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Single Case Study

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1. “Individualized traits or personal dispositions (Allport, 1961).” (As cited by Runyan, 1982) 2. “The Identification for central themes within an individuals life (Allport, 1965)(Baldwin, 1942).” (As cited by Runyan, 1982) 3. “The ipsative ordering of responses within the individual, meaning scores determined in relation to the individual rather than group norms (Alfert, 1967)(Broverman, 1962).” (As cited by Runyan, 1982) 4. “The patterning or organization of variables within the single case(Allport, 1961)(Luborsky and Mintz, 1972).” (As cited by Runyan, 1982) 5. “The correlation of variables within the single case (Chassan, 1979)(Shapiro, 1966).” (As cited by Runyan, 1982) 6. “The selection of particular traits on which to assess individuals …show more content…

“Descriptive generalizations about the single case (Runyan, 1982) (Bromely, 1977).” (As cited by Runyan, 1982) 9. “The particular subjective meanings of events and circumstances to the individual (Runyan, 1982).” 10. “Predictions based on trends or patterns in the data about a single case (Runyan, 1982).” Areas of Critique Those who have critiques of psychohistory and psychobiography often argue several points: inadequate evidence, reconstruction, reductionism, the relationship of childhood behavior to adult behavior, and trans-historical and cross-cultural generality in psychological theory (Runyan 1982) (Runyan 1981). The argument of inadequate evidence often stems from evidence of the wrong kind for example not enough free association or dream reports, and not enough evidence from the right time period, like the individual’s childhood and early life (Runyan 1982). This leads to the critique of reconstruction; often times when there is not enough evidence from an individual’s childhood, psychobiographers will sometimes use psychoanalytic theory to reconstruct what must have happened in the individuals childhood; this is sometimes presented as invalidated fact (Runyan 1982). Psychobiographers are often accused of being reductionist by overemphasizing psychological factors at the expense of social and historical factors (Runyan 1982). The next critique is the lack of evidence for early childhood experiences determining adult behavior, critics often say that psychobiographers

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