free will vs determinism Flashcards
(22 cards)
free will means…
that human beings are free to choose their own thoughts and actions. people are not acting in response to external or internal stimuli.
what approach supports free will?
the humanistic approach
determinism means…
that all behaviour and thoughts are controlled by forces which are outside of our control.
the 3 types of determinism
biological, environmental and psychic
biological determinism is…
the idea that traits and behaviours are governed by internal factors like genes, neurochemicals, hormones.
environmental determinism is…
the idea that traits and behaviours are governed by external factors of the environment and have no control over eg upbringing.
link environmental determinism to an approach
The belief that behaviour is caused by previous experience
through classical and operant conditioning. i.e. phobias are a result of conditioning
psychic determinism is…
the idea that traits and behaviours are governed by unconscious conflicts we cannot control and the cause of behaviour is rooted in childhood experiences
link psychic determinism to an approach
the psychodynamic approach- Freud sees behaviour as determined and directed by unconscious conflicts repressed in childhood eg a random slip of the tongue is determined by the unconscious
hard determinism is…
all behaviour has an internal/external cause which we have no control over but we can predict what happens because behaviour is fixed
examples of hard determinism
the psychodynamic approach, the biological approach and behaviourist approach
soft determinism is…
all human actions has a cause but people have conscious mental control over behaviour. this allows for an element of free will.
examples of soft determinism
the cognitive approach as individuals can reason and make decisions within their cognitive limit
determinism and science
the basic principle of science is that every event has a cause and it can be explained by general laws. eg in chemistry adding a chemical to another chemical causes an reaction which is predictable and controlled.
A03- determinism 1
a strength is that it is consistent with the aims of science. the notion that human behaviour is orderly and obeys laws increases credibility. also led to development of drugs e.g. to manage schizophrenia
c/a- not falsifiable as its based on the idea that the cause of behaviour will always exist so can always argue that behaviour is determind
A03- determinism 2
a limitation is that hard determinism is out of line with societies view on moral responsibility. eg legal systems relies on people being accountable for their actions but criminal’s can argue that there behaviour is determined
c/a- soft determinism
A03- determinism 3
a limitation is that 100% genetic determinism is unlikely to be found for any behaviour. = Studies that
compare monozygotic twins have found 80% similarity for intelligence and 40% for
depression. This suggests that genes do not entirely determine behaviour.. The fact that concordance rates for MZ twins are often higher than for siblings, despite both sharing 50% of genes, may be due to MZ twins being more likely to share the same environment.
A03- determinism 4
a limitation is that determinism simplifies human behaviour. This may be appropriate for non-humans but human behaviour is less rigid and influenced by many factors. There are cognitive factors and accompanying emotions which are just as, or more important, than the biological aspects.
A03- free will 1
a strength is that people themselves believe they have free will. eg everyday experiences gives the impression that we are free which gives this face validity. also the believe in FW has benefits like internal LOC believe they have control over life so live a healthier life.
c/a- skinner argued that FW is and illusion as the belief in something doesn’t make it true.
A03- free will 2
a limitation is that their is research to suggest we don’t have free will. Libet showed the brain can indicate which hand a person chooses to move before the person is consciously aware. shows that the most basic experiences of FW are determined
A03- free will 3
a limitation is the Illusion of free will. A person may choose to do something but these choices are determined by previous reinforcement contingencies, as suggested by the behaviourist approach. This is a hard deterministic stance.
A03- free will 4
a strength is that it has high internal validity. Robert et al. found that adolescents with an
internal locus of control less likely to develop depression and are more likely to have better mental health,
compared to those with an external locus of control.
