PSYC1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Gordon Allport, Nomothetic, Trait Theory
2 Jul 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
20/03/2018 Introduction to Theories
Appearances and beneath the appearance
Nomothetic -
Idiographic – account for a person’s uniqueness and individuality
Try to explain personality within general laws of human behaviour
Parental praise – why is it so influential?
Gordon Allport (American Personality Psychology) – Personality is the dynamic organisation
within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique
adjustments to his environment
4 broad fundamental approaches to personality theory:
1. Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic
2. Cognitive-behavioural
3. Humanistic/Phenomenological/Existential
4. Dispositional (trait)
What is a theory? What is a theory’s function?
It is a system of statements, stating what the theorist believes to be true. A theoretical
statement is something that we do not know if it is true or false
Theoretical Statements:
1. Personality traits are endogenous basic tendencies
2. A personality trait is a property of an individual
3. All personality traits are quantitative dimensions of individual-difference variables
Functions of a theory: to generate accurate predictions, to explain the phenomena of the
question
Ways to evaluate/test a theory
1. Conceptually – analysis of concepts, arguments, definitions
2. Empirically – making controlled observations (the dominate way of doing it)
“Many experimentalists waste precious resources measurirng features that have not been
adequately conceptualised, thereby producing heaps of useless data”
Criteria for Theory Evaluation:
Clarity?
Coherence? (Errors in logic? Internally consistent?)
Can the theory be reformulated?
Theoretical statements without adequate argument?
Key categories omitted?
Generality/fertility/explanatory power?
Predictive accuracy; empirical support?
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
Idiographic account for a person"s uniqueness and individuality. Try to explain personality within general laws of human behaviour. Gordon allport (american personality psychology) personality is the dynamic organisation within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustments to his environment. 4 broad fundamental approaches to personality theory: psychoanalytic/psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioural, humanistic/phenomenological/existential, dispositional (trait) It is a system of statements, stating what the theorist believes to be true. A theoretical statement is something that we do not know if it is true or false. Theoretical statements: personality traits are endogenous basic tendencies, a personality trait is a property of an individual, all personality traits are quantitative dimensions of individual-difference variables. Functions of a theory: to generate accurate predictions, to explain the phenomena of the question. Ways to evaluate/test a theory: conceptually analysis of concepts, arguments, definitions, empirically making controlled observations (the dominate way of doing it)
