Individual Differences Area

Question 1

Main focus

Answer 1

• to look at differences between people rather than factors which are common to all people. It emphasises the uniqueness of individuals
• this area covers intelligence and personality and raises questions on how these can be measured, it also covers definitions and explanations of normality and abnormality

Question 2

Principles

Answer 2

• individuals differ in their behaviour and personal qualities so not everyone can be considered as an average person
• to study and measure some individual characteristics either quantitively, eg through psychometric tests, or qualitatively eg through the use of interviews, observations, projective tests
• from these it is useful to establish typical patterns of behaviour of specific groups
• human behaviour can be understood in terms of disposition all factors

Question 3

Strengths of the individual differences area

Answer 3

• as it focuses on gaining in depth information about an individual it often collects both quantitative and qualitative data
• the holistic approach gives insight and aids understanding of human behaviours
• research has practical applications such as suggesting appropriate techniques/ treatments to help overcome difficulties and how to measure characteristics in a reliable and valid way

Question 4

Weaknesses of the individual differences

Answer 4

• as it focuses on gaining in-depth information about an individual the methodology is sometimes subjective which may give rise to validity issues
• as it focuses on measuring individual characteristics often using psychometric tests these may have problems of reliability and validity
• there are may be ethical issues when measuring individual differences or studying disorders, researchers need to consider issues of social sensitivity