Idiographic vs Nomothetic approach

Idiographic

‘idios’ - Greek, means ‘own’

focuses on the individual and emphasise the unique personal experience of human nature

Nomothetic

‘nomos’ - Greek, means ‘law’

concerned with establishing general laws, based on the study of large groups of people

Methods of investigation into idiographic research

case studies, unstructured interviews, thematic analysis

Example of idiographic approach in memory research

Shallice and Warrington (1970)

KF case study

KF experienced a motor bike accident. Their short term forgetting of auditory information was greater than his forgetting of visual information, suggesting STM consists of multiple components

Methods of investigation into nomothetic research

experiments, correlational research, psychometric testing (personality)

Approaches that take a nomothetic approach

• Biological

  explains psychological disorders e.g. OCD and depression). Pinpoints biological factors, e.g. neurotransmitters, that are responsible for such disorders and use biological therapies (e.g. drugs) to treat all patients

• Behavioural

  conducts experiments with animals in order to establish laws of learning that could be generalised to humans and non-human animals

• Cognitive

  develop general laws, such as MSM of memory, which they believed could be generalised to everyone

• Psychodynamic

  attempts to establish general laws in relation to innate drives

Approaches that take an idiographic approach

• Cognitive

  uses case studies

• Psychodynamic

  considers unique experience (childhood)

• Humanist

  focuses on the subjective human experience and makes no attempt to make general laws

Scientific nature - Nomothetic approach

STRENGTH

P: Nomothetic approach is considered as scientific

E: The use of experimental (quantitative) methods, controlled measurement and the ability to predict behaviour, are all strengths of the nomothetic approach

C: This matters because controlled methods allow psychologists to replicate research to examine the reliability of findings, which has helped psychology establish itself as a scientific discipline

Application treatments - Nomothetic approach

STRENGTH

P: Furthermore, because the nomothetic approach is viewed as scientific, it is useful for predicting and controlling behaviour

E: E.g., biological psychologists take a nomothetic approach when explaining OCD and claim it is caused by higher levels of dopamine and lower levels of serotonin. Drug therapies are developed on the basis of nomothetic research and work by readdressing a biological imbalance

C: This matters because SSRIs are used to treat OCD and increase the availability and uptake of serotonin. This reduces the anxiety associated with OCD which improves the lives of those suffering with it, due to the nomothetic research

Power of case studies - Idiographic approach

STRENGTH

P: The case study method is a powerful tool for evaluating psychological theories

E: The case of patient KF (Shallice and Warrington, 1970) exposed a limitation of the MSM of memory, by providing evidence that our STM comprises of at least 2 components (auditory and visual memory) and not one, as stipulated by Atkinson and Shiffrin

C: So, a single case study can generate further research into a particular phenomenon (e.g. memory) which contributes to the development of new theories highlighting a strength of the idiographic approach to psychological investigations

Examples of idiographic approach in attachment research

• Piaget

  only used a small number of kids (including his own) to investigate development stages

• Gardner and Gardner (1969)

  studied language using a chimp called Washoe, who they taught ASL to

Detailed - idiographic

STRENGTH

P: Provides very detailed info on one individual

P: Often uncovers something that can lead to further study beyond that individual

Sample size

LIMITATION

P: Hard to generalise - small sample size / sometimes animal studies

Demand characteristics

LIMITATION

P: Due to the close bond that will likely develop with the participant, there is a risk of subjectivity or demand characteristics

Example of nomothetic research in memory

Atkinson and Shiffrin used experiments to find data, then created the multi store model of memory

Example of nomothetic research in social influence

Milgram

used his study to generalise a theory of obedience

Time consuming - idiographic

LIMITATION

P: The idiographic approach is more time consuming than nomothetic approaches

E: Both approaches are based on large amounts of data, but one is in terms of collecting large amounts of data about one person (idiographic) and the other is in terms of numbers and people (nomothetic)

C: Collecting large amounts of data from a group of people takes time, but, relatively speaking, is quicker because, once you have devised a questionnaire or test, data can be generated and processed quickly. Whereas as idiographic approaches traditionally opt to use methods that allow for opinion, attitude and self reflection, it requires a considerable amount of time to gather

False distinction

LIMITATION

P: Holt (1967) argued that the idiographic/nomothetic distinction is a false separation because inevitably generalisations are made

E: Holt claimed that there is no such thing as a unique individual and what idiographic approaches actually do is generate general principles. In other words, the idiographic approach actually ends up being nomothetic

C: Perhaps research should start with the nomothetic approach and, once ‘laws’ have been produced, they can then focus on a more idiographic understanding (i.e. combined methods). In fact the future for drug therapies will probably entail just that - individualised ‘recipes’ for what is effective based on a mix of genetic and environmental insights