Introduction to Individual Differences in Psychology

Individual Differences – Introduction and Psychoanalytical Perspectives by Dr Michael
Mantzios

- Individual Difference (ID) TIMELINE
o 400BC – Plato
 The Republic of Plato
 “no two persons are born exactly alike…one being suited for one
occupation and another for another”
o Middle ages
o Mid-1800s
 Fechner & Weber
 rise of experimental psychology
o method of Just Notable Differences
 how much two stimuli may vary to be
distinguished as different
o method of Constant Stimuli
 each variable compared several times
 the point at which 50% of the judgements are
correct is considered the threshold
 development of measurement of ID (psychophysical)
o since been adapted for measurement of IDs
 Broca
 Developed firsts ID tests
o Brain size as an indicator of intelligence
o Used to perpetuate sexism
 Men: survival, protector, compete
 Women: passive, restricted, sedentary
 Critiques (by Stephen Jay Gould)
o Age better determiner of brain weight – NOT gender
o Women were older than men
 Difference reduced from 181 to 113g
o Sample: 13 people (7 males, 6 females)
o Wundt: first experimenter psychology lab (1879)
 Visual and auditory sensation
 Psychophysics (Anastasia, 1958)
 Discover general laws that apply to all humans
 Ignored IDs (Tyler, 1995)
 IDs frowned upon by early experimenters
 IDs meant less accurate generalisations – se were ignored
o Capitalism and Democracy
 Paved the way to study IDs
 Previously unheard of: specialization of human talent
 Industrial needs created industrial class structure
 RATIONALIZED by IDs (Marks, 1976)
 IDs serve as pre-requisite for the development of a modern
state