Free will and determinism - Issues and debates
- Created by: Georgia
- Created on: 03-03-19 19:24
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- Free will and determinism (are we in control of what we do?)
- Free will The ability to choose our own behaviour and act how we want; we can make our own decisions
- Associated approach: Humanistic
- Determinism We have no control over our actions; everything is pre-determined
- Hard determinism Behaviour is completely determined by external forces; no control of actions
- Associated approach: Biological
- Soft determination Behaviour is determined, but there is still an element of control (free will)
- Associated approach: Behaviourist
- Hard determinism Behaviour is completely determined by external forces; no control of actions
- Psychic determinism Explains how unconscious thoughts affect behaviour; every action has an origin in the unconscious
- Example Freudian slips Accidental projection of the unconscious mind
- Environmental determinism Behaviour learned from environment; Stimulus-Response
- Example Classical: behaviour learnt from stimulus Operant: too deterministic, consequence makes behaviour more likely (potentially suggests free will) SLT: soft determinism as still free will
- Reciprocal determinism No motivation or inability to complete behaviour
- Biological determinism Influence of genetics, brain physiology and biochemistry on behaviour
- Hard determinism cannot be proven (one single gene for a behaviour) so soft must be accepted
- Example schizophrenia caused by high dopamine levels; Aggression caused by testosterone; can be controlled by drugs so is less deterministic
- Scientific explanation
- Theory -> Prediction -> Hypothesis
- Empirical methods (controlled and standardised conditions)
- Cause and effect Establishes specific cause of a behaviour
- Free will The ability to choose our own behaviour and act how we want; we can make our own decisions
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