Individual psychological differences prevent the formation of general scientific theories of the mind
the verdict
INSUFFICIENT LEANING
refutedsupported
the weight of evidence
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The retrieved evidence partially highlights methodological tensions and divides between idiographic and nomothetic approaches in psychological research, but does not establish that individual differences entirely prevent general scientific theories.
This paper situates talent identification research in sport science within the broader context of developmental science, offering a conceptual framework informed by two (meta-)theoretical worldviews: the Cartesian-split-mechanistic and processual-relational worldviews. Although these worldviews are not explicitly named in the field of talent identification research, we demonstrate their implicit adoption through theoretical and methodological discourse. After comparing applications, benefits, and limitations of each worldview, we briefly discuss whether their bodies of knowledge are incompatible, competitive, or complementary. We suggest each worldview provides complementary insights with a penchant for generating nomothetic and group-specific and type-specific and idiographic knowledge, respectively.
Choosing a broad approach recognizes that, in addition to motor characteristics, certain psychological characteristics and specific environmental conditions must be present to enable individuals to realize their potential. Conversely, a dynamic approach recognizes that relying on a single sport-specific performance measurement provides an insufficient understanding of individualized developmental trajectories and inadequate predictions of adult performance potential.
This categorical determinism stretches from metaphysical and epistemological levels "downward" through scientific theories, to the manner in which we analyze, interpret, and make inferences from empirical evidence. (Reese & Overton, 1970 , p. 117) At the highest place in the nested hierarchy is the meta-theoretical level of worldviews (see Figure 2 ). A worldview “presents a vision of the nature of the world and the nature of how we know that world” (Overton, 2013 , p. 26).
Indeed, if humans are seen as homogenous, it seems logical to mostly consider individual differences as just noise (Salvatore & Valsiner, 2011 ). In variable-oriented quantitative methods, interest lies in population differences based on mean differences, or knowing populations through (curvi-)linear variable associations, such as variable A influences variable B (Overton & Lerner, 2014 ; Richters, 2021 ). Accordingly, population- respective variable-oriented methodologies (see General Linear Model [GLM]; Field, 2018 ), such as analysis of variance (ANOVA), multivariable analysis of covariance, correlation, or regression analysis, are favored.
Specificity problem: Infidelity to primary focus of talent research (nomothetic versus idiographic; aggregate versus individual) As noted in the introduction, talent identification focuses on differential human development, seeking to understand what makes us heterogenous , unique and different from one another rather than on general human development (seeking what makes us homogenous ). Such focus underscores the imperative to furnish practitioners with idiographic-, person-oriented answers, referable to individuals .
Thus, to adequately serve its objective of exploring individual differences, talent identification research should shift the focus from a quest for nomothetic knowledge to a quest for idiographic knowledge, and consequently, from prediction models for the aggregate to prediction models for the person. This resonates with Kluckhohn and Murray’s claim ( 1948 ), made over 70 years ago: Because “all people are like all other people, all people are like some other people, and each person is like no other person” (as cited in Lerner, 2007 , p.
In short, network-oriented approaches focus on the developmental system and its “complex underlying structure of interdependent relations” (Hiver et al., 2021 , p. 4). Person-oriented methodologies On the methodological level, the specificity principle requires centering research around individuals (difference between types of persons), not populations or variables (Bergman & Andersson, 2010 ; Bergman & Lundh, 2015 ; Lundh, 2019 ). Person-oriented approaches use qualitative methods such as structural narrative analysis (B.
To understand the talent phenomenon, this worldview deconstructs the general structure of talent into particular pieces with predictive validity, searches for problematic pieces (Cumming et al., 2012 ), and applies the same general laws, such as weighting, to every particular individual (e.g., Sieghartsleitner et al., 2019 ). Nevertheless, at some point in the analysis, researchers typically recognize the limited scope of a truly nomothetic focus and underline the need to refine its level of granularity. For instance, Höner et al.
Consequently, a standpoint “specialized” in the analysis of the person is required as a complement. Mapping the road 2: Bottom-up to the type-specificity, but not farther Inversely, the processual-relational worldview starts the developmental analysis from the bottom-up—from the particular to the general—by keeping idiographic focus as long as
However, researchers in the human sciences, including talent research, typically acknowledge that science cannot be reduced to the sole description of the uniqueness of an individual functioning as a totality (Magnusson, 1988 ). Thus, researchers aim to discover what is general or common in addition to what is particular, unique, or idiographic—implying some kind of generalization, such as aiming for group-specific statements. In this context, group-specificity is achieved by identifying similar types or patterns of individuals functioning across persons.
In doing so, coaches construct a truly dialectical, holistic, and developmental picture in their minds, one that transcends the mere sum of its parts and informs their decision to select the individual or not. To conclude, we return to the paper's title: mechanistic or relational worldview for talent identification research in sport science? After thorough theoretical and applied considerations, our answer is both : Talent identification requires both mechanistic and relational knowledge at different steps of the process.
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