A01: The Idiographic and Nomothetic Approaches

• Idiographic Approach:

  Idiographic approach is one that studies people as unique individuals with focus of study being their subjective experiences, motivations and values.

  • They don't compare people against each other but instead describe the experiences of each individual to gain insight into their unique experiences.
  • They produce qualitative not quantitative data; use self-report measures e.g case studies & unstructured interviews
• Example of Idiographic Approaches?

  • Humanistic psychology is the best example of an idiographic approach, with the psychologists Maslow and Rogers taking a phenomenological approach where the conscious experience of the individual self is studied.
  • The psychodynamic approach is also described as idiographic because it studies individuals and their unique lives.
  • Freud used the case study method to study his patients but also identified laws related to the way that personality develops.
• Nomothetic Approach

  A nomothetic approach studies human behaviour through the development of principles.

  • Nomothetic approach are often reductionist and determinist and are highly scientific because they use controlled experiments to study large groups of people.
  • Behaviourist, cognitive and biological approaches are all nomothetic. They all study behaviour through creating hypotheses, analysing behaviour, statistically testing what is found and creating laws about why people behave the way they do.
• Nomothetic Factors?:

  • Quantitative methods (e.g questionnaires, closed Q)
  • Larger sample
  • Need a hypothesis (operationalise variables, make them testable)
  • Sample technique needs to be representative (e.g stratified)
  • Stats tests - because enough data & quantitative
  • Compare to control group
  • Create a conclusion that drives law/general principles

  Idiographic Approach: opposite of this
• Should psychology concern itself with what makes people unique; the specific rather than general?: Idiographic

  Should the aim of psychological enquiry be to produce generalities against which people can be compared and measured?: Nomothetic
• A02 - N Approach

  SSRIs treat OCD: Antidepressant drugs prevent re-absorption & breakdown of serotonin so there increase in serotonin level at synapse ------> Nomothetic

  • Drug therapy as general principle that low serotonin cause OCD so should work same on all people. Quantitative
• A02 - I Approach

  Gardner & Gardner (1980): Attempt teach chimp (Washoe) use Sign Language. 32 months detailed records kept of Washoe's progress where 30 signs were able to be made in a 2-way conversation. Show a chimp does have capability use human language ------> Idiographic

  • Studied as an individual behaviours independent & specific to him (small sample)