free will v determinism Flashcards
biological determinism definition
biology determines behaviour eg influence and of the ans on stress.
environment can effect biological structures
free will definition
The notion of free will suggests humans are free to make their own choices
There are biological and environmental influences on our behaviour - but free will implies we can reject them.
This is the view of the humanistic approach.
determinism definition
behaviour is controlled by internal or external forces.
behaviour is predictable
soft determinism definition
all human action has a cause but people have freedom to make choice within a limited set of options
hard determinism
all human behaviour has a cause and it should be possible to identify these causes
environmental determinism
skinner described free will as an illusion and all behaviour as a result of conditioning.
our experience of choice is the sum total of the reinforcement contingencies that have acted upon us throughout our lives
psychic determinism
freud emphasised the influence of biological drives and unconscious conflicts repressed in childhood.
scientific determinism
scientific research is based on the belief that all events have a cause. an independent variable is manipulated to observe the causal effect on dv
free will synoptic example
rogers theory of client centred therapy
biological determinism synoptic example
harris et el
environmental determinism synoptic example
watson and rayners little albert study
psychic determinism synoptic example
goretas study of the superego (forensics)
soft determinism synoptic example
smith and lloyd (gender)
one strength of free will is it has practical value
Roberts et al. (2000) looked at adolescents who had a strong belief in fatalism - that their lives were ‘decided’ by events outside their control internal, rather than external, locus of control are more likely to be optimistic.
They were at greater risk of developing depression. People who exhibit an
This suggests that, even if we do not have free will, the fact that we
believe we do may have a positive impact on mind and behaviour.
one limitation is evidence doesn’t support free will it supports determinism
Libet et al. (1983) asked participants to randomly flick their wrist and say when they felt the will to move. Brain activity was also measured. The unconscious brain activity leading up to the conscious decision to move came half a second before the participant’s conscious decision to move. This may be interpreted as meaning that even our most basic experiences of free will are actually determined by our brain before we are aware of them.
one limitation of determinism is the role of responsibility in law
The hard determinist stance is not consistent with the way in which our legal system operates. In court, offenders are held responsible for their actions. Indeed, the main principle of our legal system is that the defendant exercised their free will in
committing the crime. This suggests that, in the real world,
determinist arguments do not work.
do we want determinisms?
Determinism places psychology on equal footing with other more established sciences and has led to valuable real-world applications, such as therapies. However free will has intuitive appeal. Most of us see ourselves as making our own choices rather than being ‘pushed’ by forces we cannot control. Some people (e.g. child of a criminal parent) prefer to think that they are free to self-determine. This suggests that if psychology wants to position itself alongside the natural sciences, determinist accounts are likely to be preferred. However, common-sense experience may be better understood by an analysis of free will.
