free will v determinism Flashcards
free will-determinism debate
- freewill suggests we have a CHOICE in determining out thoughts and actions are not controlled by biological or external factors
- determinism is the belief that behaviour is caused by INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL FORCES that we cannot control
- science believes a deterministic approach is needed in studies to be able to determine cause and effect and create general laws
- researchers will be able to control other extraneous variables
key ideas of free will vs determinism
hard determinism
soft determinism
biological determinism
environmental determinism
psychic determinism
hard determinism
- an extreme position that implies that free will is not possible as our behaviour is always caused by internal and external events beyond our control
soft determinism
behaviour does have causes but we also have the ability to make rational conscious choices
biological determinism
the belief that behaviour is caused by biological influences that we cannot control
(genetic, hormonal, evolutionary)
environmental deterinism
the belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment that we cannot control
(e.g. reinforcement)
psychic determinism
the belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control
evaluation of free will vs determinism
twin studies
face validity
legal implications
twin studies : EVALUATION OF FREE WILL VS DETERMINISM
- twin studies never show us 100% concordance rates
- unreasonable to assume that behaviour can be purely biologically determined
face validity : EVALUATION OF FREE WILL VS DETERMINISM
- everyday experiences ‘give the impression’ that we are constantly exercising free will though choices we make on any given day
legal implications : EVALUATION OF FREE WILL VS DETERMINISM
- our legal system relies on free will to hold people responsible for crimes
- if we take a hard determinism approach then this has implications for how we sentence criminals
