Process
AQA A-Level Psychology 7182
Social Influence
Memory
Attachment
Topic overviewCaregiver-infant interactions: reciprocity and interactional synchronySchaffer's stages of attachmentMultiple attachments and the role of the fatherAnimal studies of attachmentExplanations of attachmentAinsworth's Strange Situation and types of attachmentBowlby's theory of maternal deprivation and effects of institutionalisationInfluence of early attachment on relationshipsCultural variations in attachment
Approaches in Psychology
Biopsychology
Topic overviewDivisions of the nervous systemStructure and function of neurons and synaptic transmissionThe endocrine systemThe fight or flight responseWays of studying the brainLocalisation of function and hemispheric lateralisationPlasticity and functional recovery of the brain after traumaBiological rhythms: circadian, infradian and ultradian
Clinical Psychology and Mental Health
Research Methods
Scientific Processes
Topic overviewAims and hypothesesSamplingPilot studiesExperimental designsObservational designQuestionnaire construction and design of interviewsVariablesControlDemand characteristics and investigator effectsEthicsPeer reviewImplications of psychological research for the economyReliabilityValidityFeatures of scienceReporting psychological investigations
Quantitative and Qualitative Data
Topic overviewQuantitative and qualitative data; the distinction between qualitative and quantitative data collection techniquesPrimary and secondary data, including meta-analysisDescriptive statistics: measures of central tendency and measures of dispersionPresentation and display of quantitative data: graphs, tables, scattergrams, bar chartsDistributions: normal and skewed distributionsIntroduction to statistical testing; the sign test
Data Handling and Analysis
Inferential Testing
Issues and Debates in Psychology
RelationshipsOption 1
GenderOption 1
Cognition and DevelopmentOption 1
SchizophreniaOption 2
Eating BehaviourOption 2
StressOption 2
AggressionOption 3
Forensic PsychologyOption 3
AddictionOption 3
Explanations for Nicotine AddictionOption 3
Issues and Debates in Psychology
Idiographic and nomothetic approaches
- 3 things to know
- Paper 3
Overview
The idiographic study of the individual and the nomothetic search for general laws, the methods and examples typical of each, their strengths and limitations, and how the two approaches can be combined.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Evaluation
Give one limitation of the nomothetic approach.
Process
What research methods are typical of the nomothetic approach?
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is the idiographic approach to psychological investigation?
Model answer
An approach that studies the individual as unique, aiming for an in-depth understanding of one person rather than general laws.
- 2
What research methods are typical of the idiographic approach?
Model answer
Case studies, unstructured interviews and other methods that produce qualitative data about a single person or small group.
- 3
What is the nomothetic approach to psychological investigation?
Model answer
An approach that aims to establish general laws of behaviour that apply to everyone, by studying large groups of people.
- 4
What research methods are typical of the nomothetic approach?
Model answer
Laboratory experiments, questionnaires and psychometric tests that produce quantitative data from large samples, analysed statistically.
- 5
What three kinds of general law does nomothetic research aim to establish?
Model answer
Classifying people into groups, such as diagnostic categories; establishing principles, such as the laws of learning; and establishing dimensions, such as personality traits.
- 6
Give one example of idiographic research in psychology.
Model answer
Freud's case study of Little Hans, or the case of Clive Wearing, each of which examined one person in great depth.
Other ways to work this
The same content, four other ways.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Every question in Issues and Debates in Psychology, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.