Free will Vs Determinsm

Question 1

What time period did determinism become a ‘hot topic’? What was the conundrum?

Answer 1

Determinism has philosophical roots and therefore was a hot topic in Ancient Greece.

The conundrum is that we feel as though we have control over what we do and know and that events have causes.

Question 2

What are philosopher actually concerned with when it comes to determinism?

Answer 2

Not so much interested in what things might be determined by but more in whether they are determined by causal factors.

Question 3

What is causal determinism?

Answer 3

The understanding that all behaviours , thoughts, and beliefs have a cause. If we know the cause we therefore can predict these behaviours.

Question 4

What is the problem with theological determinism?

Answer 4

If God is omniscient how can we have free will and if we don’t have free will then how can we be judged fairly?

Question 5

What is theological determinism?

Answer 5

The view that God determines every creaturely event.

Question 6

Name the debate associated with theological determinism?

Answer 6

Omniscience (soft determinism) Vs Predestination (hard determinism)

Question 7

Where do religions fall on the theological determinism spectrum?

Answer 7

• Debated in Christianity
• Judaism and Islam more free will
• Hinduism debated but more determinism
• Buddhism accepts both: a middle doctrine of ‘‘inter-dependent arising’’

Question 8

What is libertarianism?

Answer 8

The belief that humans have free will and can choose how to behave and think without constraint

Question 9

What is hard determinism?

Answer 9

Free will is an illusion and all actions are completely determined by other forces. Strong versions of all the types of determinism are not widely accepted.

Question 10

What is free will?

Answer 10

The belief that we are totally free at any time to behave/ think in any way. Actions are random and have no cause.

Question 11

What are the 4 main perspectives that support internal determinism?

Answer 11

Biological evolutionary approach

Biological genetics

Biological neuroscientific approach

Psychic psychodynamic approach

Question 12

What does the biological evolutionary approach believe behaviour is determined by?

Answer 12

We are products of natural selection and our universal drive to survive and reproduce. As a species we have adapted to it niche and these adaptations cause some of our behaviours e.g mating strategies.

Question 13

What limitation is there in the biological evolutionary approach’s explanation of determinism?

Answer 13

We have phenotypic plasticity which means we don’t all behave in the same way.

Question 14

Give an example of evidence that supports the biological evolutionary determinism

Answer 14

Fight or Flight mode = a sequence of activity that is initiated when sensory organs communicate to the nervous system the need for sudden activity. Automatic process. We may not even ever become consciously aware of the stimulus .

Question 15

What does the biological genetics approach believe behaviour is determined by? How did this come about?

Answer 15

Our genetic make up determines how we behave and think. Determining the role of genes began with Galton and twin studies.

Question 16

What development has allowed neuroscientists to look at the role of specific genes?

Answer 16

modern technology and techniques

Question 17

Name an example of how biology is seen as determining behaviour.

Answer 17

Schizophrenia heritability . An identical twin is 46x more likely to suffer from schizophrenia than an unrelated person. (Avramopoulos, 2018)
However remember concordance is not 100%

Question 18

What is a limitation with the biological genetic explanation of behaviour?

Answer 18

Taking a strong genetic stance is associated with racism and eugenic movements. Unprogressive and unjust.

Question 19

What does the psychic psychodynamic approach believe behaviour is determined by?

Answer 19

Freud emphasised the role of the unconscious in determining our behaviour . The components of our conscious awareness is determined by the unconscious influence of the id, ego and superego. Instinctual drives also influence behaviour such as sexual drives.

Question 20

According to Freud, how can we seek to understand how behaviour is determined? What clues are there? Are there any other drives?

Answer 20

Can be determined through psychoanalysis, by delving into the unconscious - clues can be found in slips of the tongue, dreams, jokes, anxiety and defence mechanisms.

Question 21

What do neuroscience and fMRI scans shed new light on?

Answer 21

The biological process of decision-making

Question 22

Name an example of how biological neuroscience can demonstrate that behaviour is biologically determined.

Answer 22

(Soon et al, 2008) = Outcomes of a decision to move the L or R hand can be seen up to 10 seconds before awareness of the decision.

Question 23

What is a limitation of the readiness potential theory ?

Answer 23

Some researchers suggest the timing of awareness is inaccurate
The RP could reflect attention rather than decision.

Question 24

Describe (Libet et al. 1983) Readiness Potential findings.

Answer 24

Brain activity suggests movement decisions are made before the perceived intention to move. RP occurred 350ms before ‘‘intention’’, then 400ms after was the movement.

Question 25

What are the two key types of external determinism?

Answer 25

Behaviourism approach
Social / cultural

Question 26

What does the behaviourist approach believe behaviour is determined by?

