Idiographic VS Nomothetic

• What is the greek word that idiographic is created from

  'idios' = 'own' or 'private'
• How does the idiographic approach study behaviour

  It is a detailed study of one individual or one very small group to prove depth of understanding
• What does the idiographic approach believe in

  The richness of human experience, so it aims to study the individual and doesn't want to create generalisations as no two people are the same
• What research methods does the idiographic approach use

  qualitative data - focusing on gathering data with quality over quantity
• Why are qualitative methods used in an idiographic approach

  They want to learn about the individual and the experiences that have shaped them
• What approach uses the idiographic methods + AO3

  Humanistic Approach - Roger's Client Centred Therapy based on unconditional positive regard as well as alignment between the true self and desired self (congruence)

  -> It considers each client as an individual and each session is based around the client as opposed to general drug therapy or counselling methods

  THIS HAS REAL WORLD APPLICATIONS BECAUSE IDIOGRAPHIC METHODS HAVE PROVIDED HELP TO PEOPLE
• What is phenomenology (idiographic approach)

  the individual has to explain + understand their behaviour as the external observers opinion is worthless.
• AO3 for idiographic: MEMORY: KF by Shallice and Warrington

  Shallice and Warrington conducted a case study on KF who had suffered a motorcycle accident.

  KF's long term memory was still ok as was his STM for visual information - it remained intact. His STM for verbal information was impaired.

  This contradicted and falsified the MSM of Memory proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin and led to the devised memory model by Baddley and Hitch called the Working Memory Model.

  • This shows the use of idiographic studies and how they can be used alongside nomothetic approaches
• What are examples of research methods used in idiographic studies

  case studies, thematic analysis, unstructured interviews.
• CONCLUSION FOR KF CASE STUDY:

  
  

  The MSM's nomothetic basis aimed for generalization, but KF's idiographic evidence demonstrated its limitations.

  • This exemplifies how idiographic findings can refine or falsify nomothetic theories, ensuring psychology evolves to better reflect the complexity of human nature
• AO3: STRENGTH: Idiographic Approach: DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS

  The idiographic approach allows to gain detailed, informative descriptions of behaviour

  • E.g. Little Hans - he was observed over a long time frame and his father recorded this in detail, meaning we were unable to gain a clearer and deeper understanding of behaviour
• AO3: LIMITATION: Idiographic: Freud and Little Hans Study

  Freud attempted to use idiographic methods to generalise to a population.

  • This is inappropriate as Freud has no external evidence outside the case study

  This means that Freud based a law upon a case study which has almost no population validity due to the subjective nature.

  (also note that Hans father was a fan of Freud meaning his interpretations were already likely biased)

  THIS MEANS WE HAVE TO BE AWARE TO CONSTRICT IDIOGRAPHIC AND NOMOTHETIC EVIDENCE TO THEIR USES
• AO3: LIMITATION; Idiographic: Qualitative Data

  Qualitative data is subjective meaning it is open to investigator bias.

  • This possibly distorts findings and reduces the internal validity
• What is the greek word that nomothetic comes from

  nomos = 'law'
• What does a nomothetic approach seek to do

  It aims to study law, of behaviour and principles by discovering norms through large sample size testing
• What are the 3 kinds of laws the nomothetic approach can make

  1: Classification - e.g. DSM-5 and ICD-10

  2: Establishing Principles - e.g. functions and structure of memory

  3: Establishing dimensions - e.g. normal distribution of IQ or Locus of control (high and low are either end of a dimension)
• What kind of data collection method does the nomothetic approach use 


  Quantitative data - numbers, time, weight
• What methods of investigation does the nomothetic approach take

  Experiments, correlational research, psychometric testing
• What is the process of formulating a law

  Hypothesis are tested through large scale samples, group averages are statistically analysed (inferential stats) and conclusions are cretaed and then generalised
• EXAMPLE OF A NOMOTHETIC LAW (Memory)

  Miller: Capacity of STM = 7+/- 2

  -> This led to the 'law' that STM has a capacity of 5 to 9 items
• What approaches use a nomothetic approach

