Those who believe that certain ideas and beliefs are innate rather than learned are taking an ontological position. The assumption of empiricism attempts to answer the question about how psychic occurrences are brought about. Peripheralists and centralists have different emphases about the importance of the mind. Data which are primarily structures rather than processes usually involve contents rather than functions of the mind. Subjective data can usually be verified by more than one observer.
Introspective methods involve making reports on one's own mind or thought processes.
Deductive methods are sometimes used in science but primarily after inductive methodshave produced some generalizations. A determinist usually explains phenomena by reference to some causes outside of the individual. Environmentalists are usually peripheralists because they emphasize the sensory and motor processes. Idiographic psychology emphasizes the importance of the individual as a unique person.