free will vs determinism

• free will:

  • free to think/act in whatever way they choose
  • can reject biological/environmental factors
• determinism:

  • free will is an illusion, forces beyond control govern behaviour
  • external = rewards, internal = hormones
  • basis of nature = has cause that can be explained
• hard determinism:

  • fatalism = all human behaviour has cause
  • possible to identify causes, in line with science
• soft determinism:

  • cause but some room for flexibility
  • conscious mental control over behaviour but only with realms of what we know e.g slt + mediational processes
• subtypes of hard determinism:

  • environmental = association
  • biological = genes + evolution
  • psychic = unconsious thoughts
• EVALUATION: good face validity

  • internal loc have more free will + healthy + more control over actions, roberts = strong determinism belief more likely depressed
  • everyday experiences give impressions of free will
  • strong positive impact on individual's health through valid research
• EVALUATION: counter evidence

  • soon et al - brain activity that determines outcome of choices predates knowledge
  • researchers - press left/right, choice was made 10s before
  • most basic experiences of free will are decided and determined
• EVALUATION: interactionist approach

  • cognitive approaches tend to adopt soft determinism - slt
  • bandura - environmental factors in learning key, free to choose when we attend to or when to perform behaviours
  • free will + determinism better explain human behaviour