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Strengths and weaknesses of personality theories
Critique essay on personality theories
Critique essay on personality theories
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Thesis Statement: The most differences between the idiographic and nomothetic approach are measurements and development.
Introduction:
In the following essay, we discuss different theoretical perspectives from Nomothetic and Idiographic approach. How they apply to both Personality (pattern of behavior and thinking) and Intelligence (thinking and behavior). Arguments for both sides are base on what psychologists generally use them as, because some might disagrees with the usage of the word nomothetic and idiographic, orientated by Kantian and Wilhelm Windelband.
Outline nomothetic, idiographic approach and personality
"Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his or her characteristic behavior or thought"
Allport 1961 p.18
Psychologists who adopt nomothetic approach are mainly concerned with what we share with others, but differ in degree. Establishing universal laws where all populations are describe and measure on the same set of dimensions and scale, i.e., trait theory. Psychologists, who adopt idiographic approach interested in the aspect of experience over time, discover what makes each of us unique. Theoretically, they can be coherent, because the nomothetic approach also agrees with this 'uniqueness,' as it measures differences in degree.
Outline intelligence
Psychologists relied on statistical results because it involves vast number of people, making it reliable. Intelligence is a behavior or thinking produced by our personality; some say it is whatever intelligence measures. Intelligent theories also argue if it is a divergent or unity ability, yet some argue about even considering it as a part of personality. Personalities like intelli...
... middle of paper ...
...ctors, not environment. Nomothetic approach suggests that this is because everyone is generally the same. Yet intelligence is poor when environment is poor - idiographic explain this as it stress social influence, but nomothetic would ignore this factor.
Conclusion
'The choice between them depends not on which one is right, but what we wish to know'
David C. Funder p.518
The two approaches are similar in what they would take into account. It is difficult to draw a clear line just on the theoretical approach. Distinction came from research procedures because it clearly demonstrates the disagreement on the origin for both intelligence and personality. It is as David said 'what we wish to know' is causing differences in what is produce in targeted experiments, it is therefore clearer to see when you look at experiments from two different approach.
My general thought is that a test that uses more than one theory would be a better test than a test that using a single ideation. The measurement of intelligence can be very subjective so the idea of incorporating several models would elevate that subjectivity of a single model.
The bioecological model of intelligence, introduced by Stephen Ceci, concentrates on the potential abilities, environmental influence and internal motivation. To perform well in an intelligent test a person must have the necessary abilities, be in a positive environment and be motivated (Comer et al.,
Many psychology theories have been developed in order to determine how to measure intelligence. Volume 63 of the Annual Review of Psychology details a few studies citing popular theories from the 1970s to 2000 (Deary, 2012), including the measurement of, “sensory discrimination and reaction time,” (Deary, 2012). After 2000, however, “interest has focused, in the broadly psychometric-experimental levels, on processing speed and working memory as potential explanatory variables for intelligence,” (Deary, 2012). In measuring intelligence, scientists are focu...
"There can be of course no serious doubt that differences in environment experiences do contribute to variation in IQ [5]. The environment is made of circumstances, objects, and conditions by which a human, animal, plant or object are surrounded in science. It has been argued that the environment in a child's developing years could in fact be a factor that will determine this IQ. In a study of adoptive and biologically related familys psychologist Scarr and Weinberg recognized that with children between 16 and 22 years of age, environment was more powerful in influencing IQ level in the young child, than the young adult. Scarr and Weinberg reasoned that "environment exerts a greater influence on children, who have little choice; as they age, diversity age, diversity and availability of choices expands, and if these choices are at least partially determined by genetic factors, the influence of environment is there by diminished.
In this world, there are many different individuals who are not only different in demographics but also different neurologically. Due to an immense amount of people it is important to first understand each individual, in order, to better understand them and to help them when it comes to certain areas such as education, the work force, and etc…. For this reason psychologists have aimed to further understand individuals through the use of psychological assessments. This paper aims to examine a particular assessment tool, the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (Fifth Edition), which measures both intelligence and cognitive abilities (Roid, 2003). This assessment is usually administered by psychologists and the scores are most often used to determine placement in academics and services allotted to children and adolescents (despite their compatibility for adults) (Wilson & Gilmore, 2012). Furthermore before the investigation dives into the particulars of the test, such as its strengths and weakness’, it is best to first learn more about the intelligence scales general characteristics.
Most researchers believe that we are born with a certain intelligence or potential intelligence. They also believe that the intelligence we are born with is difficult to change. Psychologists use short-answer tests to assess one’s intelligence (Gardner papers). It was believed that intelligence was a single inherited thing. Human beings start out initially as a blank slate and could be trained to learn anything, provided that it was presented in an appropriate way (Multiple Intelligences and Education). Currently an “increasing number of researchers believe the opposite. Gardner defined intelligence as: “the ability to create an effective product or offer a service that is valued in culture; a set ...
Personality is a branch of scientific discipline that studies temperament and its variation among people. It is a dynamic and a set of characteristics possessed by their atmosphere, cognitions, emotions, motivations and behaviours in various things. Personality conjointly refers to the pattern of thoughts, feelings, social adjustments and behaviour consistently exhibited over time that powerfully influences one’s exceptions, self-perceptions, values and attitudes. It also predicts human reactions to different folks, problems and stress.
While the IQ test is generally used and widely accepted they have been criticized for several different reasons. One is that the test by its nature measures how well a person does answering questions on paper. However it is well-known that not all forms of intelligence involve memorizing words or solving equations. Recently there has been a movement in psychology regarding something called EQ or emotional quotient. What this is saying that there should also be a rating for people that are particularly able to deal with other people and social situations. While someone that is very good at dealing with people and real world situations is generally not regarded as being intelligent in a stereotypical manner there hasn’t been any definition of intelligence proposed which have ruled out this particular form of intelligence.
Personality remains an active area within Psychology, specifically the investigation of individual differences. Currently, there does not appear to be a consensus on a definition of personality, however it is generally agreed that personality consists of characteristics which are enduring, stable and important for distinguishing individuals (Cervone and Little, 2017). Individual differences approaches can be explained as recognising and understanding how and why individuals differ (Cooper, 2010). In the study of personality and individual differences, it becomes apparent that an interaction is required between both the nomothetic approach, which establishes ‘general’ principles that can be applied to everyone, and the idiographic approach,
On the ‘nature’ side of the debate is the psychometric approach, considered to be the most dominant in the study of intelligence, which “inspired the most research and attracted the most attention” (Neisser et al. 1996, p. 77). It argues that there is one general (‘g’) factor which accounts for intelligence. In the 1880s, Francis Galton conducted many tests (measuring reaction times to cognitive tasks), (Boundless 2013), in order to scientifically measure intelligence. These tests were linked to the eugenic breeding programme, which aimed to eliminate biologically inferior people from society. Galton believed that as intelligence was inherited, social class or position were significant indicators of intelligence. If an individual was of high social standing, they would be more intelligent than those of a lower position. However he failed to show any consistency across the tests for this hypothesis, weakening his theory that social class correlated with intelligence. Nevertheless, his creation of the intelligence test led many to continue to develop...
“Measureable environment does not shift the IQ by more than 3 to 5 points above or below the value it would have had under normal environmental conditions… The nature or hereditary component in intelligence causes greater variation than does environment. When nature an...
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I believe the best theory for determining intelligence is the Theory of Multiple Intelligence & I believe I possess many different types of
As numerous research and studies' findings have shown, both nature and nurture work together. These shouldn't be considered as separate, but instead intertwined, as they both interact and depend on each other. An interaction of genetic and environmental factors are responsible for influencing and determining intelligence levels.
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