Free will and determinism | AQA A-Level Psychology Revision
- Revision Notes
- Aug 5
- 20 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
For 7182 specification, first teach in September 2025
AQA A-Level Psychology | Free Revision Notes
Estimated study time: 55 minutes
Free will and determinism concern how far people control their own behaviour. This Free will and determinism A-Level Psychology revision page explains free will, hard and soft determinism, the biological, environmental and psychic forms of determinism, and Psychology’s scientific emphasis on causal explanations. The debate links psychological theories to important questions about prediction, responsibility and scientific investigation. It also prepares you for examining how heredity and experience influence behaviour.
Learning Objectives 🎯
By the end of this revision page, you should be able to:
Define free will and determinism.
Explain hard determinism and soft determinism.
Distinguish biological, environmental and psychic determinism.
Apply different forms of determinism to unfamiliar contexts.
Explain the scientific emphasis on causal explanations.
Evaluate deterministic and free-will explanations of behaviour.
Revision Notes 📚
Free will and determinism A-Level Psychology revision: the central debate
The free will and determinism debate asks whether people choose their behaviour or whether it is caused by forces outside their control.
The two broad positions are:
Free will: People can make choices and exercise control over their behaviour.
Determinism: Behaviour is governed by internal or external forces over which the person has little or no control.
The AQA specification requires knowledge of:
hard determinism
soft determinism
biological determinism
environmental determinism
psychic determinism
the scientific emphasis on causal explanations
These terms describe different aspects of the debate. Hard and soft determinism concern the extent of personal control, while biological, environmental and psychic determinism concern the source of the determining influence.
Free will
Free will is the view that people can make choices and exercise control over their thoughts, decisions and behaviour.
A free-will explanation assumes that a person is not simply responding automatically to:
genes
neurochemistry
environmental experiences
conditioning
reinforcement
unconscious motives
Instead, the person can consider alternatives and decide how to act.
Example of free will
A student has previously avoided public speaking because they found it stressful. They decide to join a debating group and practise speaking in front of others.
A free-will explanation would emphasise the student’s conscious decision to change their behaviour.
The fact that earlier experiences may influence the student does not necessarily remove all choice. This distinction leads to soft determinism.
Implications of free will
Free will is connected to the idea of personal responsibility.
If people freely choose their actions, it may be reasonable to hold them responsible for the consequences. Free will may also support the belief that people can:
change their behaviour
make deliberate decisions
resist previous learning
take responsibility for improvement
respond differently when placed in similar situations
However, free will is difficult to investigate scientifically. A claim that behaviour was freely chosen may be harder to test objectively than a claim that behaviour resulted from a measurable cause.
Determinism
Determinism is the view that behaviour is governed by identifiable internal or external forces.
A deterministic explanation assumes that behaviour has a cause. If the cause is known, psychologists may be able to:
explain the behaviour
predict when it will occur
influence or control it
develop appropriate interventions
Deterministic explanations do not all identify the same cause. Behaviour might be explained through biology, environmental experience or unconscious processes.
Hard determinism
Hard determinism is the view that behaviour is entirely governed by forces outside the individual’s control.
According to hard determinism:
behaviour has a cause
the person could not have acted differently
conscious choice does not independently determine behaviour
free will is an illusion
A hard determinist might claim that a person’s behaviour was inevitable because of their genes, reinforcement history or unconscious conflicts.
Language suggesting hard determinism
In an application question, look for words and phrases such as:
inevitable
destined
predetermined
no choice
could not help it
bound to happen
completely controlled by
These phrases suggest that the individual has no meaningful control over the behaviour.
Example of hard determinism
A parent says:
“My child was destined to become a musician because musical ability runs in the family.”
The word destined suggests hard determinism because the parent presents the outcome as unavoidable.
The explanation may also demonstrate biological determinism if the parent refers to inherited ability.
Soft determinism
Soft determinism is the view that behaviour is influenced or constrained by internal and external forces, but people may still exercise some conscious control.
Soft determinism therefore combines:
recognition that behaviour has causes
recognition that people may make decisions within those constraints
For example, upbringing may make one response more likely, but the person may still reflect on the situation and choose a different course of action.
A complete explanation of soft determinism must include both sides:
Behaviour is influenced or governed to some extent by internal or external forces.
