Free will and determinism

• What is determinism?


  B. is controlled by external or internal factors, acting upon the individual.
• What characteristic does determinism give to B.?

  B. is predictable
• What are the 4 types of determinism ( factors which control B.)

  Biological determinism

  Environmental determinism

  Psychic determinism

  Scientific determinism
• What is biological determinism?

  B. is determined by our genes
• What is research support for biological determinism? + researcher?

  Hill et al. - high intelligence is associated with IGF2R gene
• What specifically do genes influence that determines our B.

  Brain structure and neurotransmitters ie. dopamine and serotonin
• What is environmental determinism?

  B. caused by prev. experiences, via classical n operant conditioning
• Example of environmental determinism


  Phobias (B. ) are learnt through pairing of items and can also by unlearned through conditioning ie. systematic desensitisation
• What is psychic determinism?

  Adult B. is determined by innate drives and early experiences
• carry on w/psychic determinism..... ask ma'am
• What is scientific determinism?

  EG.

  All events have a cause,

  EG. IV manipulated to observe a casual effect on the DV
• Give an specific example where scientific determinism can be observed

  Harlow:

  IV = wire mum w/milk and cloth mum

  DV = attachment formed (B. )

  result = B. formed due to contact comfort (causal event)
• What is free will?

  Individuals have the power to make choices about their B. (self determinism)
• Which approach supports the concept of free will?

  Humanistic approach
• what, did humanistic psychologists argue, self-determinism was important for?

  healthy self development and self-actualisation
• What researcher supported this claim of 'self actualisation cannot be reached without self determinism'?

  What did he say? (if B. is controlled, What does this mean for personal growth?)

  Rogers:

  if B. is controlled, ppl cannot take responsibility for their own B. and cannot change B. thus not hv personal growth
• What other factor supports the concept of free will?

  Moral responsibility
• What is moral responsibility?


  Individual is in charge of their own actions (ie. free will)
• What does moral responsibility assume? (same as prev. flshcrd)

  what does this mean for People? (In terms of accountability)

  Who are an exception?

  • adult B. is self-determined

  • thus accountable for their actions regardless of innate factors/ influence of early experiences

  • mentally ill ppl
• What is middle ground between free will and determinism and who was this proposed by?

  soft determinism - heather
• What is soft determinism?

  ie.

  Determinism where there is an element of free will

  ie. biology + past experiences are determining factors but there are still some choices to be made
• What is the opposite of soft determinism? definition?

  Hard determinism- all B. is predicted, no free will
• What is a real life application