A Level Psychology at Spalding Grammar School

The Psychology of Individual Differences is rather different from the other approaches. It's not really about looking at a particular target group (the way Developmental Psychology looks at children)  and it's not about using certain methods (the way Biopsychologists use laboratory measures). In fact, most of the studies in this section could easily be put under the other Approaches.

Individual Differences are the things that make us special or unique, things like our intelligence, personality or moral values. Most other Psychological Approaches look at typical behaviour and often try to study samples that are as large as possible. Some topics are particularly interesting for Psychologists of Individual Differences:

• Self & Identity. What makes us who we are? Do we have personality traits that are fixed for life or is our personality always changing based on what's going on around us? You've already studied Milgram, who makes it look as though we're shaped by the situation we're in, but Reicher & Haslam suggest our identities are changing all the time based on how we interpret what's going on around us.
• Normality & Abnormality. Is there such a thing as "Normal" and how do we define it? Piliavin et al. showed that sometimes it is perfectly "normal" to stand by and do nothing when someone collapses on a train. Freud changed our whole view of what is "normal" for children. Baron-Cohen et al. tried to get to the bottom of just what makes autistic people behave so unusually.

The main assumption of Individual Differences is that it is possible to measure vague things like "personality" or "identity" or "mental health". The techniques for measuring mental states are called psychometrics and a good example of a psychometric test is an IQ Test. Other psychologists prefer more unstructured approaches (observations, self reports) but every measure has its strengths and weaknesses.

Another assumption is that it is possible to study differences in a culturally neutral sort of way. In psychology there is always the danger of ethnocentrism which means assuming your own ways of behaving are "normal" and different ways are automatically "abnormal" (and, it is implied, inferior). Are people with schizophrenia, or multiple personalities, or gambling habits, really "sick" and in need of curing?

• Download and view the Individual Differences Approach Slideshow
• Use the Lecture Handout to take notes
• Access the Individual Differences Approach handout
• Access the Individual Differences Studies handout

On being sane in insane places

Click the picture to view the Rosenhan page where you will find a summary of the study and a PowerPoint slideshow, note-taking sheets and a range of web links.

A case of multiple personality

Click the picture to view the Thigpen & Cleckley page where you will find a summary of the study and a PowerPoint slideshow, note-taking sheets and a range of web links, including information about the film The Three Faces Of Eve.

The role of cognitive bias and skill in fruit machine gambling

Click the picture or the title above to view the Griffiths page. This contains resources for your Independent Study - a note-taking proforma, a PowerPoint slideshow and a summary of the study and web links to further your understanding. There is also an assessment page with questions for you to answer.

Click the image to see the end of unit assessment - mock exam questions for Paper G542 (Core Studies) Sections A, B and C