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Free Will and Determinism - Coggle Diagram
Free Will and Determinism
Determinism
- the view that free will is an illusion, behaviour is governed by internal/external forces over which we have no control thus, our behaviour is viewed as unpredictable
Hard Determinism
- the view that forces outside of our control shape our behaviour e.g biology, past experiences - seen as incompatible with free will
Soft Determinism
- the view that behaviour is constrained by the environment /biological make up, but only to a certain extent and that there is an element of free will in all behaviour (we choose our actions and they are influenced by experiences, biology)
Biological Determinism
- idea that human behaviour is innate and determined by genes
We are determined to have OCD if our serotonin/dopamine levels are not balanced correctly and/or have inherited SERT and COMT genes
We are determined to become an addict by our genes
We are determined to have schizophrenia if we have high levels of dopamine and/or a certain set of inherited genes
Environmental Determinism
- view that behaviour is caused by forces outside the individual - behaviour is caused by previous experience learnt through OC and CC
We are determined to have a phobia if we associate a bad experience with a stimulus
We are determined to have become an addict if we are reinforced for habits such as smoking and gambling
We are determined to be aggressive if we are rewarded for that aggressive behaviour
Psychic Determinism
- claims that human behaviour is the result of childhood experiences and innate drives as in Freud's model of psychological development
We are determined to have relationship issues if we have had a poor attachment to a caregiver when we were younger (IWM)
We are determined to have mental health problems if there has been any fixation in the psychosexual stages
We are determined to have lower moral standards if we have had fixation in the phallic stage due to to less identification
Free Will
- idea that we can play an active role and have a choice in how we behave - the assumption that individuals are free to choose their behaviour and are self-determined
Evaluation:
W (FW) - FW is virtually impossible to test. As long as we cannot empirically test FW the debate will not be resolved (self report data = social desirability)
S (FW) - FW feels instinctively correct and many people will argue that our subjective feelings of FW are important and that this has an impact on our lives eg. person centred therapy relies in FW, humanistic believes we our in charge of our own destiny
S (FW) -
Roberts et al (2000)
: group of adolescents who had strong deterministic beliefs were significantly more likely to be depressed that others - belief in FW is beneficial
S (D) - Many examples of behaviours with a deterministic cause eg. schizophrenia caused by an imbalance of dopamine in the brain, empirical evidence and scientific testing can highlight bio differences and provides evidence for a D view of schizophrenia
S (D) - Belief in biological D has led to treatments eg. antipsychotics reducing dopamine levels
W (D) - Do not fully understand the causes of all actions so it may be hard to 'falsify' claims of D - could be multiple factors that cause behaviours they're difficult to isolate
The Scientific Emphasis on Causal Explanations:
FW implies that behaviours and thinking are non deterministic (not caused) in comparison to science which is based on causal explanations
Science aims to predict and control behaviour whereas FW implies that behaviours/thinking result from person's freedom to control thoughts
Features of Science:
Objectivity
Falsifiability
Paradigm shifts
Empiricism
Replicability