Individual differences psychology

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(May 2007)

The science of psychology studies people at three levels of focus captured by
the well known quote: “Every man is in certain respects (a) like all other men,
(b) like some other men, (c) like no other man" (Murray, H.A. & C.
Kluckhohn, 1953).

Individual differences psychology focuses on this second level of
study. It is also sometimes called Differential Psychology because researchers
in this area study the ways in which individual people differ in their behavior.
This is distinguished from other aspects of psychology in that although
psychology is ostensibly a study of individuals, modern psychologists often
study groups or biological
underpinnings of cognition.

For example, in evaluating the effectiveness of a new therapy, the mean
performance of the therapy in one group might be compared
to the mean effectiveness of a placebo (or a well-known
therapy) in a second, control group. In this
context, differences between individuals in their reaction to the experimental
and control manipulations are actually treated as errors rather than as
interesting phenomena to study.

This is because psychological research
depends upon statistical controls that are only defined upon groups of people.
Individual difference psychologists usually express their interest in
individuals while studying groups by seeking dimensions shared by all
individuals but upon which individuals differ.

Contents

1 Importance of individual
differences

2 Areas of study

3 See also

4 Further reading

[edit]
Importance of
individual differences

The study of individual differences is essential because important variation
between individuals can be masked by averaging. For example, a researcher is
interested in resting metabolic rate in humans. The researcher gathers a sample
of men, women, and children, measures their metabolic rate and gets a single
average. The researcher then tells the whole population that they should be
eating 1,900 calories a day.

What's wrong with this study? The researcher has neglected individual
differences in activity level, body size, sex, age, and other factors that
influence metabolic rate. The average reported based on the results is masking
multiple dimensions that should be used to determine daily caloric intake.
Therefore, his or her conclusions are misleading if not outright false. This is
an extreme example to make a point, but it illustrates the problems that can
arise by averaging across groups.

[edit]
Areas of study

Individual differences research typically includes personality, motivation,
intelligence,
ability, IQ, interests, values, self-concept, self-efficacy, and self-esteem (to name just a
few). There are few remaining "differential psychology" programs in the United
States, although research in this area is very active. Current researchers are
found in a variety of applied and experimental programs, including educational
psychology, industrial
psychology, personality
psychology, social psychology, and
developmental
psychology programs, in the
neo-Piagetian theories of cognitive development in particular.

[edit]
See also

Wikiversity has learning materials about Individual
differences psychology

Educational
psychology

Intelligence

Personality
psychology

[edit]
Further reading

Introduction to Individual Differences

Maltby, J. Day, L. & Macaskill, A. (2007). Personality, Individual
Differences and Intelligence. London: Pearson Education. http://www.pearsoned.co.uk/Bookshop/detail.asp?item=100000000090816

Buss, D.M., & Greiling, H.(1999). Adaptive Individual Differences. Journal of Personality,
67, 209-243.

Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Furhnam, A. (2006). Intellectual competence
and the intelligent personality: A third way in differential psychology. Review of
General Psychology, 10, 251-267. Full text

Tyler, L.E. (1965). The psychology of human differences. New York:
Appleton Century Crofts.

Timeline of researchers and brief biographies

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Psychology

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Methodologies

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analysis · Experiments ·
Human
subject research · Interviews ·
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Observation ·
Qualitative
research · Quantitative
research · Self-report
inventory · Statistical
surveys

Orientations

Analytical ·
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Cognitive
behavioral therapy · Cognitivism ·
Descriptive ·
Ecological
Systems Theory · Existential
therapy · Family
therapy · Feminist
therapy · Gestalt
psychology · Humanistic ·
Narrative
therapy · Philosophy ·
Psychoanalysis ·
Psychodynamic
psychotherapy · Rational
emotive behavior therapy · Transpersonal

Eminent
psychologists

Gordon
Allport · Albert
Bandura · Raymond
Cattell · Kenneth
and Mamie Clark · Erik
Erikson · Hans
Eysenck · Leon
Festinger · Sigmund
Freud · Donald O.
Hebb · Clark L.
Hull · William
James · Carl
Jung · Jerome
Kagan · Kurt
Lewin · Abraham
Maslow · David
McClelland · George A.
Miller · Neal E.
Miller · Walter
Mischel · Ivan
Pavlov · Jean
Piaget · Carl
Rogers · Stanley
Schachter · B. F.
Skinner · Edward
Thorndike · John B.
Watson

Lists

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Commons · Wikiquote · Wikinews · Wikibooks

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual_differences_psychology"

Categories: Branches of
psychology

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