  Biological

  • Biopyschs take a nomo. approach to explain psychological disorders
  • They typically pinpoint biological factors (e.g. neurotransmitters) and take a genreralised biological tratement

  Behavioural

  • Pavolv/Skinner - laws of learning (OC/CC) generalised to humans
• AO3 for Quantitative Methods

  • explicit numerical results = low risk of investigator bias = increased validity
  • high replicability (of controlled lab experiments) = high reliability
• AO3 for large sample sizes (nomothetic approach)

  Large samples = high population validity BUT meaningful anomalous results may be discounted and not researched into further

  • we see that these can be important as they may be representative of a case that falsifies the law.
• AO3: SCIENTIFIC METHODS: nomothetic

  Use of scientific, controlled experiments means research findings can be replicated to determine the validity (+ falsified - feature of a true science - Kuhn)

  E.g. lab studies using brain scans = highly controlled conditions = consistent experience for PPT's

  = high control of extraneous variables = higher internal validity = results can be said to be of significance (infer. stats)
• EXAMPLE OF SCIENTIFIC METHODS IN NOMOTHETIC APPROACH (RAINE)

  Raine found that psychopaths had a hypoactive amygdala compared to a control group.

  • This example of a controlled experiment with an isolation of a testable IV provided us with information we may have been unable to decipher using idiographic approach.
  • This allows us to understand behaviour to a greater degree and understand a cause and effect relationship
• AO3: LIMITATION: Nomothetic: Lack of Depth

  Purely quantitative data as used in a nomothetic approach lacks insight into why people may behave as they do.

  • EXAMPLE: Analysing data in memory experiments into capacity tells us a person can hold 5 to 9 items in STM but doesn't tell us why people may sit outside this range.

  This means it can be difficult to interpret findings and understand factors that lead to certain behaviours.

  NOMOTHETIC MAY BE BETTER PAIRED WITH IDIOGRAPHIC TO GAIN A BROADER UNDERSTANDING
• AO3: STRENGTH: Nomothetic: Therapy application

  A nomothetic approach has been important to establish drug therapies and general counselling methods. This has allowed for the managment and treatment of conditions such as schizophrenia.

  HOWEVER some therapies such as CBT or Rogers client centred therapy use idiographic approaches, meaning that depending on the case, we should know when either an idiographic or nomothetic approach is best used.

  HOWEVER knowledge of both approaches means we have arange of options and better suitability to different clients needs
• Which approaches use both idiographic and nomothetic

  Cognitive Approach (establishes laws + uses cases studies)

  • Atkinson and Shiffrins MSM vs Shallice and Warrington's KF case study.

  Psychodynmic Approach

  • attempts to establish laws based on an idiographic case study
  • idiographic may be a limitation as Freud's ideas are so abstract they may require empirical evidence to be taken for face validity
• AO3: IDIOGRAPHIC/NOMOTHETIC: False distinction: Holt (1967) 


  Holt argued that the idiographic and nomothetic distinction is a false distinction.

  • This is because most approaches take advantage of both meaning we may not be able to separated what is a result of one or another and researchers should use one or the other depending on the nature of the research question.
• AO3 WEAKNESS (Nomothetic): LAB STUDIES GENERAL AO3

  lab studies = low mundane realism due to high control of extraneous variables = lacks external validity (ecological validity) therefore questions the ability to generalise findings
• AO3 WEAKNESS (NOMOTHETIC) Culture and Gender Bias

  Nomothetic - aims to generalise = assumes univeraslity of the laws = gender and culture bias (imposed etic, ethnocentrism, androcentrism)

  EXAMPLE: Ainsworth's strange situation = Western tested but generalised - Meta analysis by Van Ijzendoorn and Kronenberg demonstrated cultural differenced

  • Gemarny = independence = more insecure avoidant
  • Japan = Closeness = more insecure resistant

  THIS DEMONSTRATES HOW WE NEED TO BE MINDFUL WHEN CREATING LAWS AND SHOWS HOW TAKING A NOMOTHETIC APPROACH CAN POSE A RISK OF ISSUES WITH BIASSES.