The individual retains some ability to exercise control through thought or decision-making.
The 2022 mark scheme described soft determinism as behaviour being governed to an extent by internal or external forces while some element of control remains.
Example of soft determinism
A student may have learned to avoid difficult tasks because avoidance was previously reinforced. However, after recognising this pattern, they decide to remain with a challenging task and seek support.
The earlier learning influences the student, but it does not completely remove conscious control.
Hard determinism and soft determinism compared
Feature | Hard determinism | Soft determinism |
Degree of control | The individual has no genuine control | The individual retains some control |
View of behaviour | Behaviour is entirely caused by determining forces | Behaviour is influenced by causes but may involve conscious decision-making |
View of free will | Free will is an illusion | Limited free will can operate within constraints |
Typical language | Inevitable, destined, no choice | Influenced, constrained, but still able to decide |
Relationship with science | Strongly supports prediction and causal explanation | Accepts causes while recognising conscious thought |
Possible limitation | May remove personal responsibility | It may be difficult to determine exactly how much control remains |
Free will, hard determinism and soft determinism compared
Position | Main claim | Role of internal and external forces | Role of personal choice |
Free will | People can choose how to behave | Influences may exist but do not determine behaviour | Central |
Soft determinism | Behaviour is influenced by causes, but some control remains | Important but not absolute | Limited but meaningful |
Hard determinism | Behaviour is entirely caused | Fully determines behaviour | No genuine choice |
A useful way to picture the debate is as a continuum:
Greater personal controlFree will → Soft determinism → Hard determinismGreater causal control
This is a conceptual continuum, not a mathematical scale.
The forms of determinism
Biological, environmental and psychic determinism identify different sources of behavioural causation.
Form of determinism | Source of behaviour | Examples of determining factors |
Biological determinism | Internal biological factors | Genes, neurochemistry, brain structures, hormones |
Environmental determinism | External experiences and learning | Conditioning, reinforcement, punishment, role models, upbringing |
Psychic determinism | Unconscious psychological forces | Unconscious motives, conflicts and early childhood experiences |
These forms can each be presented in a hard or softer way.
For example:
A theory could claim that genes entirely control behaviour, which would be hard biological determinism.
A theory could claim that genes create a tendency but conscious decisions still matter, which would be closer to soft determinism.
Biological determinism
Biological determinism is the view that behaviour is governed by internal biological factors.
These may include:
genes
inherited characteristics
neurochemistry
brain structures
hormones
biological functioning
A biological determinist explains behaviour by referring to processes within the body rather than conscious choice or environmental experience.
Example of biological determinism
Two siblings show a similar behavioural characteristic. A psychologist argues that the similarity results from inherited genes.
This is biological determinism because genetic inheritance is being used as the cause of behaviour.
If the psychologist claims that the genetic influence made the behaviour inevitable, the explanation also demonstrates hard determinism.
Biological determinism elsewhere in Psychology
Biological determinism can be applied to several areas of the course.
For example:
genetic vulnerability may be used to explain obsessive-compulsive disorder in the role of inherited factors
brain structures and neurochemistry may be used to explain behaviour through biological mechanisms
genes, neurochemistry and brain structures are central to biological explanations of behaviour
When using these topics in an Issues and Debates answer, do not merely state that an explanation is biological. Explain how the biological factor is presented as controlling or causing behaviour.
Strengths of biological determinism
Biological factors can often be measured using objective methods. This may allow psychologists to:
test explanations empirically
identify relationships between biological factors and behaviour
make predictions
develop treatments based on biological mechanisms
This supports Psychology’s scientific aims.
Limitations of biological determinism
A strongly biological explanation may:
underestimate experience and conscious decision-making
present behaviour as inevitable
reduce a complex behaviour to one biological cause
create problems when deciding whether people are responsible for their actions
Biological determinism should not be confused with the nature side of the nature-nurture debate. The ideas overlap, but the questions are different:
biological determinism asks whether biology controls behaviour
the nature-nurture debate asks about the relative contribution of heredity and environment
Environmental determinism
Environmental determinism is the view that behaviour is governed by external influences and experiences.
These may include:
upbringing
conditioning
reinforcement
punishment
associations
observation of role models
social experiences
Environmental determinism is closely associated with learning explanations of behaviour.
