free will vs determinism

free will

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

determinism

the view that an individual’s behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces rather than an individual’s will to do something

hard determinism/ fatalism

the view that all behaviour is caused by something (internal or external), so free will is an illusio

soft determinism

the view that behaviour may be predictable (caused by internal/ external factors) but there is also room for personal choice from a limited range of possibilities (restricted free will), feature of cognitive approach

biological determinism

the belief that behaviour is caused by biological (genetic, hormonal, evolutionary) influences that we cannot control

environmental determinism 

the belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment (such as systems of reward and punishment) that we cannot control

psychic determinism

the belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious psychodynamic conflicts, repressed in childhood that we cannot control

scientific emphasis on causal explanations

basic principle of science is that every event has a cause that can be explained by general laws (hard determinism) which allow us to predict things, lab experiments can establish causal relationship as variables can be controlled

practical value of free will vs determinism debate (strength)

roberts - looked at adolescents who believed in fatalism, found they had a higher risk of developing depression, those with external locus less likely to be optimistic, suggests belief in free will may have a positive impact on our mind and behaviour

research evidence against free-will with brain scans (limitations)

libet - instructed ppts to choose when to flick wrist, had to say when they felt conscious will to move, found that unconscious brain activity activity leading to action came half a second before conscious movement, most basic free will experiences determined by our brain before we are aware, but findings don’t show there was no decision to act, only that it took time to reach consciousness

position of legal system on responsibility (limitation)

hard determinism states individual choice is not cause of behaviour, not consistent with legal system, in real-world determinist arguments do not work because main principle of legal system is that defendant exercised free will

determinism vs free will conflict

determinism helped establish psych as a science, hard determinism has many effective real world applications in therapy and interventions but free will has intuitive appeal, can be liberating for some people who come from less fortunate backgrounds