Up Learn – A Level Psychology (AQA) – approaches to psychology (Ao3)
Strength of the Psychodynamic Approach: Idiographic and Nomothetic
A second strength of the psychodynamic approach is that it strikes a balance between being idiographic and nomothetic. It’s idiographic because it uses case studies to focus on individuals’ experiences. It’s nomothetic because it proposes general theories about behaviour, such as the tripartite structure of personality.
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Approaches to Psychology (AO3)
Last time, we saw that the first strength of the psychodynamic approach is…
The first strength of the psychodynamic approach is its historical importance, because…
The psychodynamic approach was the first to investigate psychological causes for psychological disorders, rather than assuming that they were caused by evil spirits possessing the brain.
And, this is a first strength of the psychodynamic approach!
Next, we’re going to look at a second strength of the psychodynamic approach.
Now, we know that Freud studied the unconscious mind using case studies, such as…
Freud studied the unconscious mind using case studies, such as Little Hans.
The Little Hans study contained over a hundred pages of notes and interpretations of Little Hans’ dreams and behaviours.
Now, each of Freud’s case studies went into rich detail about his patients’ unique experiences and trauma.
So, we can say that the psychodynamic approach is…
We can say that the psychodynamic approach is idiographic, because it involves incredibly detailed accounts and interpretations of an individual’s childhood experiences.
And, using this idiographic approach, Freud could identify unique factors that contributed to his patients’ psychological distress.
But…the psychodynamic approach isn’t entirely idiographic.
It also involves theories about the structure of the mind, as well as the structure of personality, which is…
The tripartite structure of personality is the id, super-ego, and ego.
Now, the tripartite structure of personality is meant to apply to everyone, so the psychodynamic approach is also…
The psychodynamic approach is also somewhat nomothetic.
And using this nomothetic approach, Freud was able to make predictions about how people behave!
So, a second strength of the psychodynamic approach is that it strikes a balance between being idiographic and nomothetic.
It uses case studies to provide rich details about individual experiences, but still proposes general theories about behaviour, which enabled him to make predictions about behaviour!
So, to sum up, a second strength of the psychodynamic approach is…
A second strength of the psychodynamic approach is that it strikes a balance between being idiographic and nomothetic.
It’s idiographic because…
The psychodynamic approach is idiographic, because it uses case studies to focus on individuals’ experiences. And it’s nomothetic because…
The psychodynamic approach is nomothetic because it proposes general theories about behaviour, such as the tripartite structure of personality.