Answer 26

The environment is the only cause of behaviour (S-R psychology) and so our actions are based on learning associations which are built through reinforcement and punishment. We are therefore machine’s whose behaviour is a collection of response tendencies.

example of radical determinism = B.F Skinner

Question 27

According to the behaviourist approach what can be predicted?

Answer 27

Given the response the stimulus can be predicted and when given the stimulus the response can be predicted

Question 28

What is the purpose of applied behaviour analysis?

Answer 28

You can shape and therefore determine behaviour by using behaviourists learning principles.

Question 29

What is a limitation of the behaviourist explanation of how behaviour is determined?

Answer 29

Rarely can we determine the nature/component of the stimulus that has given rise to the response also what about novel behaviour. latent learning or social learning?

Question 30

What is the social/ cultural explanation for how behaviour is determined?

Answer 30

Culture and social situations determines how we think e.g social learning theory

Question 31

What is Bandura’s reciprocal determinism ?

Answer 31

The view that we are shaped by our environment but we also shape our environment. A form of soft determinism. Bandura argued that creative thoughts and spontaneity are possible within this version of determinism.

Question 32

What is cultural determinism? What is an example of this?

Answer 32

The view that the culture we are raised in determines our thoughts and behaviours.

Example: The Sapir Whorf Hypothesis - the language a culture uses shapes thinking (linguistic determinism)

Question 33

What are the two key approaches that follow free will?

Answer 33

Cognitive approach

Humanistic approach

Question 34

What is the cognitive approach’s stance on free will spectrum?

Answer 34

On the free will side of the debate. Cognitivist psychologists believe that people choose how to behave and this is based on innate mental capabilities and past experiences of the environment.

Question 35

What does the cognitive approach place emphasis on ?

Answer 35

Emphasises our active involvement in cognitive processing (perception not just sensation).

Question 36

What did Kahmenan (2011) find? (cognitive approach)

Answer 36

There are different ways we can think which are divided in two systems=

1) fast, automatic, inuititive, unconscious (reflex)

2) Slow, deliberate, effortful and conscious (reflection)

Question 37

Where does the humanistic approach fall on the free will spectrum?

Answer 37

It is the only approach that strongly supports the notion of free will - we are fundamentally free to make our own choices. We ‘‘feel free’’

Question 38

What is the humanistic criticism of determinism?

Answer 38

Regarding behaviour as determined by external factors is dehumanising and disempowered people , so they won’t try to change things.

Question 39

What type of debate is free will vs determinism?

Answer 39

Compatibilism = they can co-exist

Question 40

Strengths of determinism

Answer 40

+We are looking for explanations, or causes of behaviour
+ Scientific assessment of cause and effect, isolate variables, produces hypothesis is falsifiable
+ Doesn’t blame people for bad behaviour

Question 41

Strengths of free will

Answer 41

+ Emphasises the individual
+ Encourages personal responsibility
+ It feels like we are free

Question 42

Limitations of determinism

Answer 42

• Reductionist, may lead to the single cause fallacy
• Its rare to actually prove the cause of behaviour , people are very hard to predict
• Does Not account for individual differences
  Doesn’t hold people responsible for bad behaviour

Question 43

Limitations of free will

Answer 43

• There is no real evidence except we feel free
• Responsibility os placed with the individual
• Few people would say our behaviours and thoughts are totally random and cannot be predicted in any way

Question 44

What is key flaw of humanism’s claim for free will?

Answer 44

Rogers acknowledged that free will can be problematic when viewed from the objective perspective of science. He was a therapist and a scientist.

Question 45

Who is the father of radical determinism

Answer 45

B.F. Skinner = ‘utopia’ where socially acceptable behaviour is encouraged through negative and positive punishment

Question 46

What is the problem with Skinner’s radical determinism?

Answer 46

Skinner’s hypothesis, that all behaviour is due to some form of prior reinforcement , can never be proven false. (not falsifiable)

We sometimes act spontaneously and creatively - doing things we’ve never done before.

It denies that we have consciousness and cognitive abilities that allow us to interact with the environment and not just passively respond to it.

Question 47

What is soft determinism ?

Answer 47

The idea of accepting some form of free will whilst also trying to explain this within the framework of a scientific psychology

Question 48

Why is free will important?

Answer 48

Vohs and Schooler (2008) suggests that whether we believe in free will or determinism could actually affect our sense of moral responsibility. Computer cheating task experiment. Two experiments suggested that reading material that heavily endorses a deterministic perspective can affect people’s attitudes (less moral).

Question 49

What do most humans believe (free will or determinism)?

Answer 49

Most humans believe that they have free will because this matches with their subjective experiences and it is comforting.

Question 50

What did Abraham Maslow believe free will was necessary for?

Answer 50

Necessary to achieve self actualisation

Question 51

What does mens rea mean?

Answer 51

(guilty mind) a legal term used to suggest an act is criminal if done with intent