Idiographic Assessment

In psychology, the term assessment is used to describe the evaluation of the nature, function, or meaning of a behavior, thought, or other symptom. Idiographic assessment (IA) involves the use of items or stimuli that are most relevant or important to a particular individual and focuses on describing regularities or patterns in a particular person’s functioning, including emotions, thoughts or beliefs (cognitions), and behaviors. Idiographic measures (IMs) are instruments that may be tailored to capture the most important and possibly unique aspects of that person’s experience. Idiographic stimuli include those aspects of a situation or scenario that are most important or relevant for that person. For example, in treating posttraumatic stress disorder, the patient repeatedly talks or writes about the traumatic situation (e.g., assault, combat), ...