1. Determinism and Free-will Flashcards
which approaches advocate for determinism and which form of determinism (ex/int)
behaviourism- external determinism
biological- internal determinism
psychodynamic- internal determinism
social/cultural- external determinism
what are the applied & Moral Implications of The free-will versus determinism debate
If we do not have free-will then we cannot be morally responsible for our actions.
There must be a belief that we could have made a different decision.
Internal Determinism: Biological Genetics
There is inherited variation in genes.
biological processes duch as Our genetic make-up determine our thoughts and behaviours.
- the determining role of genes began with Galton (1883) and twin studies.
Modern techniques now allow neuroscientists to explore the role of specific genes
BUT
The strong stance has been associated with unpleasant racist and eugenic movements.
Internal Determinism: Biological Genetics example: schizophrenia
It has long been noted that schizophrenia runs in families. Heritability has been calculated as >80%. An identical twin is 46 X more likely to suffer from schizophrenia than unrelated person.
BUT: It’s still not 100%…Often the genes are related to the trait in some people but not others.
Internal Determinism: Biological Neuroscientific Approach
Neuroscience and fMRI has shed new light on the biological process of decision-making.
Example: The Readiness Potential (Libet et al. 1983)
Brain activity suggests movement decisions are made prior to the perceived intention to move. RP occurred 350ms before “intention”, then 400ms after was the movement.
Outcomes of a decision (whether to move the left or right hand) can be seen up 10s before awareness of the decision (Soon et al. 2008).
Internal Determinism: Psychic Psychodynamic Approach
Freud emphasized the role of the unconscious in our behaviour. Contents of our conscious awareness are determined by the unconscious influences of the id, ego and superego.
Causes of thoughts and behaviour could be determined through psychoanalysis, by delving in to the unconscious.
Can find clues to the determinant of behaviour in slips of the tongue, dreams, jokes, anxiety and defence mechanisms.
Instinctual drives, particularly sexual drives, were also thought to influence behaviour. further, Freud stressed that events of early childhood were more important for determining adult personality than other stages. freud Believes human behaviour is determined by unconscious conflicts repressed in childhood
External Determinism: Behaviorist Approach
skinner described free will as an ‘illusion’ and argued behaviour was a result of environmental influences
a form of hard determinism that believes behaviour is shaped by your reinforcement history.
Applied Behaviour Analysis: You can shape and therefore determine (predict) behaviour using behaviourist learning principles.
External Determinism: Social/Cultural
outline strengths
Social Learning Theory (soft determinism)
(Bandura 1989)
Much of our learning comes from others, not from our own trial and error experience.
Reciprocal Determinism: We are shaped by our environment but we also shape our environment. for example, self generated thoughts can determine behaviours which have an impact on different environments
importantly allows for greater human agency and free will than some radical forms of determinism and gives us an idea of how free will can be understood in a deterministic framework
Free-will: Cognitive Approach
People choose how to behave but this is based on innate mental capabilities (biology) and past experience (environment).
Emphasizes active involvement in cognitive processing (perception not just sensation).
Depends in part on focus of the cognitive scientist
Implicit and explicit processing.
def of determinism/free will
Hard Determinism: free will is an illusion and all actions are completely determined by other forces. all behaviours have a cause and thus human behaviour is predictable.
Free-will: an individual’s ability to make decisions about their behaviour without the influence of external/int forces
criticism of determinism
particular, skinners argument fails to consider that as conscious beings we aren’t just passive receivers of external stimuli that trigger automatic behavioural responses. skinners argument denies we have consciousness and cognitive abilities that allow us to interact with the environment and not just passiveley respond to it.
instead we retain and may use this information later to form different choices of behaviour in the environment. this brings in argument of soft determinism
soft determinism
behaviour is determined to a certain extent but allows for the notion of free will as an influence. There are constraints that limit the possible behaviours. Some behaviours may be highly constrained by biological, environmental and unconscious forces that may limit a sense of free will
