Issues & Debates - Idiographic-Nomothetic

Question 1

What are the key features of the idiographic approach?

Answer 1

• The study of unique experience.
• Associated with qualitative research methods.
• Includes humanistic psychology and the psychodynamic approach.

Question 2

What is the idiographic approach?

Answer 2

The idiographic approach aims to describe the nature of the individual.

People are studied as unique entities with their own subjective experiences, motivations and values.

There is no attempt to compare these to a larger group standard or norm.

Question 3

What research methods are used in the idiographic approach?

Answer 3

The idiographic approach is associated with methods in psychology that produce qualitative data (e.g. case studies, unstructured interviews and other self-report measures).

This reflects one of the central aims of idiographic research - to describe the richness of human experience and gain insight into the person’s unique way of viewing the world.

Question 4

Which approaches to psychology are idiographic?

Answer 4

Humanistic psychology is the best example of the idiographic approach. Rogers and Maslow were interested only in documenting the conscious experience of the individual or ‘self’, rather than producing general laws of behaviour.

The psychodynamic approach is often thought of as idiographic because of Freud’s use of the case study method. But Freud also assumed he had identified universal laws of behaviour and personality development (the language of the nomothetic approach).

Question 5

What are the key features of the nomothetic approach?

Answer 5

• The production of general laws.
• Associated with questionnaires and psychological tests.
• Includes behaviourist, cognitive and biological research.

Question 6

What is the nomothetic approach?

Answer 6

The main aim of the nomothetic approach is to produce general laws of behaviour. There are three kinds of general laws: classification, establishing principles and establishing dimensions.

These provide a benchmark against which people can be compared, classified and measured.

Future behaviour can then be predicted and controlled.

Question 7

What research methods are used in the nomothetic approach?

Answer 7

The nomothetic approach is most closely associated with methods defined as reliable and scientific within psychology (e.g. questionnaires and psychological tests).

These involve the study of larger numbers of people to establish how people are similar (which also tells us how people differ from one another).

Question 8

Which approaches to psychology are nomothetic?

Answer 8

The nomothetic approach looks at findings from large numbers of people which are analysed for statistical significance.

Behaviourist, cognitive and biological research would meet the criteria of the nomothetic approach.

Questionnaires that test characteristics such as personality or IQ are used to diagnose abnormality and predict behaviours.

Question 9

What are the strengths of the idiographic approach?

Answer 9

The idiographic approach provides a complete and global account of the individual, such as the study of HM.

A single case may generate hypotheses for further study (e.g. the case of HM in memory research helped our understanding that some procedural memories are more resistant to amnesia).

Such findings from unique cases may reveal important insights about normal functioning which may contribute to our overall understanding of behaviour.

Question 10

What are the weaknesses of the idiographic approach?

Answer 10

Supporters of the idiographic approach may have to acknowledge the subjective and restrictive nature of their work.

One criticism of Freud is that many of his key concepts (e.g. the Oedipus complex) were largely developed from the detailed study of a single case (e.g. Little Hans).

Meaningful generalisations cannot be made without further examples, which means conclusions tend to rely on the subjective interpretation of the researcher and are therefore open to bias.

Question 11

What are the strengths of the nomothetic approach?

Answer 11

The processes involved in nomothetic research tend to be more scientific, mirroring those employed within the natural sciences.

These processes include standardised procedures, assessing reliability and validity, and using statistical analyses to demonstrate significance.

This arguably gives the discipline of psychology greater scientific credibility.

Question 12

What are the weaknesses of the nomothetic approach?

Answer 12

The preoccupation within the nomothetic approach on general laws, prediction and control has been accused of ‘losing the whole person’ within psychology.

Knowing there is a 1% lifetime risk of developing schizophrenia tells us little about what life is like with it. In lab tests of memory, participants are treated as a set of scores rather than as individual people.

This means, in its search for general laws, the nomothetic approach may sometimes overlook the importance of human experience.

Question 13

How are the idiographic and nomothetic approaches complementary?

Answer 13

Rather than seeing idiographic and nomothetic approaches as either/or alternatives, we can consider the same issue or topic from both perspectives, depending on the nature of the research question.

Research on gender development attempts to establish general patterns of behaviour (e.g. Bem’s androgyny scale) alongside case studies of atypical development (e.g. the case of David Reimer).

The goal of modern psychology is to provide rich, detailed descriptions of human behaviour as well as the explanation of such behaviour within the framework of general laws.

Question 14

What are some examples of the idiographic approach?

Answer 14

• Koluchova (twin boys kept locked in a cupboard, maternal deprivation)
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (self-actualisation)
• Gardner and Gardner (studies one chimp, sign language, chimpanzee has the capability to use human language)
• Shallice and Warrington (Patient KF)

Question 15

What are some examples of the nomothetic approach?

Answer 15

• using SSRIs to treat OCD
• the DSM (classifying phobias into three categories)
• Atkinson and Shiffrin’s multi-store model (links three stores by processing)
• Eysenck’s personality theory (personality is split into different categories)
• learning theory of attachment (caregiver-infant interaction)

Question 16

Who was Holt (1967)?

Answer 16

Holt (1967) argues that the ideographic and nomothetic distinction is a false distinction, as many approaches take advantage of both idiographic and nomothetic approaches.

For example, while Cognitive Psychologists typically take a nomothetic approach to create general laws, they also take advantage of the idiographic approach when using case studies to provide evidence for or against a particular theory (e.g. Patient KF).

Therefore it could be argued that the distinction between idiographic and nomothetic is meaningless and that psychologists should employ both methods depending on the nature of the research question.

Question 17

How are idiographic and nomothetic approaches used in Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?

Answer 17

Idiographic and nomothetic approaches should not be seen as conflicting. It is more helpful to see them as complementary.

The insights from an idiographic approach can shed more light on the general principles developed using the nomothetic approach.

For example, Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation suggests that extreme maternal deprivation is irreversible. This theory was developed using a nomothetic approach. However, the case of Koluchova’s twins demonstrates that in this single, idiographic, case maternal deprivation was overcome. Bowlby’s theory can therefore be challenged.