Idiographic and Nomothetic approaches to psychological investigation

Question 1

The idiographic approach

Answer 1

This involves the study of individuals and the unique insights each individual gives us about human behaviour

Question 2

Examples of idiographic approach

Answer 2

• Freud and Little Hans
• Humanistic psychologists ( focus on subjective experiences)
• Allport (Idiographic perspectives tell us more about human behaviour and personality)

Question 3

Nomothetic approach

Answer 3

Study of a large number of people

Question 4

Examples of the Nomothetic Approach

Answer 4

• Behaviourist Psychologists- Produce general laws of behaviour ( operant and classical conditioning), they were seeking one general rule for all animals
• Eysenck’s Psychometric approach to personality- scores from tests that inform us about what is normal and abnormal.EPQ collected large amounts of data, and then used factor analysis to produce personality types.