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Mistaking randomness for free will.

Jeffrey P Ebert1, Daniel M Wegner

  • 1Department of Psychology, Harvard University, 33 Kirkland St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. jebert@wjh.harvard.edu

Consciousness and Cognition
|March 4, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

People often mistake random behavior for free will. Studies show that perceiving actions as random, whether our own or others

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Philosophy of Mind
  • Decision Making

Background:

  • Belief in free will is a common human conviction.
  • The perception of free will influences behavior and decision-making.
  • Understanding the psychological underpinnings of free will belief is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether the attribution of randomness to behavior contributes to the belief in free will.
  • To examine if perceived randomness in actions leads to the perception of freely chosen behavior.
  • To explore the role of environmental factors in attributing randomness and free will.

Main Methods:

  • Experiment 1: Participants performed either random or deterministic action sequences and reported their sense of free will.
  • Experiment 2: Participants observed animated agents exhibiting either random or deterministic behavior (influenced by environment) and judged their perceived free will.
  • Utilized controlled experimental designs to isolate the effect of randomness on free will perception.

Main Results:

  • Participants experiencing random action sequences reported a greater sense of free will compared to those performing deterministic sequences.
  • Animated agents displaying random behavior were perceived as acting more freely, even when randomness was environmentally determined.
  • The degree of randomness, regardless of its source, positively correlated with the perception of free will.

Conclusions:

  • Randomness in behavior can be misinterpreted as evidence of free will.
  • This misattribution occurs for both self-generated and observed actions.
  • Findings suggest a cognitive bias where randomness is equated with volitional control, impacting our understanding of agency.