soft determinism

• Soft determinism


  All events have causes but behaviour can also be influenced by our own conscious choices.
• Soft determinism - the woman in Milgram's study

  In a re-run of the Milgram study, one woman decided to be resistant to authority when she heard the learner cry out in pain. On the surface, it looks like she had freewill to decide not to harm another person. In reality, she was a holocaust survivor & after experiencing a concentration camp had made the decision not to harm another human being. Shows previous learning impacted on her decision.
• Approaches that take a soft determinism position

  SLT & Cognitive
• Soft determinism - SLT


  Some freedom of choice - but usually based on past experience & cognitive factors. Less deterministic than behaviourism. Focus on mediational processes, but previous experience plays a role.
• Soft determinism - cognitive


  People make choices during cognitive processing.
• Support for soft determinism

  Milgram - not all ppts fully obeyed up to 450 volts & therefore there must be some element of free will & choice involved. Provides an opportunity for individuals to change or at least think they can which increases motivation, especially within a therapy setting. Dennett - determinism is not fatalism & individuals 'can' still be held accountable even if other factors largely dictate behaviour.
• Hard determinism argues


  All behaviours are caused by something else which makes free will an illusion
• Neural activity before a conscious verbal action has been taken has now been measured in controlled settings
• There is excessive reliance on how we subjectively perceive things


  Some actions feel voluntary, whereas others feel out of our control
• We sometimes make mistakes when deciding whether our behaviour is voluntary or involuntary
• Humanism: Rodgers: ''
• Soft determinism summary


  Causes, but behaviour can also be determined by our conscious choices in the absence of coercion. SLT, Cognitive Advantages: People can praise/punish behaviour. Disadvantages: Freewill is an illusion. Difficult to work out which behaviours are truly voluntary.