Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

From Idiographic Approaches to Nomothetic Hypotheses

Stern, Allport, and the Biology of Knowledge, Exemplified by an Exploration of Sibling Relationships

  • Chapter
The Individual Subject and Scientific Psychology

Part of the book series: Perspectives on Individual Differences ((PIDF))

Abstract

The apparent dichotomy between attempts to establish psychology on the basis of universal laws on the one hand, and psychology as an area that tries to concentrate on individual life courses on the other hand, has had a long tradition in philosophy. The dichotomy has been called spurious by Franck (Chapter 1, this volume), because one side must supplement the other for the only possible “idiographic-nomothetic symbiosis in psychology as a science” (Franck, p. 19).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Ainsworth, M. D. S., & Bell, S. M. (1977). Infant crying and maternal responsiveness: A rejoinder to Gewirtz and Boyd. Child Development, 48(4), 1208–1216.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C, Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the Strange Situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allport, G. W. (1937). Personality: A psychological interpretation. New York: H. Holt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allport, G. W. (1950). Personality: A problem for science or a problem for art? In G. W. Allport, The nature of personality (Selected papers). Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allport, G. W. (1961). Patterns and growth in personality (2nd ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger, P. L., & Luckman, T. (1966). The social construction of reality. New York: Doubleday.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bischof, N. (1975). A systems’ approach toward functional connections of attachment and fear. Child Development, 46, 801–817.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Block, J. H., & Block, J. (1980). The role of ego-control and ego-resiliency in the organization of behavior. In W. A. Collins (Ed.), The Minnesota symposia on child development: Vol. 13. Development of cognition, affect, and social relations (pp. 39–101). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bühler, C. (1976). Die Rolle der Werte in der Entwicklung der Persönlichkeit und in der Psychotherapie (The role of values for development of personality and in psychotherapy). Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bühler, C., & Hetzer, H. (1929): Zur Geschichte der Kinderpsychologie (On the history of child psychology). In Beiträge zur Problemgeschichte der Psychologie. Festschrift zu Karl Bühlers 50. Geburtstag (pp. 204–224). Jena: Verlag von Gustav Fischer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bühler, K. (1925). Abriß der geistigen Entwicklung des Kindes (Summary of the mental development of the child, 2nd ed.). Leipzig: Quelle & Meyer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bühler, K. (1965). Die Krise der Psychologie (The crisis of psychology, 3rd ed.). Stuttgart: Fischer. (Original work published 1927).

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, D. T. (1974). Evolutionary epistemology. In P. A. Schilpp (Ed.), The philosophy of Karl R. Popper (pp. 413–463). La Salle, IL: Open Court. (Originally prepared 1966).

