Idiography , idiographic approach or method (from other Greek .διος - peculiar + γράφω - I write) - 1) mainly in the neo-Kantianism of the Baden school - a method of historical cultural sciences aimed at describing the individual characteristics of historical facts formed by science on the basis of “Attributions to value” (Wertbeziehung). The latter is understood as a way of distinguishing among the individual events and phenomena of reality “essential”, which helps to distinguish cultural phenomena from natural ones [1] ; 2) in psychology (as a particular manifestation of the above) - the search for individual characteristics of a person or any other object (for example, civilization, a specific evolving society), by the presence of which it differs from other people.
Opposed to this is the nomothetic approach aimed at identifying the laws of functioning and evolution of various kinds of systems (natural, social, semiotic, etc.).
Content
In the philosophy of science
History
For the first time this term was proposed by the German idealist philosopher W. Windelband . By idiographic thinking, he meant a line of reasoning in which individual facts are described and attention is paid to particular characteristics, rather than general laws. Further, the concept was developed in detail by G. Rickert [1] .
In Psychology
Features
The idiographic approach differs from the nomothetic approach in three ways - in understanding the measurement object, in the direction of measurement, and in the nature of the measurement methods used. According to the idiographic approach, a personality is a system, the study of personality is carried out through the recognition of its individual characteristics, for this projective techniques and idiographic techniques are used. The German philosopher and psychologist V. Dilthey in his work "Thoughts on Descriptive and Dissecting Psychology" (1894) proposed dividing psychology into two sciences - explanatory psychology and descriptive psychology. The second science, in his opinion, should deal with the description of the individual’s spiritual life, and comprehension of this life is possible with the help of empathy. Thus, he proposed the creation of an independent idiographic psychology aimed at studying specific facts.
The German idealist philosopher and psychologist W. Stern, in his article “On the Psychology of Individual Differences” (1910), considered the idiographic approach as a specific way of studying individuality. V. Stern suggested diagnosing an individual person according to many psychological parameters and, based on the data obtained, compose his individual psychogram.
The idiographic approach was developed in detail by the American psychologist G. Allport in identifying personal dispositions. The method he proposed consisted of a deep study and analysis of a single case over a long period of time. The main method within the framework of the idiographic approach, according to Allport, is the biographical method .
Case Studies
Examples of the idiographic type of research by Russian psychologists are the following works:
- Luria A. R. Little book about a great memory (Mnemonist’s mind). - M., 1968;
- Luria A.R. The Lost and Returned World (The History of a Wound). - M., 1971;
- Luria A. R., Yudovich F. Ya. Speech and development of mental processes in a child. - M., 1956;
- Menchinskaya N. A. Diary on the development of the child. - M.-L., 1948;
- Menchinskaya N. A. Development of the psyche of a child: Diary of a mother. - M., 1957;
- Mukhina V.S. Gemini. - M., 1969.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary
Literature
- in the philosophy of science
- The idiographic method // Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary / Ch. Ed .: L. F. Ilyichev, P. N. Fedoseev, S. M. Kovalev, V. G. Panov. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1983.
- Thomae, H. (1999). The nomothetic-idiographic issue: Some roots and recent trends. International Journal of Group Tensions, 28 (1), 187–215.
- Cone, JD (1986). Idiographic, nomothetic, and related perspectives in behavioral assessment. In RO Nelson & SC Hayes (Eds.): Conceptual foundations of behavioral assessment (pp. 111–128). New York: Guilford.
- in psychology
- Big psychological dictionary / Ed. B. G. Meshcheryakova, V.P. Zinchenko. - St. Petersburg: Prime Euroznak, 2006;
- Muddy S. Personality Theories: A Comparative Analysis. St. Petersburg: Speech, 2002;
- General psychodiagnosis / Ed. A. A. Bodalev, V.V. Stolin. - M .: Moscow State University, 1987;
- Dictionary for psychological diagnostics / L. F. Burlachuk , S. M. Morozov. - Kiev: Science. Dumka, 1989;
- Yaroshevsky M.G. History of psychology. - M.: Thought, 1976.