new one Flashcards
Idiographic definition
focus on the individual and emphasise the unique personal experience of human nature
Doesn’t seek to formulate laws or generalise results to others
Nomothetic definition
concerned with establishing general laws based on the study of large groups of people
What research methods do idiographic approaches prefer and why?
case studies, unstructured interviews
Provide an in-depth insight into individual behaviour
AO3 of the idiographic approach
Weaknesses of using unscientific methods e.g. uncontrolled, hard to replicate, low generalisability
+ case study methods can be powerful in evaluating theories - KF exposed a limitation of MSM, leading to improvement on STM - WMM
- unscientific nature - hard to come up with justifiable generalisations, limits usefulness in practical applications such as diagnosis and treatments of mental disorders
What research methods do nomothetic approaches prefer and why?
research methods: experiments, correlational research
approach is scientific
Statistical and quantitative methods to analyse data
AO3 of nomothetic approach
Benefits of using scientific methods e.g. quantitative methods, controlled, reliable methods
Application of approach - biological approach using drug treatments for mental health issues e.g. OCD/depression
Many approaches in psychology adopt both an idiographic and nomothetic approach e.g. psychodynamic and cognitive
Idiographic examples
Case study KF in memory - STM of auditory information better than visual, STM consists of multiple components. KF = undermined model of MSM
Nomothetic examples
Biological approach e.g. OCD, depression as they pinpoint a biological factor e.g. neurotransmitters that are responsible for these disorders.
Behaviourist approach e.g. Pavlov and Skinner, experiments on animals in order to establish laws of learning (classical/operant) that is generalised to humans
Cognitive approach e.g. MSM applied to everyone
Nature definition
view that behaviour is the product of innate biological or genetic factors
Locke = new born infants born as a tabula rasa (blank slate)
Nurture definition
behaviour is the product of environmental influences anything outside the body e.g. people, events, physical world
Heredity definition
process in which traits are passed down from one generation to the next
Interactionist approach to nature vs nurture
where nature and nurture overlap and work together to shape human behaviour.
Examples of nature
Bowlby: children come into the world biologically programmed to attach in order to help survival
Example of nurture
explaining attachment through classical conditioning where infant attaches as they associate primary caregiver with pleasure e.g. food. Then attachment is maintained via operant conditioning
Examples of the interactionist approach
genetic disorder PKU which is expressed by recessive alleles however low protein diet for first 12 years can avoid it
AO3 of Nature vs nurture
Nature and nurture have become so complex; many psychologists see it as meaningless
Plomin et al: genetic influences on parental behaviour creates a particular environment which can determine aspects of behaviour e.g. parent with gene for mental health = unsettled home, child suffers mental health due to genetics, home life or both
Neural plasticity suggests how life experiences shape our biology
Maguire et al - London taxi drivers had a larger hippocampus size
Blackmore and Cooper - Kittens raised in isolation seeing either vertical or horizontal stripes. When placed in world at 5 months, they couldn’t see lines of opposite orientation
Diathesis-stress model - born with a biological vulnerability such as a gene for depression but an environmental factor/stressor will trigger it
Research suggests not everyone with the gene will develop the disorder depression
Reductionist definition
belief that human behaviour can be explained by breaking it down into simpler component parts
Best way to look at behaviour is to break it down and use the simplest explanation to explain how it works
Holism definition
Human behaviour should be viewed as whole integrated experiences and not separate parts
Biological reductionism
biological psychologist attempt to reduce behaviour to a physical level and explain using neurones, neurotransmitters etc.
Environmental reductionism
assume all behaviour can be reduced to the simple building blocks of stimulus-response association that complex behaviour is a series of S-R chains.
Example of holist approach
gestalt psychology (holistic approach to perception: when we perceive something in the real world, we see it as a whole rather than a collective part)
humanistic approach = react to stimuli as a whole
Example of the biological approach
OCD is caused by neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin
Example of environmental reductionism
behavioural approach to explaining phobias - caused by classical conditioning and maintained by operant conditioning
Levels of explanations and examples
Behaviour can be explained by different levels
Biological - OCD is caused by neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin
Psychological - OCD - obsessive thoughts
Cultural - Odd/irrational behaviours caused by OCD
AO3 of holism and reductionism
+ reductionist approaches = scientific, operationalisation by breaking behaviour down into measurable components, increased reliability
- many approaches are reductionist meaning they ignore other aspects of behaviour, oversimplifies variable
+ more beneficial stance when explaining behaviours that only occur in social contexts - Zimbardo’s conformity prison experiment
- lacks practical value as some holistic accounts of behaviour are hard to use due to complexity, may be vague and hard to know which factor is most influential when there are many
Androcentric definition
dominated by males. In the past, most psychologists were males and the theories they produce tend to be based around a male view on the world.