    Google Scholar 

  • Carus, F. A. (1808). Psychologie (Band 2). Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth & Paul Gotthelf Kummer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cattell, R. B. (1944). Psychological measurement: Ipsative, normative, and interactive. Psychological Review, 51, 292–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chance, M. R. A. (1967). Attention-structure as the basis of primate rank orders. Man, 2, 503–518.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • David, M., & Apple, G. (1969). Mother-child relationship. In J. G. Howells (Ed.), Modern perspectives in international child psychiatry (pp. 98–124). Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dilthey, W. (1924). Ideen über eine beschreibende und zergliedernde Psychologie (Ideas on a descriptive and analytic psychology). In W. Dilthey, Gesammelte Werke (Band 5, pp. 139–240). Leipzig: Teubner. (Original work published 1894).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, J. (1983) Sibling relationships in early childhood. Child Development, 4, 787–811.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, J., & Kendrick, C. (1979). Interactions between young siblings in the context of family relationships. In M. Lewis & L. A. Rosenblum (Eds.), The child and its family (pp. 143–168). New York: Plenum Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Eco, U., & Sebeok, T. A. (Eds.). (1983). The sign of three: Dupin, Holmes, Peirce. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisler, R. (1927–1930). Wörterbuch der philosophischen Begriffe (Vols. 1–4). Berlin: E. S. Mittler und Sohn.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ernst, C., & Angst, J. (1983). Birth order, its influence on personality. Berlin: Springer Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Franck, I. (1982). Psychology as a science: Resolving the idiographic-nomothetic controversy. Journal of Theory of Social Behavior, 12(1), 1–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gewirtz, J. L., & Boyd, E. F. (1977a). Does maternal responding imply reduced infant crying? A critique of the 1972 Bell and Ainsworth Report. Child Development, 48(4), 1200–1207.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gewirtz, J. L., & Boyd, E. F. (1977b). In reply to the rejoinder to our critique of the 1972 Bell and Ainsworth Report. Child Development, 48(4), 1217–1218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gould, S. J. (1979, December). Darwin’s middle road. Natural History, pp. 27-31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graumann, C. F. (1960). Eigenschaften als Problem der Persönlichkeitsforschung (Traits as a problem of research in personality). In P. Lersch & H. Thomae (Eds.), Handbuch der Psychologie: Band 4. Persönlichkeitsforschung (pp. 87–154). Göttingen: Verlag für Psychologie-Hogrefe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grossmann, K. E. (1983, April). Historical contributions of German developmental psychology. Paper presented at the Symposium on International Perspectives on Research in Child Development, Society for Research in Child Development, Detroit, MI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grossmann, K. E., & Grossmann, K. (1984). Discovery and proof in attachment research. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 7, 154–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grossmann, K. E., Grossmann, K., Huber, F., & Wartner, U. (1981). German children’s behavior toward their mothers at 12 months and their fathers at 18 months in Ainsworth’s Strange Situation. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 4, 157–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grossmann, K., Grossmann, K. E., Spangler, G., Suess, G., & Unzner, L. (1985). Maternal sensitivity and newborns’ orientation responses as related to quality of attachment in Northern Germany. In I. Bretherton & E. Waters (Eds.), Growing points in attachment theory and research. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development (Nos. 1–2, Serial No. 209), pp. 233-256.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grossmann, K. E., Grossmann, K., & Schwan, A. (1986). Capturing the wider view of attachment: A re-analysis of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation. In C. Izard & P. Read (Eds.), Measuring emotions in infants and children (Vol. 2, pp. 124–171). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guilford, J. P. (1959). Peronality. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heiss, R. (1936). Die Lehre vom Charakter (About character). Berlin: DeGruyter & Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holst, E. von, and St. Paul, U. von. (1960). Vom Wirkungsgefüge der Triebe (On the effect network of instincts). Naturwissenschaften, 47, 409–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klix, F. (1983). Erwachendes Denken (The dawn of thinking, 2nd ed.). Berlin: VEB Verlag der Wissenschaften.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klix, F. (1984, September). Parameters of cognitive efficiency: A new approach in measuring human intelligence. Paper presented at the 23rd International Congress of Psychology, Acapulco, Mexico.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, T. S. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lorenz, K. (1973). Die Rückseite des Speigels. Versuch einer Naturgeschichte menschlichen Erkennens (Behind the mirror. A search for a natural history to human knowledge). München: Piper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lorenz, K. (1974). Analogy as a source of knowledge. Science, 185, 229–234.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Main, M., Kaplan, N., & Cassidy, J. (1985). Security in infancy, childhood and adulthood: A move to the level of representation. In I. Bretherton & E. Waters (Eds), Growing points in attachment theory and research. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1–2, Serial No. 209), 66-103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pierce, C. S. (1955) Abduction and induction. In J. Buchler (Ed.), Philosophical Writings of Pierce. New York: Dover.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plomin, R. (1981). Ethological behavioral genetics and development. In K. Immelmann, G. W. Barlow, L. Petrinovich, & M. Main (Eds.), Behavioral development: The Bielefeld Interdisciplinary Project (pp. 252–276). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plomin, R. (1983). Developmental behavioral genetics. Child Development, 54, 253–259.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Riedl, R. (1980). Biologie der Erkenntnis: Die stammesgeschichtlichen Grundlagen der Vernunft (Biology of knowledge: The phylogenetic roots of reason). Berlin: Paul Parey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riegel, K. (1979). Foundations of dialectical psychology. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scarr, S. (1981). Testing for children: Assessment and the many determinants of intellectual competence. American Psychologist, 36, 1159–1166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scarr, S., & Kidd, K. K. (1983). Developmental behavioral genetics. In M. M. Haith & J. J. Campos (Eds.), Handbook of child psychobiology: Vol. 2. Infancy and developmental psychobiology (pp. 345–433), New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scarr, S., & MacCartney, K. (1983). How people make their own environments: A theory of genotype environment effects. Child Development, 54, 424–435.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Skaggs, E. B. (1945). Personalistic psychology as a science. Psychological Review, 52, 234–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sroufe, L. A., & Waters, E. (1977). Attachment as an organizatorial construct. Child Development, 48(4), 1184–1199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stern, C., & Stem, W. (1928/1931). Monographien über die seelische Entwicklung des Kindes. I. Die Kindersprache, eine psychologischen und sprachtheoretische Untersuchung (3rd ed., original work published 1907). II. Erinnerung, Aussage und Lüge in der ersten Kindheit (3rd ed., original work published 1909). Leipzig: Barth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern, W. (1921). Die differentielle Psychologie in ihren methodischen Grundlagen (Differential psychology in its methodological foundations, 3rd ed.). Leipzig: Barth. (Original work published 1911).

