Paper 3 - Issues and Debates Flashcards
(11 cards)
What is free will and which psychological approach advocates the free will perspective?
The view that humans are self-determining and have the power to make conscious choices about their behaviour.
Humanistic psychology.
What does a belief in free will imply about human behaviour?
Human behaviour is unpredictable, and while internal and external forces may influence behaviour, humans are able to reject these forces.
What is determinism?
The view that free will has no place in explaining human behaviour, behaviour is determined by internal and external forces.
What is hard determinism and what is it also referred to as?
Hard determinism is the view that human behaviour is determined by forces we cannot control and that all behaviour has an identifiable cause, making it predictable. Sometimes referred to as fatalism.
Describe biological determinism and give an example it?
Biological determinism is the view that human behaviour is determined by internal biological forces that we cannot control, such as genes and neurochemistry.
Example: Candidate genes and high dopamine activity in the subcortex have been linked to schizophrenia.
Describe environmental determinism and give an example it?
A: Environmental determinism is the view that human behaviour is determined by external environmental forces that we cannot control, such as conditioning.
Example: Classical and operant conditioning are linked to the acquisition and maintenance of phobias.
What did B.F. Skinner say about free will?
He described free will as an “illusion” and argued all behaviour is a result of conditioning
Describe psychic determinism and give an example it?
Psychic determinism is the view that human behaviour is determined by unconscious motives and desires, as well as early childhood experiences.
Example: Freud used the Oedipus Complex to explain Little Hans’ phobia of horses.
What is soft determinism and which psychological approach advocates the free will perspective?
A version of determinism that allows for some element of free will—behaviour has causes, but humans can make rational, conscious choices.
The cognitive approach.
What is the scientific emphasis on causal explanations and what type of determinism aligns with their belief?
Science aims to uncover causal laws to predict and control events; hard determinism aligns with this as it views behaviour as having identifiable causes.
Why is free will incompatible with science in terms of casual explanations?
Sees humans as making conscious, unpredictable choices, which conflicts with science’s goal of finding predictable cause-and-effect laws.
