free will and determinism

Question 1

free will

Answer 1

assumes humans are free to choose their behaviour, and that influences can be rejected at will

Question 2

hard determinism

Answer 2

all behaviours have causes and these are internal or external events outside of our control
fatalism
free will is an illusion

Question 3

soft determinism

Answer 3

behaviours are predicted because they have internal or external causes, but are influenced by limited personal choices

Question 4

biological determinism

Answer 4

behaviours are caused by biological influences we cannot control eg genes, hormones

Question 5

environmental determinism

Answer 5

behaviours are caused by environmental factors we cannot control eg conditioning, reinforcement

Question 6

psychic determinism

Answer 6

behaviours are caused by unconscious factors we cannot control eg repressed conflicts and innate drives

Question 7

causal explanations

Answer 7

scientific principle - everything has a cause (determinism) causes can be discovered and explained using general laws

Question 8

free will

Answer 8

the notion that humans can make choices and behaviour are not determined by biological or external forces

Question 9

practical value

Answer 9

P - strength of free will is practical value
E - common-sense view - we have free choice - thinking we can free choice improves mental health
E - those with strong belief in fatalism have significantly greater risk of developing depression - external locus of control less likely to be optimistic
L - if we do not have free will, believing we do has a positive impact

Question 10

research evidence

Answer 10

P - limitation of free will is brain scan evidence
E - participants asked to choose random moment to flick wrist while brain activity measures - conscious will to move
E - unconscious brain activity leading up to decision came around half a second before
L - our basic experiences of free will determined by brain before aware of them

P - findings involved in decision making not surprising
E - action comes before the conscious awareness of the decision to ask
E - doesnt mean no decision to ask - time to reach consciousness
L - evidence is not appropriate as a challenge to free will

Question 11

the law

Answer 11

P - limitation of determinism is position of legal system on responsibility
E - hard determinism not consistent with the way in which legal system operates
E - offenders held responsible for their actions and main principle is defendant exercised their free will
L - in real world, determinist arguments do not work