I&D- Idiographic and Nomothetic approach Flashcards
Define the Nomothetic approach
Studying what WE SHARE with others and generalising our behaviour
Define the Idiographic approach
Studying to discover what makes EACH of us UNIQUE
Each of these approaches are determined through two types of sciences, name them
Nomothetic- is the Laws of nature from the ‘Natural Sciences’
Idiographic- is studying behaviour and meaning from ‘Social Sciences’
What does Nomothetic approaches tend to focus on
Focus on Discovering laws or establishing generalisations
List the approaches that using Nomothetic thinking and give an examples of how
- Behaviourist- Pavlov’s dogs was using classical conditioning
- Skinner’s rats was using operant conditioning - Social Learning Theory- used rules about Role Models = Bobo doll study
- Cognitive- Model’s of memory = MSM, WMM< Inference theory, Post event discussion, cognitive Interview
- Biological- genes controlling specific characteristics in everyone with
that genotype
- Twins study - Psychodynamic approach- Tripartite structure of personality
List approaches that use the idiographic approach and give examples how
- Humanistic approach- is focused on one self= Maslow’s hierarchy of needs - different needs for fulfillment so it is subjective
- Psychodynamic approach- it involves incredibly detailed accounts and interpretations of an individual’s childhood experiences
Name the case study that is idiographic and in the memory topic
KF study- individual case study–> hard to generalise
Shallice and Warrington 1970
motorbike accident
KF’s STM forgets auditory information
His visual information was not affected, showing there are multiple components to the STM
Name the personality test that is Nomothetic
Eysenck’s personality theory- suggests personality is divided into categories, introversion and extraversion, neuroticism and stability
What is the name of the research who believes the distinction between idiographic and Nomothetic is a false distinction
explain why
Holt (1967)
This is because approaches take advantages of both idiographic and Nomothetic approaches. For example, cognitive psychologists take a Nomothetic approach to create general rules but idiographic use case studies e.g. KF.
Therefore, distinction between them is meaningless, as psychologists should use both methods depending on the question
In psychopathology name the antidepressant that is used to treat OCD
and it this Nomothetic or idiographic
For example, biological psychologists take a Nomothetic approach when explain that SSRI’s are drugs used to prevent the re-absorption of serotonin to increase the availability of serotonin in the synapse
It is Nomothetic because it is evidence-based research (drug therapy)that can be generalised to everyone
due to their being a neurotransmitter imbalance in all OCD patients
AO3
strength of Idiographic approach
P- A strength of the idiographic approach- focus on one indiv rather than a large sample - increased validity, allows for in-depth qualitative data.
E- e.g. using evidence from a case study such as KF (Shallice and Warrington 1970), found that knowing the person helps to predict their behaviour in a situ
E- This shows hoe understanding of behaviour is easier when focused on one person
L- Therefore, impact of case studies in Idiographic approach is positive
AO3
Strength- Nomothetic is scientific
P- Strength- Nomothetic approach= scientific - due to experimental methods - are quantitative
E- E.g. Biological Psychologists- use this to explain OCD- higher levels of dopamine & lower serotonin–> drug therapies (e.g. SSRIs) are developed to balance hormones
E- This means there’s an increase of serotonin uptake= reduces anxiety associated with OCD.
L- Pos impact on their lives- success of Nomothetic research- help large numbers of people
AO3
Limitation- idiographic approach- T C
P- Limitation of Idiographic approach-collects qualitative data to create a case study- but flaw is this is too time consuming- for what the population gets from it
E- Little Hans case study- consisted of 150 pages of his father telling freud detailed description of #little Hans life experiences
E- Although Nom is also time consuming- the findings lead to general laws being created- larger impact on populations- contrasted to findings affecting one person (idiographic)
L- Even if case study findings goes on to produce universal theories - which freud did do- still the case study isn’t enough evidence- due to unrepresentative sample
AO3
Limitation drug treatment not always successful- alternatives have been made
L- What should be done for most efficient treatment
P-Limitation- drug treatment not always successful- alternatives have been made
E- e.g. CBT- better due to improving faulty thinking- treatment is more personal than drugs- long term treatment
E- More personal- links with idiographic- help each individual as people need different help- CBT better- therapist gets deep insight into thoughts and feelings of each individual patient
L- But research suggests treatment occurs best when both approaches are combined together, so begin Nomothetic for general laws
Then after idiographic for deeper understanding
