belief in free will
A
- Believing (or not) in whether humans have free-will changes behaviour
- Vohs & Schooler (2008): belief in no free will = more likely to cheat
- Baumeister (2009): belief in no free will = less altruistic
- Questions moral responsibility of psychologists if messages of determinism affects behaviour this way
15
Q
Science
A
-Look for causes of thoughts and behaviour
16
Q
Determinism
A
-Thoughts/behaviours determined by internal/external factors or forces
17
Q
Radical determinism
A
- Skinner (1971) beyond freedom and dignity
- Human freedom is an illusion and a superstition and prevents proper science
- ALL behaviour controlled by reinforcement contingencies (environmental causes)
18
Q
Skinner rules of life
A
- Avoid bad things (punishment)
- Increase good things (+ve reinforcement)
- End bad things that happen (-ve reinforcement)
19
Q
Illusion of free will
A
- Occurs when we are free of punishment or threat of punishment
- Belief in free will = unaware of their reward contingencies
- Realizing we are not free allows us to seek ways to encourage positive behaviour
20
Q
Radical determinism problems
A
- Free will is an integral part of human subjective experience
- Not falsifiable as all behaviour is the effect of reinforcement even if we don’t know why it is reinforcing
- We are conscious agents not passive receivers, often aware of stimuli and responses
- Spontaneity and creativity
21
Q
psychic determinism
A
- Based on psychodynamic approach
- Freedom is an illusion
- Determinants of behaviour on the unconscious e.g. influences of id, ego and super ego and past experiences
- Believe we are free as we are unaware of the conscious influences
- No such thing as accidents e.g. Freudian slips and parapraxes
22
Q
Biological determinism
A
- Sociobiological approach Is extreme determinism
- Human behaviour is coded in genes and by natural selection e.g. attractiveness and fight or flight
- Genes that make up the basis of human society is naturally selected
- Does this mean there is no moral responsibility?
23
Q
Soft determinism
A
- Accepts there is some level of free will
- While trying to explain behaviour in context of scientific psychology
- Distinction between causation and coercion or compulsion (thoughts and actions can be caused and free)
- Adopts cognitive approach
24
Q
Reciprocal determinism
A
- Bandura (1989) - form of soft determinism
- Importance of reinforcement but also internal cognitive processes impact on environments
- Explains spontaneity and creativity
