A psychologist collects data from a large number of people. She places each person on a continuum ranging from high to low conscientiousness and makes predictions about how people in the high range will act compared to those in the low range. This psychologist is using the___________ approach to understand personality.

A) type
B) nomothetic
C) idiographic
D) common trait

The psychologist is using a nomothetic approach, which involves identifying general laws that govern behavior, in this case, the prediction of behavior based on conscientiousness level. The other options are not applicable because the psychologist is not categorizing individuals into types (A), focusing on unique traits of each individual (C), or identifying a common trait among individuals (D).