idiographic and nomothetic approaches

A01 (distinction)

focus on unique individual experience or create general laws to explain human behaviour

A01 (nomothetic)

establishes general laws > studies large groups

A01 (nomothetic - disorder example)

E.G. biological explanations of OCD + depression > neurotransmitters are responsible > drugs treats all patients

A01 (nomothetic - conditioning example)

E.G. pavlov and skinner > laws of learning via OC and CC

A01 (idiographic)

focus on unique experience

A01 (idiographic - Patient KF example)

shallice and warrington’s KF > damage to STM auditory not visual > challenged MSM

A03 (idiographic - strong case study method)

rich detailed data > E.G. KF > STM is not unitary > helps challenge theories > drives further research

A03 (idiographic - weakness)

can’t generalise > lacks predictive value > limits practical applications > e.g. in treatment

A03 (nomothetic - strength)

scientific > enables prediction + control of behaviour > e.g. OCD explained biologically > SSRI’s developed > improves lives

A03 (nomothetic - weakness)

superficial understanding of individuals > e.g. Milgram > 65% obeyed > does not explain why each individual obeyed

A03 (interactionist view)

Holt > distinction is false > approaches can be combined > e.g. cognitive psych > general laws (WMM) + case studies (KF) > psychologists should use both methods