Example of environmental determinism
A child receives praise whenever they practise the piano. The praise reinforces practising, making the behaviour more likely to occur again.
An environmental determinist would explain the behaviour through the child’s reinforcement history.
The child’s behaviour is caused by learning from the environment rather than an independent act of free will.
Understanding how consequences shape behaviour can help you explain the mechanism behind environmental determinism.
Environmental determinism and role models
Environmental determinism may also involve observation and imitation.
For example, a child may repeatedly observe a parent performing a particular activity. The parent becomes a role model, and the child imitates the observed behaviour.
A strong application should identify the precise mechanism, such as:
imitation
identification
vicarious reinforcement
direct reinforcement
association
punishment
It is not enough to write that someone behaved in a particular way simply because of “their environment”.
Environmental determinism elsewhere in Psychology
Environmental determinism can be applied to:
learning through consequences in Operant conditioning
observation and imitation in Social learning theory
the acquisition and maintenance of phobias through The two-process model of phobias
When applying environmental determinism, explain how the external experience caused or increased the likelihood of the behaviour.
Strengths of environmental determinism
Environmental explanations can lead to useful applications because changing environmental conditions may change behaviour.
For example, psychologists may:
alter reinforcement
remove rewards that maintain behaviour
introduce new learning experiences
change situational influences
reduce exposure to unhelpful models
Environmental variables may also be manipulated in controlled research, supporting causal
conclusions.
Limitations of environmental determinism
Environmental determinism may:
underestimate biological influences
overlook conscious thought and decision-making
treat people as passive responders
assume similar experiences will affect everyone in the same way
give an overly narrow explanation of complex behaviour
The connection between environmental determinism and breaking behaviour into simple learned responses leads into different levels of psychological explanation.
Psychic determinism
Psychic determinism is the view that behaviour is governed by unconscious motives, desires and conflicts, often originating in early childhood.
According to psychic determinism:
behaviour has an unconscious cause
the person may not be aware of the cause
early experiences continue to influence later behaviour
conscious explanations may not reveal the true motive
behaviour may express unresolved unconscious conflict
Psychic determinism is associated with unconscious processes and early childhood experience.
Example of psychic determinism
An adult repeatedly behaves in a particular way but cannot explain why. A psychologist argues that the behaviour reflects an unresolved unconscious conflict originating in childhood.
This is psychic determinism because unconscious motives and early experiences are presented as the cause.
Psychic determinism is not the same as conscious thought
The word psychic does not simply mean “mental”.
An explanation is not psychic determinism merely because it refers to:
thinking
memory
beliefs
decision-making
schemas
Psychic determinism specifically involves unconscious forces and early experience.
A cognitive explanation based on conscious or information-processing mechanisms is therefore not automatically an example of psychic determinism.
Strengths and limitations of psychic determinism
Psychic determinism offers a causal explanation for behaviour that appears irrational or difficult for the individual to explain.
However:
unconscious causes are difficult to observe directly
proposed motives may be difficult to test objectively
the explanation may underestimate conscious control
it may be difficult to show that one early experience caused later behaviour
This creates tension between psychic determinism and Psychology’s scientific emphasis on observable and testable causal explanations.
Do not confuse the degree and source of determinism
A common source of confusion is treating all five forms of determinism as if they are alternatives on one list.
They answer two different questions.
Question 1: How much control does the person have?
Hard determinism: no genuine control
Soft determinism: some control remains
Question 2: What causes the behaviour?
Biological determinism: biological factors
Environmental determinism: learning and external experience
Psychic determinism: unconscious forces and early experience
A scenario can therefore demonstrate more than one term.
Example
“Lena inherited her musical ability from her parents, so she was always destined to become a successful musician.”
This demonstrates:
biological determinism, because the cause is genetic inheritance
hard determinism, because “destined” suggests there was no alternative
Comparison of biological, environmental and psychic determinism
Question | Biological determinism | Environmental determinism | Psychic determinism |
What determines behaviour? | Internal biological factors | External learning and experience | Unconscious motives and conflicts |
Where does the cause originate? | Within the body | In the environment | In the unconscious mind and early experience |
Typical terminology | Genes, neurochemistry, brain structures, hormones | Reinforcement, conditioning, imitation, role models | Unconscious, repression, conflict, childhood |
Is the cause usually conscious? | No | Not necessarily | No |
Example | An inherited characteristic affects behaviour | Praise increases a behaviour | An unconscious childhood conflict influences adult behaviour |
Possible scientific advantage | Biological processes may be measured objectively | Environmental variables may be manipulated | Provides explanations for behaviour without an obvious conscious cause |
Possible limitation | May ignore environment and choice | May ignore biology and choice | Unconscious causes can be difficult to test |
The scientific emphasis on causal explanations
A causal explanation states that one factor produces a change in another.