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern, W. (1924). Person und Sache: System des kritischen Personalismus: Band 3. Wertphilosophie (Person and matter: The system of critical personalism, Vol. 3. Philosophy of value). Leipzig: Barth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stem, W. (1927a). Psychologie der frühen Kindheit bis zum sechsten Lebensjahr (mit Benutzung ungedruckter Tagebücher von Clara Stern) (Psychology of early childhood up to the sixth year of age, using unpublished diaries of Clara Stern, 4th ed.). Leipzig: Quelle & Meyer. (Original work published 1914).

    Google Scholar 

  • Stem, W. (1927b). William Stem. In R. Schmidt (Ed.), Die Philosophie der Gegenwart in Selbstdarstellungen (pp. 1–56). Leipzig: Verlag von Felix Meiner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stem, W. (1930a). Psychology of early childhood up to the sixth year of age, supplemented by extracts from the unpublished diaries of Clara Stern (2nd ed., Anna Barwell, Trans.). New York: H. Holt. (Original work published 1914).

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern, W. (1930b). William Stern. In K. Murchison (Ed.), A history of psychology in autobiography (Vol. 1, pp. 335–388). Worcester, MA: Clark University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Tinbergen, N. (1963). On aims and methods of ethology. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 20, 410–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tinbergen, E. A. & Tinbergen, N. (1972). Early childhood autism: An ethological approach. Fortschritte der Verhaltensforschung, Beiheft 10 zur Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie. Berlin: Paul Parey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Underwood; B. J. (1957). Psychological Research. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaughn, B. E., & Waters, E. (1980). Social organization among preschool peers: Dominance, attention, and sociometric correlates. In R. Omark, F. F. Strayer, & D. G. Freedman (Eds.), Dominance relations: An ethological view of human conflict and social interaction (pp. 359–381). New York: Garland Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vollmer, G. (1975). Evolutionäre Erkenntnistheorie (Phylogenetic theory of knowledge). Stuttgart: Hirzel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wachinger, A. M. (1981). Untersuchung zur Lage junger Familien mit Säulingen und Kleinkindern anhand von Interviews (Explorations on the situation of young families with infants and small children on the basis of interviews). Diplomthesis, Universität Regensburg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waters, E. (1981). Traits, behavioral systems, and relationships: Three models of infant-adult attachment. In K. Immelmann, G. W. Barlow, L. Petrinovich & M. Main (Eds.), Behaviorial development: The Bielefeld interdisciplinary project (pp. 621–650), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Welz, S. (1984). Analyse der Geschwisterbeziehungen in Familien der Bielefelder Längsschnittuntersuchung (Analysis of sibling relationships in families of the Bielefeld longitudinal study). Diplomthesis, Universität Regensburg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Windelband, W. (1919). Präludien II. Aufsätze und Reden zur Philosophie und ihrer Geschichte (Essays and speeches about philosophy and its history, 6th ed.). Tübingen: Verlag von J.C.B. Mohr.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wundt, W. (1880–1883). Logik: Eine Untersuchung der Prinzipien der Erkenntnis und der Methoden wissenschaftlicher Forschung (Vols. 1–2). (Logic: An investigation of principles of knowledge and methods of scientific research). Stuttgart: F. Enke.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ziemer, G. (1982). Das Zusammenleben mit 10 Monnate alten Kindern aus der Sicht ihrer Mütter, sowie deren Einstellungen zu ihren Kindern (Mothers’ reports on their lives with 10-year-old infants and their attitudes toward them). Diplomthesis, Universität Regensburg.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Psychologie, Lehrstuhl IV, Universität Regensburg, D-8400, Regensburg, Federal Republic of Germany

    Klaus E. Grossmann

Authors
  1. Klaus E. Grossmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Developmental Psychology Program, Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    Jaan Valsiner

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1986 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Grossmann, K.E. (1986). From Idiographic Approaches to Nomothetic Hypotheses. In: Valsiner, J. (eds) The Individual Subject and Scientific Psychology. Perspectives on Individual Differences. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2239-7_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2239-7_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-2241-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-2239-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation