Idiographic And Nomothetic Flashcards
Define idiographic.
People are studied as unique entities which have their own subjective experiences and motivations.
Define nomothetic.
Focuses on similarities between people and attempts to establish a general law.
Give one example of a topic area which demonstrates the nomothetic approach.
Using SSRIs to treat OCD.
Establishes a general treatment and assumes each sufferers cause is all similar.
Give one example of an idiographic approach.
Maslows hierarchy of needs.
Everyone moves up hierarchy differently.
Explain one weakness of the nomothetic approach.
Focuses only on general laws lacks consideration of many factors..
Only tends to use quantitative data, so lacks details of qualitative data e.g. knowing that there is a 1% risk of getting schizophrenia says little about what may cause it to develop.
Theories are too simple and may fail to acknowledge the importance of human experience.
Explain one strength of an idiographic approach.
High levels of detail and complete account of the individual.
E.g. HM - showed us that procedural memories are stored differently.
Research can generate further hypotheses to deepen psychological knowledge.
Describe one strength of the nomothetic approach.
Highly scientific.
Tend to use highly controlled, standardised, lab experiments to produce quantitative data.
This helps to maintain objectivity in research.
How are idiographic theories usually created?
Case studies.
Producing qualitative data.
How are nomothetic laws usually studied?
Questionnaires to study large groups of people
Produce quantitative data.