In Psychology, a causal explanation proposes that:
behaviour is caused or determined by internal or external factors
there is a cause-and-effect relationship
identifying the cause makes explanation and prediction possible
For example:
Increased reinforcement causes a behaviour to occur more frequently.
This is a causal claim because it states that a change in reinforcement produces a change in behaviour.
Cause and effect in experiments
Experimental research is especially important when psychologists want to investigate causality.
In an experiment:
the independent variable (IV) is manipulated
the dependent variable (DV) is measured
other relevant variables are controlled
If the IV is the only factor systematically changed, and a corresponding effect occurs in the DV, the researcher may be able to infer causation.
This connects the debate to how cause and effect are investigated.
Example of a causal investigation
A psychologist investigates whether praise affects persistence.
Independent variable: Whether participants receive praise
Dependent variable: The number of minutes participants continue a difficult task
Control: All participants receive the same task and instructions
If the praised group persists for longer, and alternative explanations have been controlled, the psychologist may conclude that praise caused an increase in persistence.
Clearly defining the variables is essential, as explained in the operationalisation of psychological variables.
Why control matters
A causal conclusion is weakened if another factor could have produced the result.
An extraneous variable is any variable other than the independent variable that might affect the dependent variable.
If an extraneous variable varies systematically between conditions, it becomes a confounding variable. The researcher can no longer be confident that the IV caused the change in the DV.
Appropriate management of unwanted influences therefore strengthens causal explanations.
Correlation does not establish causation
A correlation shows that two variables are related, but it does not show that one caused the other.
Imagine that researchers find an association between stress and poor sleep.
Several explanations are possible:
stress causes poor sleep
poor sleep causes stress
another variable affects both
A correlation alone cannot decide between these alternatives.
A deterministic explanation may propose a cause, but the evidence must be capable of supporting that causal claim.
Why science favours determinism
Science assumes that events have causes that can be investigated.
Determinism supports Psychology’s scientific aims because it allows psychologists to search for:
regular patterns
measurable causes
testable hypotheses
predictions
replicable findings
practical ways of changing behaviour
If behaviour occurred completely independently of any cause, reliable prediction would be extremely difficult.
The scientific emphasis on causation therefore connects closely to objectivity, empirical investigation and hypothesis testing.
Determinism, prediction and control
If psychologists identify a cause of behaviour, they may be able to predict when the behaviour will occur.
For example:
A factor is identified as a possible cause.
A testable prediction is created.
The factor is manipulated or measured.
The resulting behaviour is recorded.
Findings are used to accept, reject or modify the explanation.
This process may lead to practical interventions.
If reinforcement maintains an unwanted behaviour, psychologists may change the pattern of reinforcement. If a biological process contributes to a condition, treatment may target that process.
Causality must be supported by evidence
Psychologists should not use deterministic language more strongly than their evidence allows.
Compare the following conclusions:
“The variables were associated.”
“The environmental factor may influence behaviour.”
“The environmental factor caused the behaviour.”
The third claim is the strongest and requires appropriate evidence, usually from a well-controlled experiment.
Evaluating free will and determinism
Determinism supports the scientific status of Psychology
A strength of determinism is that it encourages psychologists to search for causes.
Causal explanations can be:
tested
supported or challenged by evidence
used to make predictions
applied to practical problems
This allows Psychology to adopt scientific methods rather than relying only on personal opinion.
The 2024 mark scheme identified the search for causality as a cornerstone of the scientific approach and noted that causal explanations may have practical applications.
Deterministic explanations can have practical value
When behaviour is treated as caused, psychologists can investigate how changing the cause affects the outcome.
Possible applications include:
changing patterns of reinforcement
altering environmental conditions
developing biological treatments
recognising how early experiences may influence later behaviour
designing prevention or support programmes
Determinism can therefore be useful even when an explanation does not account for every influence.
