Idiographic and nomothetic approaches to psychological investigation Flashcards

1
Q

What does nomothetic research try to find

A

universal laws that can be applied to whole populations of people

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What does most of the nomothetic research entail

A

quantitative research in the form of laboratory studies and correlational research

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Why is statistical data powerful

A

generally valid and reliable

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What can be made from nomothetic research

A

general laws and theories of human behaviour can be made

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

as the Nomothetic studies are highly scientific What’s the strengths of this

A

studies are highly controlled, avoid extraneous variables and bias

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What type of data is contained from nomothetic research

A

objective data rather than subjective

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What do laboratory studies lack

A

ecological validity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

As nomothetic studies have low ecological validity what does this mean

A

rare results can be applied to real world

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What happens when you examine the whole study

A

some details are going to be missed or ignored

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What does Idiographic research focus on

A

individuals in detail

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What does idiographic research rely on

A

qualitative methods such as questionnaires case studies, interviews and observations of individual

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is a strength of idiographic research

A

a more complete explanation is likely compared to the nomothetic approach

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What’s a weakness of idiographic research

A

difficult to generalise to the whole population

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What does it mean as idiographic research qualitative

A

it can be more subjective

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Are there any exceptions of idiographic research

A

certain studies have been foundational in developing nomothetic laws and theories

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What’s an example of idiographic research

A

milner et al 1957

17
Q

What did milner et al study

A

man who suffered from severe epilepsy

18
Q

How did the doctors treat the patient in milner et als study

A

removed the area of the brain responsible for the seizures (hippocampus)

19
Q

What happened after the patients surgery in milner et als study

A

had difficulty forming new long term memories

20
Q

What did milner et al conclude about the hippocampus

A

t he formation of long term memories

21
Q

What was milner et als conclusions about idiographic approaches

A

concept could be applied to everyone, an idiographic conclusions had nomothetic applications

22
Q

What approach is the psychodynamic

A

idiographic and nomothetic tendencies

23
Q

Why is the psychodynamic approach idiographic

A

because Freud studied behaviour in individuals in case studies

24
Q

What is the biological approach

A

Nomothetic

25
What's the aim of the biological approach
develop theories regarding biological function structures and processes in everyone
26
What does the biological approach assume
human physiology is basically the same across the whole world making it nomothetic
27
What're 2 biological examples
- discovering the localisation of brain structure most people have the same brain structure - same neurone structure
28
What's the cognitive approach
nomothetic
29
What does cognitive research look at
mental process of humans
30
What does cognitive research assume
processes are the same across the population
31
What can piaget's theory of cognitive development can broadly be applied across
all humans
32
What is the behaviourist approach
nomothetic
33
What do behaviourists look for
cause and effect laws applied across a population
34
What's an example of a behaviourist approach
Skinners operant conditioning principles
35
What happens in skinners operant conditioning
principles of learning through positive and negative reinforcement generalised to the whole population
36
What's the humanistic approach
idiographic side
37
What does Humanism focus on
the individual as they strive towards self-actualisation
38
What research do most humanistic studies involve
qualitative research