PAPER 3- TOPIC 1 ISSUES AND DEBATES (32/50 on advanced info) Flashcards
define the idiographic approach
approach to research that focuses on uniqueness of individuals and their subjective emotions and experience
key concepts of idiographic approach
•qualitative data
- focus on detail of individual case, not generalising
- conclusions drawn from analysis can be used to help other people going through similar experiences or determine best clinical practice
•subjective
how is idiographic research measured
usually unstructured interviews
- use thematic analysis, to identify emergent themes and make summary conclusions
which two approaches use idiographic approach to research
- Humanistic
* Psychodynamic
describe the examples of idiographic approach
- Roger’s focuses on the individual’s conscious experience of self and created client-centred therapy as a result
- Freud focused on the behaviour of individuals, e.g. the case study of Little Hans
define the nomothetic approach
approach to research that aims to formulate general laws to explain behavioural similarities in large numbers of people
key concepts of nomothetic approach
•quantitative data
- large sample
- when analysed, creates statistical norms for comparison
•objective
how is nomomethic research is measured
- formulate hypothesis
- test large sample
- analyse data produced for statistical significance
to remember: nomothetic is ……
numbers
to remember: idiographic is …..
individuals
examples of nomothetic approach
- biological explanations for treatment of OCD based on neurotransmitters
- general laws of neurotransmitters causing it are applied to everyone
- using DSM (general laws) to classify people into mental disorders based on symptoms shown
- Multi store model for memory produces general laws of how all people process memories
examples of how idiographic and nomothetic complement each other (must use evalution point when discussing idiographic and nomothetic)
nomothetic - general laws from multi store model that is applied to all people’s memory
idiographic- study individuals like Patient KF who showed that nomothetic theory like MSM wasn’t detailed enough as KF had good visual STM but poor acoustic STM
combining the two give us a better understanding of topics like memory and help develop future research ideas
not in advanced info
Define the holistic approach to explaining behaviour
approach that suggests that human behaviour is best explained by studying it as an indivisible system containing all parts, accounted for equally
not in advanced info
define the reductionist approach to explaining behaviour
suggests behaviour is best explained by breaking down into its smaller constituent parts, based on the principle of parsimony
not in advanced info
define parsimony
all phenomena should be explained using the most basic, lowest level principles
not in advanced info
define levels of explanation
idea that there are different ways to explain behaviour , and some is more reductionist than others
not in advanced info
the higher the explanation the more…
holistic
not in advanced info
the lower the explanation the more…
reductionist
not in advanced info
higher level of explanation
socio-cultural factors
more scientific, more holistic
not in advanced info
middle level of explanation
psychological explanations (thought processes) physical (movements)
not in advanced info
lowest level of explanation
biological explanations
- environmental / behavioural (learned experiences)
- physiological (brain activity)
- neurochemical - neurotransmitters
(less scientific, more reductionist
not in advanced info
explanation of OCD using levels of explanation
- OCD interrupts social relationships
- anxiety - psychological
- compulsions of washing hands- physical
- physiological - abnormal frontal lobes
- neurochemical - not enough serotonin
not in advanced info
sciences in reductionist hierarchy
Sociology (least reductionist) Psychology Biological Chemistry Biological Physics (most reductionist)
not in advanced info
examples of reductionism in psychology
biological
environmental