Hard determinism challenges moral responsibility
Hard determinism suggests that individuals could not have acted differently.
This creates questions about responsibility. If behaviour was entirely caused by factors outside the person’s control, it may seem unfair to blame or punish them in the same way as someone who acted freely.
This issue may affect how society views:
offending behaviour
addiction
mental health
child-rearing
education
However, completely removing responsibility may itself have negative consequences. Social systems often assume that individuals have at least some capacity to control their actions.
Free will supports responsibility and change
Free will recognises people as active decision-makers.
This may be useful because it:
supports personal responsibility
recognises conscious choices
allows for individual differences in responses
encourages the possibility of change
However, free-will explanations may be difficult to test scientifically because an independent act of choice cannot always be measured or predicted.
Hard determinism may be reductionist
A deterministic explanation may focus narrowly on one cause, such as:
a gene
a neurotransmitter
reinforcement
an unconscious conflict
This may make research manageable, but complex behaviour is likely to involve several interacting influences.
A narrow causal explanation may therefore overlook:
conscious thought
social context
biological and environmental interaction
individual experience
Determinism is not automatically reductionist, but strong deterministic explanations often risk reducing behaviour to one level or mechanism.
Soft determinism offers a compromise
Soft determinism accepts that behaviour has causes while preserving some role for conscious control.
This can be seen as a balanced position because it recognises that:
nobody makes decisions entirely independently of biology or experience
influences do not necessarily force one unavoidable response
people may reflect on their circumstances
conscious decision-making can operate within constraints
A limitation is that it may be difficult to establish where causal influence ends and free choice begins.
Determinism does not mean behaviour is easy to predict
Even if behaviour has causes, prediction may remain difficult.
A person may be affected by many factors at the same time:
biology
learning history
current environment
unconscious influences
conscious thought
The behaviour may therefore be determined but still difficult to predict accurately because psychologists do not know or cannot measure every relevant cause.
Evidence of causation may be difficult to obtain
Some determining factors cannot be manipulated ethically or practically.
Researchers may not be able to:
alter a person’s genes
recreate early childhood experiences
directly manipulate unconscious conflict
control every influence on complex behaviour
As a result, evidence may be correlational or retrospective rather than experimental. This limits confidence in causal conclusions.
A balanced conclusion
The debate is not simply a choice between complete freedom and complete control.
Psychological research shows the importance of internal and external influences, while people also experience themselves as making choices.
Soft determinism provides a possible compromise:
behaviour has causes
causes create constraints and tendencies
conscious thought may still affect the eventual response
In an examination, the strongest conclusions recognise both the scientific value of causal explanations and the difficulty of completely removing personal agency.
Applying determinism to unfamiliar scenarios
Use the following cues to identify the relevant concept.
Scenario clue | Likely concept |
Genes, inheritance, neurochemistry, hormones or brain structures | Biological determinism |
Conditioning, reinforcement, punishment, upbringing or role models | Environmental determinism |
Unconscious motives, repression, conflicts or childhood experiences | Psychic determinism |
Destined, inevitable, no choice or unavoidable | Hard determinism |
Influenced by causes but still able to decide | Soft determinism |
Deliberate choice, personal control or conscious decision | Free will |
Controlled experiment in which the IV affects the DV | Causal explanation |
A three-step application method
For each deterministic explanation:
Name the form of determinism.
Identify the relevant detail in the scenario.
Explain the psychological mechanism linking the detail to the behaviour.
Weak application
“This is environmental determinism because the person grew up in a musical family.”
This repeats the context but does not explain how the environment caused the behaviour.
Developed application
“This illustrates environmental determinism because the person may have observed and imitated musical role models in the family. Praise for practising may also have reinforced musical behaviour, making it more likely to continue.”
The developed response identifies precise learning mechanisms.
