Free Will Vs Determinism

Free will: what does it suggest about ourselves?

that we are self determining and free to choose our own thoughts and actions

Free will: what does it believe has an influence but we can reject the influence of it if we want to?

the biological influences on our behaviour

Free will: what approach focuses on free will?

the Humanistic approach

Free will: Humanistic approach - what does Rogers’ therapy suggest?

that we are free to make changes in our own lives by choosing to see our situation differently

Hard determinism: what does it believe about human behaviour?

that all human behaviour has a cause

Hard determinism: what does it suggest about these causes?

that its possible to identify and describe these causes

Hard determinism: what does it believe everything we think and do is dictated by?

internal and external forces

Hard determinism: why is it more scientific than free will?

the aim of it is to uncover causes for behaviour

Soft determinism: what does it suggest about human action?

that it does have a cause but there is some room for people to have conscious mental control over behaviour

Soft determinism: 2 approaches that are soft determinism?

Social learning theory and the cognitive approach

Soft determinism: what do psychologists aim to explain?

determining forces that act upon us

Soft determinism: what do these determining forces not mean?

that there is no room for free will in our behaviour

What type of determinism does the Biological approach demonstrate?

Biological determinism

What type of determinism does the Behaviourist approach demonstrate?

Environmental determinism

What type of determinism does the Psychodynamic approach demonstrate?

Psychic determinism

Determinism Strength - P: what does it allow psychologists to do?

to predict and control human behaviour

Determinism Strength - Ex: what can be developed if the cause of a behaviour can be identified?

treatments to those behaviours (especially in the field of mental health)

Determinism Strength - Ev: for example, what has been developed to treat depression?

SSRIs - after, In the case of biological determinism, depression was found to be partly caused by an insufficiency of the neurotransmitter serotonin

Determinism Strength - L: therefore, what type of applications does determinism have?

real life applications

Determinism weakness - P: what is hard determinism completely inconsistent with?

the legal system

Determinism weakness - Ev: In the British justice system, what are offenders held legally and morally accountable for?

their actions, regardless of previous experiences or genetics

Determinism weakness - Ex: However, what would hard determinism suggest about these offenders?

that their actions were predetermined by the individual's genetics or past experiences - meaning they are not at fault for them

Determinism weakness - L: therefore, what concept is much more consistent with the legal system?

the concept of free will

Free will strength - P: what is there evidence to suggest?

that there are benefits to believing free will exists

Free will strength - Ev1: what did Roberts’ research show?

that adolescents with a strong belief in fatalism were more at risk of depression

Fatalism (basically just determinism)?

your life is decided by events outside their control

Free will strength - Ev2: when did Roberts et al take place?

2000

Free will strength - Ex: what does Roberts et al (2000) show?

those who have a strong internal locus of control are happier

Free will strength - L: Therefore, what is the impact of just thinking that we have free will?

may have a positive impact on mind and behaviour

Free will weakness - P: what is free will not supported by?

neurological evidence

Free will weakness - Ev: what did the two studies Libet and Soon both find?

that the brain activity related to the decision to press a button with the left or right hand occurs up to 10 seconds before participants report being consciously aware of making that decision

Free will weakness - Ev2: when did Libet take place?

1985

Free will weakness - Ev3: when did Soon take place?

2008

Free will weakness - Ex: what does this research show about the brain?

that the brain is already making decisions for us that we are not aware of, challenging the idea that we have free will and choice over all our actions

Free will weakness - L: Therefore, what are we unable to do neurologically?

neurologically we are unable to have free will over decisions