Discuss Idiographic and Nomothetic responses Flashcards Preview

A2 Issues and Debates AQA Psychology > Discuss Idiographic and Nomothetic responses > Flashcards

Flashcards in Discuss Idiographic and Nomothetic responses Deck (9)
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1
Q

Debate surrounding whether psychology should adopt an IDIOGRAPHIC approach, which is…

A

Approach focuses on the study of individuals.

The unique insight each individual give us about human behaviour.

2
Q

Or a NOMOTHETIC approach which is…

A

Approach involves the study of large numbers of people

Makes generalisations to develop universal theories and laws

3
Q

The IDIOGRAPHIC approach in psychology uses research methods including…

A

Open ended questions, case studies, unstructured interviews/observations

These gather qualitative data.

4
Q

An approach in psychology which is idiographic would be…

A

Freud’s psychodynamic approach

Understanding of human behavior was built from conducting detailed case studies e.g Little Hans

Case consisted of 150 pages of quotes, descriptions of events
7
Freud was able to understand his disorder (phobia)

Explain it as an indication that he was explaining the Oedipus complex.

5
Q

However, idiographic approaches are UNSCIENTIFIC

A

Methods rely on subjective interpretation

Research open to opinion

Eg. Freud’s interpretation (phobia = demonstration of the Oedipus complex) was soley based on his own interpretation of Hans’ behaviour.

This means that…
Meaningful generalisation & predictions cannot be made without further examples.

6
Q

The NOMOTHETIC approach in psychology uses research methods including…

A

Experiments, correlation, structual observations/interviews

These gather quantitative data

7
Q

An approach in psycholody which is nomothetic would be…

A

The behavioural approach

S&P studied 100s of dogs and rats to develop general laws of learning that apply to human behaviour

These explain learning through classical and operant conditioning

8
Q

In evaluation, the nomothetic approaches are scientific

A

Replicability- studying large groups of people means samples are more representative so findings are more repeatable/reliable

Predictability- developing universal theories and makes it easier to generate hypothesis

This means… psychologists have been able to establish norms of ‘Typical’ behaviour giving the approach greater scientific credibility.

9
Q

However, they can be criticised for losing the “WHOLE PERSON” this is because…

A

It is preoccupied with creating general laws to explain behaviour, making predictions and control.
E.g knowing there is a 1% risk of developing schiz. tells us little about what it is for someone to suffer/experience the disorder

This means that the nomothetic approach may sometimes overlook the richness of the human experience.