Key Words 🔑
Key word | Student-friendly definition | How it may be used in an exam |
Free will | The view that people can make choices and exercise control over their behaviour | Explain how an individual might act through conscious decision rather than predetermined causes |
Determinism | The view that behaviour is governed by identifiable internal or external causes | Identify the general assumption behind biological, environmental or psychic explanations |
Hard determinism | The view that behaviour is entirely caused and the individual has no genuine choice | Apply to language suggesting that an outcome was inevitable or unavoidable |
Soft determinism | The view that behaviour is influenced by causes but some conscious control remains | Explain a compromise between hard determinism and free will |
Biological determinism | The view that behaviour is governed by biological factors such as genes, neurochemistry or brain structures | Apply to scenarios involving inheritance or biological mechanisms |
Environmental determinism | The view that behaviour is governed by learning and external experiences | Apply conditioning, reinforcement or role-model mechanisms to a scenario |
Psychic determinism | The view that behaviour is governed by unconscious motives and early experiences | Apply psychodynamic concepts to behaviour whose cause is outside conscious awareness |
Causal explanation | An explanation stating that one factor produces a change in another | Explain how an experiment may establish a cause-and-effect relationship |
Cause and effect | A relationship in which a change in one variable produces a change in another | Distinguish an experimental conclusion from an association |
Independent variable | The variable manipulated by a researcher | Identify the proposed cause in an experiment |
Dependent variable | The variable measured by a researcher | Identify the behavioural effect in an experiment |
Extraneous variable | A variable other than the IV that could affect the DV | Explain why control is required before drawing a causal conclusion |
Confounding variable | An uncontrolled variable that changes systematically with the IV and offers an alternative explanation | Evaluate whether an experiment supports causation |
Personal responsibility | The idea that an individual may be held accountable for their actions | Evaluate the implications of free will and hard determinism |
Hints from the Examiner Reports 💡
Examiner hint: Do not simply name a type of determinism. Explain the mechanism that links the determining factor to the behaviour. The 2025 mark scheme awarded full credit for clear application showing both knowledge of the type and the mechanism involved.
Examiner hint: Environmental determinism requires a psychological explanation, not a commonsense reference to someone’s surroundings. The 2025 report noted that “growing up in a musical family” was insufficient unless students explained a mechanism such as role modelling, reinforcement or association.
Examiner hint: Use precise details from the stem. A reference to inheritance can support biological determinism, while praise may support environmental determinism through positive reinforcement.
Examiner hint: When applying hard determinism, identify language showing inevitability or a lack of choice. Words such as “destined” and “inevitable” may provide a useful link.
Examiner hint: Do not force every scenario into soft determinism. In 2024, some students unsuccessfully tried to reinterpret a clearly hard-deterministic stem as soft determinism.
Examiner hint: Keep your extended response focused on the question. The 2024 report found that weaker students turned an applied determinism question into a generic debate between free will and determinism rather than using the scenario effectively.
Examiner hint: Do not confuse determinism with other Issues and Debates topics. Examiners identified confusion between determinism, the nature-nurture debate and holism-reductionism.
Examiner hint: Define soft determinism carefully. A contradictory answer stating both that behaviour is completely predetermined and freely chosen is not creditworthy. Explain that causes influence behaviour while some control remains.
Examiner hint: Read the word causal carefully. The 2022 report noted that some students misread it as “casual”. A causal explanation concerns cause and effect, not an informal or relaxed method.
Examiner hint: When explaining causality, use details of the method. State that the researcher manipulated the IV, controlled other variables and measured an effect on the DV. A controlled laboratory experiment may therefore support a causal conclusion.
Examiner hint: In a 16-mark response, successful answers combine accurate knowledge, effective application and developed discussion. Use specialist terminology and return to the wording of the question throughout.
Examiner hint: There are no calculations specific to this lesson. Marks depend on conceptual precision, psychological application and developed evaluation.
Common Mistakes ⚠️
Mistake: Defining soft determinism as both complete determination and complete free choice
Why this is incorrect:
These claims contradict one another. If behaviour is completely determined, there is no remaining control.
How to improve:
State that internal or external forces influence behaviour, but the person retains some capacity for conscious decision-making.
Mistake: Treating hard determinism and biological determinism as synonyms
Why this is incorrect:
Hard determinism concerns how much control remains. Biological determinism concerns the source of the cause.
How to improve:
Ask two questions:
Is the behaviour presented as unavoidable?
Is the cause biological?
A scenario may demonstrate both forms.
Mistake: Writing that environmental determinism simply means “the environment affects behaviour”
Why this is incorrect:
This is too vague and may only repeat the scenario.
How to improve:
Explain the mechanism, such as reinforcement, punishment, conditioning, imitation or identification.
