Student notes Key resources The main material for this TMA should be drawn from: Butt’s Chapter 3 in Book 2: ‘Individual differences’ Book 1, Chapters 2 and 3 (Hollway) Butt’s chapter: ‘Trait, biological and cognitive social approaches’ in Understanding People (2004) (additional readings for TMA 02 on the DD307 website) Richards’ chapter: ‘Some problems with measurement’ in Putting Psychology in its Place (2002) (additional readings for TMA 02 on the DD307 website). Advice on completing the assignment Butt’s chapter on individual differences (Book 2, Chapter 3), introduces trait theory (Eysenck and Rachman, 1965) and contrasts it with personal construct theory (Kelly 1955, illustrated by Salmon’s (2003) article on the development of the ‘Salmon line’, reading 3.2). Trait theory is based in the social cognitive perspective and its aims are outlined in the chapter. You should draw on Butt’s comments in the chapter as to the advantages of a trait theory approach, which may include consistency, the enduring nature of traits, predictive value, use of everyday language etc. Reading 3.1 should be drawn on to support these strengths. Personal construct theory is described in the chapter by Butt as ‘a form of phenomenology’ (p. 54) based on the idea that a person’s unique way of interpreting the world is most important for individual differences, so that a different method of enquiry is required. Note that when a question asks you to ‘discuss’ it is asking you to discuss critically, developing a line of argument in favour of one approach or the other. Butts’ commentary in Chapter 3 draws on Mischel’s criticisms of the potential strengths of trait theory, and this commentary can be used to develop ideas for a critical discussion around strengths and weaknesses. For example, Mischel questions traits as properties of the people being tested, and whether these may be actually the perspectives of the raters themselves (p. 53). An important part of trait theory is its use of measurement and factor analysis as a method, based on questionnaire results. It would be useful to examine the advantages and disadvantages of this method. Therefore one useful element of constructing a critical comparison may be to examine measurement as a key part of the method of trait theory. You could ask what are the advantages and disadvantages of measuring individual differences, compared to the qualitative method of personal construct theory, which does not measure a person’s responses against others’. To help develop this line of discussion you could look to the additional readings for TMA 02 on the DD307 website, and particularly Richards’ chapter. Richards challenges the assumptions of validity which accompany this method, even to the point of questioning whether sets of factors derived from questionnaires really do represent some objective reality of people. When discussing measurement as a way of finding traits you may like to consider the wider position of methodology in knowledge production, and how these two theories are examples of an objective methodology (trait theory) and a subjective methodology (personal construct theory). It would also be useful to consider the different aims of the two theories when comparing and contrasting them. This is discussed in the conclusion to the chapter and you may like to think about how the aim of a theory is linked to its grounding tradition. In this way, these two theories link to some of the discussion of the different perspectives in DD307 which Hollway discusses in Book 1, Chapter 3, and more widely to the two social psychologies discussed by Hollway in Book 1, Chapter 2. For example, in Book 1, Chapter 3, Hollway discusses the need to generalise as an aim of quantitative social psychology, and the limitations this brings. Given the direction of Butt’s discussion in Chapter 3, it may seem a more difficult task to balance the criticism of trait theory so that your answer develops the strengths of this approach sufficiently. To consider this you could look to wider issues of generalisation, and consider how the aims of trait theory have particular uses in society not achievable with the methods of personal construct theory. In making this judgement you should base your argument on the claims and evidence from the module materials. Although this TMA is early in the module, there are opportunities to begin to use the interrogative themes (Book 1, Chapter 2) to develop your critical comparison of these theories. Although it is not essential for you to use these in your discussion, you will be credited with appropriate use of them to develop your answer. In comparing these two theories, for example, the interrogative theme of ‘situated knowledges’ (Book 1, p. 48) could be useful to critique the use of psychometrics and statistics for understanding individual differences. Power relations, too, could help provide some critical discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of the two theories. For example, Hollway mentions the ‘…objectification and stigmatization … of mental health patients by psychologists and psychiatrists’ (Book 1, p. 47) as an issue of power relations. Might these negative effects be involved in trait theory too? Might power relations also be involved in the personal construct approach of Salmon too, potentially undermining its effectiveness?
