ISSUES AND DEBATES: Free Will and Determinism

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Define free will.
Humans are free to make choices without being governed by internal or external forces.
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Define determinism.
An individual's will is shaped by internal and external forces rather than their will to do something.
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Define hard determinism.
Free will has no place, with our behaviour always being governed by external and internal forces.
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Define soft determinism.
All human action has a cause, but our behaviour can also be determined by our conscious in the absense of coercion.
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What approach is soft determinism a key part of?
Cognitive approach.
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What is another word for hard determinism?
fatalism.
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Which aims are hard determinism compatible with and why?
Scientific aims, as it seeks to uncover causal laws that govern thought and action.
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Define biological determinism.
Behaviour is caused by biological factors we cannot control, e.g. genetics, hormones, evolution.
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Define environmental determinism.
Behaviour is caused by external features we cannot control, e.g. parents and prison guards usage of token economy.
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What are the two distinctions of determinism?
The extent to which behaviour is determined, and the different types of determining factors.
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What are the three determining factors of determinism?
Biological, environmental and psychic.
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Define psychic determinism.
Behaviour is caused by unconscious forces we cannot control, e.g. repressed childhood trauma manifesting as depression.
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How does free will contradict the scientific aims of determinism?
It is non physical, having an impact on a physical world. It can overide causes.
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Examples of biological influences.
Genes, hormones, evolution, brain structure, neurochemistry.
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Examples of environmental influences.
Reward-cost systems, social influences.
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Examples of unconscious influences.
Conflicts between the ID, ego and superego, defense mechanisms.
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Which type of determinism is behaviourism?
Hard, environmental.
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Which type of determinism is the cognitive approach?
Soft.
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Which type of determinism is social learning theory?
Reciprocal.
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Which type of determinism is the biological approach?
Hard, biological
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IDENTIFY THE TYPE OF DETERMINISM: Clive keeps stealing clothes from the shopping centre because he likes the compliments he gets on how fashionable he is.
It's the effect of social influence, so environmental.
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IDENTIFY THE TYPE OF DETERMINISM: Javid has an excess of dopamine in the brain and is showing schizophrenic symptoms.
It's the effect of hormones, so biological.
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Which approach advocates free will?
Humanistic.
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How does conditions of worth relate to determinism?
The person feels driven to satisfy their 'internal parent' instead of choosing for themselves.
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How does UPR change the determinist outlook of the client?
Helps the client become more accepting of self and provide UPR for self, and widens the scope for the client to excercise choice in how to live.
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Which aim of custodial sentencing is not dependent on free-will or determinism?
Incapacitation, as it removes someone from society who is a threat.
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How does the debate affect deterrance?
If one was to have no free will, there would still be a general effect even if the indivdual could not help themselves due to biological impulses.
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How does the debate affect retribution?
If taking a determinist view, it is unfair, as the offender has no control.
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How does the debate affect rehabilitation?
If taking a determinist view, it will not ease the genetic predispositions, however may ease the expression of them, e.g. anger management.
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How is it dangerous to allow biological determinism in the context of custodial sentencing?
If the offender is aware of a genetic defect, they can use it to excuse their crime and reduce sentence time or dismiss the entire sentence, which defeats the aims of retributon and incapacitation.
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What were the findings of Roberts et al. in relation to face validity for free-will?
Adolescents with a strong belief in fatalism were more likely to have depression, whereas those with an internal locus were more mentally healthy.
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What do the findings of Roberts et al. in relation to face validity for free-will show?
Even if we do not have free-will, it has a positive effect on our minds and behaviour.
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What are the findings of Benjamin Libet (also repeated by Chin Siong Soon et al) in relation to neurological studies against free-will?
Brain activity determines the outcome of simple choices, predating our knowledge of having made that choice.
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What do the findings of Benjamin Libet (also repeated by Chin Siong Soon et al) in relation to neurological studies against free-will show?
Even our most basic experiences of free-will are decided by our brain before we are aware of them.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Define determinism.

Back

An individual's will is shaped by internal and external forces rather than their will to do something.

Card 3

Front

Define hard determinism.

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

Define soft determinism.

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What approach is soft determinism a key part of?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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