Mistake: Defining psychic determinism as any mental explanation
Why this is incorrect:
Psychic determinism specifically involves unconscious motives, conflicts and early experiences.
How to improve:
Use terms such as unconscious, childhood experience and conflict.
Mistake: Confusing environmental determinism with the nurture side of the nature-nurture debate
Why this is incorrect:
The ideas overlap, but they address different questions. Environmental determinism claims that environmental forces govern behaviour. The nature-nurture debate concerns the relative contribution of heredity and environment.
How to improve:
Keep your answer focused on personal control and causation when the question is about determinism.
Mistake: Calling an explanation hard determinism simply because it identifies a cause
Why this is incorrect:
All deterministic explanations identify causes. Hard determinism additionally claims that the cause leaves no genuine choice.
How to improve:
Look for evidence that the behaviour was inevitable or unavoidable.
Mistake: Claiming that a correlation proves causation
Why this is incorrect:
A correlation shows an association but cannot establish the direction of influence or rule out another variable.
How to improve:
Reserve causal claims for evidence capable of supporting cause and effect, particularly well-controlled experiments.
Mistake: Explaining causation without referring to variables
Why this is incorrect:
A strong methodological explanation should identify what was manipulated, what was measured and what was controlled.
How to improve:
Refer explicitly to the IV, DV and control of extraneous variables.
Mistake: Repeating the stem instead of applying Psychology
Why this is incorrect:
Writing that a person became musical because they grew up around music does not identify a psychological mechanism.
How to improve:
Explain that the person may have imitated a role model, received reinforcement or formed an association.
Mistake: Writing a prepared free-will essay without addressing the scenario
Why this is incorrect:
Applied questions require direct engagement with the material provided.
How to improve:
Use details from across the stem, then connect each detail to a named form of determinism.
Mistake: Assuming determinism makes behaviour easy to predict
Why this is incorrect:
Behaviour may have causes while remaining difficult to predict because many causes interact and cannot all be measured.
How to improve:
Distinguish between the claim that behaviour is caused and the practical ability to identify every cause.
Exam-Style Questions ✍️
Which one of the following best describes soft determinism?
A. Behaviour is completely independent of internal and external influences.B. Behaviour is entirely controlled and personal choice is impossible.C. Behaviour is influenced by internal and external forces, but some control remains.D. Behaviour is caused only by unconscious conflict.
[1 mark]
Define hard determinism.
[2 marks]
Explain one difference between biological determinism and environmental determinism.
[3 marks]
Talia is a talented runner. Her mother says:
“Running ability is in our family. Talia inherited it from her grandfather, so she was always going to become a successful athlete.”
Explain how biological determinism and hard determinism can be applied to the mother’s comments.[4 marks]
Noah practises the piano every evening. When he was younger, his parents praised him whenever he completed a piece of music. He also watched his older brother perform in concerts and wanted to behave like him.
Use your knowledge of environmental determinism to explain Noah’s behaviour.[4 marks]
A psychologist argues that an adult’s repeated difficulties in close relationships result from unresolved unconscious conflicts originating in early childhood.
Explain why this is an example of psychic determinism.[4 marks]
A researcher investigated whether receiving phone notifications affects concentration. The same participants completed two conditions.
Condition | Procedure | Mean number of correct answers |
Notifications | Participants received a notification every two minutes while completing a concentration task | 18.2 |
No notifications | Participants completed the same task without notifications | 26.7 |
The order of conditions was counterbalanced. The researcher used the same room, instructions, time limit and concentration task in both conditions. The difference between conditions was statistically significant.
Explain why the researcher may be able to claim that phone notifications caused a change in concentration.[4 marks]
A psychologist says:
“Childhood experiences strongly influence adult behaviour, but adults can reflect on those experiences and choose how to respond.”
Explain how this statement illustrates soft determinism rather than hard determinism.[4 marks]
Discuss the scientific emphasis on causal explanations in Psychology.
[8 marks]
Rowan is a successful chef. Rowan’s father was also a chef and believes that Rowan inherited a natural ability to recognise flavours. Rowan spent much of childhood watching the father cook and received praise for helping in the kitchen. Rowan says:
“Perhaps all of that influenced me, but becoming a chef was still my decision. I could have chosen another career.”
Discuss free will and determinism. Refer to Rowan in your answer.[16 marks]
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