Personality Assessment Methods PDF

Because learning changes everything. ® Chapter 12 Personality Assessment Methods Copyright © 2022 McGraw Hill. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means,...

Because learning changes everything. ® Chapter 12 Personality Assessment Methods Copyright © 2022 McGraw Hill. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill, including, but not limited to, network storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning.  Objective Methods of Personality Assessment Typically administered by paper-and-pencil or by computer and contain short-answer items for which the assessee's task is to select one response from those provided. The term "objective" in relation to personality measures must be considered cautiously. Objective personality tests do not contain one correct answer. A distinct lack of objectivity is associated with self-report. © McGraw Hill 2  Projective Methods Projective hypothesis: The idea that an individual supplies structure to unstructured stimuli in a manner consistent with the individual' s own unique pattern of conscious and unconscious needs, fears, desires, impulses, conflicts, and ways of perceiving and responding. Projective techniques are indirect methods of personality assessment, © McGraw Hill 3  Inkblots as Projective Stimuli 1 Rorschach inkblots. Hermann Rorschach developed a "form interpretation test" using inkblots as the forms to be interpreted. There is debate on how to precisely classify Rorschach inkblots. Consist of 10 bilaterally symmetrical inkblots printed on separate cards, half of which are achromatic. Inkblot cards are initially presented to the testtaker in order from 1 to 10; the testtakers are asked to interpret the inkblot and are provided a great deal of freedom. Courtesy of Ronald Jay Cohen © McGraw Hill 4  Inkblots as Projective Stimuli 2 After the entire set of inkblots has been administered, an inquiry is conducted and the assessor attempts to determine what features of the inkblot played a role in formulating the testtaker's percept. A third component, testing the limits, may also be included to enable the examiner to restructure the situation by asking specific questions concerning personality functioning. Courtesy of Ronald Jay Cohen © McGraw Hill 5  Inkblots as Projective Stimuli 3 Hypotheses concerning personality functioning are formed on the basis of variables such as content and location of the response and the time taken to respond. Rorschach protocols are scored according to several categories, including location, determinants, content, popularity, and form. Patterns of response, recurring themes, and interrelationships among the different categories are all considered in arriving at a final description of the individual from a Rorschach protocol. © McGraw Hill 6  Inkblots as Projective Stimuli 4 John E. Exner Junior developed a comprehensive system for the administration, scoring, and interpretation of Rorschach tests. Exner's system brought uniformity to Rorschach use, but despite such improvements the psychometric properties of the tool are still debated. Traditional test-retest reliability procedures may be inappropriate for use with the Rorschach. It is because of the effect of familiarity in response to the cards and because responses may reflect transient states as opposed to enduring traits. © McGraw Hill 7  Thematic Apperception Test (T A T) 1 Designed by Christiana Morgan and Henry Murray, 1935. 30 picture cards contain a variety of scenes that present the testtaker with "certain classical human situations." The administering clinician selects the cards that are believed to elicit responses pertinent to the objective of testing. © McGraw Hill 8  Thematic Apperception Test (T A T) 2 The material used in deriving conclusions includes: The stories as they were told by the examinee. The clinician's notes about the way or the manner in which the examinee responded to the cards. The clinician’s notes about extra-test behavior and verbalizations. John Lindsay/AP Images © McGraw Hill 9  Thematic Apperception Test (T A T) 3 Interpretive systems incorporate or are based on Henry Murray's concepts of: Need: Determinants of behavior arising from within the individual. Press: Determinants of behavior arising from within the environment. Thema: Unit of interaction between needs and press. © McGraw Hill 10  Criticisms for T A T Lack of standardization in administration, scoring, and interpretation procedures. Testtaker's responses may be affected by situational factors and transient internal need states. Different T A T cards have different stimulus pulls. © McGraw Hill 11  Comparison of T A T-Derived Data and Self-Report Derived Data McClelland et al. (1989). Argued that self-report measures yielded self-attributed motives, whereas the T A T yielded implicit motives. Implicit motives: Nonconscious influence on behavior typically acquired on the basis of experience. © McGraw Hill 12  Other Tests Using Pictures as Projective Stimuli 1 Hand test Consists of nine cards with pictures of hands on them and a tenth blank card. Testtaker is asked what the hands on each card might be doing. Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration Study. Employs cartoons depicting frustrating situations. Testtaker is asked to fill in the response of the cartoon figure being frustrated. © McGraw Hill 13  Other Tests Using Pictures as Projective Stimuli 2 Responses are scored in terms of the type of reaction elicited and the direction of the aggression expressed. Intropunitive: Aggression turned inward. Extrapunitive: Outwardly expressed. Inpunitive: Aggression is evaded so as to avoid or gloss over the situation. Testtaker's reactions are grouped into the following categories: Obstacle dominance: Response concentrates on the frustrating barrier. Ego defense: When attention is focused on protecting the frustrated person. Need persistence: When attention is focused on solving the frustrating problem. © McGraw Hill 14  Other Tests Using Pictures as Projective Stimuli 3 Apperceptive Personality Test (A P T). Consists of eight stimulus cards that depict recognizable people in everyday settings. Testtakers need to respond to a series of multiple-choice questions after telling a story, either orally or in writing, about each of the A P T pictures. © McGraw Hill 15  Words as Projective Stimuli 1 Word association tests: Semistructured, individually administered, projective technique of personality assessment that involves the presentation of a list of stimulus words. Assessee is expected to respond with whatever comes to mind first upon exposure to the stimulus word. Responses are analyzed on the basis of content and other variables. © McGraw Hill 16  Words as Projective Stimuli 2 Sentence completion test: Semistructured projective technique of personality assessment that involves the presentation of a list of words that begin a sentence. Assessee's task is to respond by finishing each sentence with whatever words come to mind. Sentence completion stems: May be developed for use in specific settings or for specific purposes. May be relatively atheoretical or linked closely to some theory. © McGraw Hill 17  Projective Test Developed by B. F. Skinner. Device was similar to auditory inkblots. Created a series of recorded sounds much like muffled, spoken vowels, to which people would be instructed to associate. The device was called verbal summator. There was little compelling evidence to show that the instrument could differentiate between members of clinical and nonclinical Bettmann/Getty Images groups. © McGraw Hill 18  Production of Figure Drawings Figure drawing test: Assessee produces a drawing that is analyzed on the basis of its content and related variables. Various characteristics of the drawing and that of the individual drawn are formally evaluated in Draw A Person (D A P) test. House-Tree-Person test: Testtaker's task is to draw a picture of a house, a tree, and a person; it is considered symbolically significant. Kinetic Family Drawing (KFD): Helps learn about the examinee in relation to his/her family in the form of examinee verbalizations while the drawing is being executed. © McGraw Hill 19  Projective Methods in Perspective: Assumptions and Criticisms Assumptions Criticisms More ambiguous the stimuli, Projective stimulus is only one the more subjects reveal about aspect of the total stimulus their personality. situation. Projective stimuli evoke Stimulus material may not be responses that are as ambiguous and amenable idiosyncratic in nature. to projection. Ambiguous nature of a task Some assumptions are and its results are less subject cherished beliefs accepted to faking. without the support of research validation. © McGraw Hill 20  Psychometric Considerations of Projective Techniques Criticism of projective techniques. Uncontrolled variations in: Protocol length. Inappropriate subject samples. Inadequate control groups. Poor external criteria. © McGraw Hill 21  Behavioral Assessment Methods Emphasis is on what a person does in situations rather than on inferences about what attributes he/she has more globally. Differences between traditional and behavioral approaches to psychological assessment have to do with key variables: Nature of personality. Causes of behavior. © McGraw Hill 22  Methods for Recording Frequency and Intensity of Target Behavior Timeline followback (TLFB) methodology: Originally designed for use in the context of a clinical interview for the purpose of assessing alcohol abuse. Has been used to evaluate problem behaviors, such as gambling, maternal smoking, and HIV risk behaviors. Ecological momentary assessment: Used to analyze the immediate antecedents of cigarette smoking. © McGraw Hill 23  Varieties of Behavioral Assessment 1 Behavioral observation. Behavior rating scale. Self-monitoring. Reactivity: Possible changes in an assessee's behavior, thinking, or performance that may arise in response to being observed, assessed, or evaluated. Analogue study. Research investigation in which one or more variables are similar or analogous to the real variable that the investigator wishes to examine. © McGraw Hill 24  Varieties of Behavioral Assessment 2 Analogue behavioral observation. Observation of a person in an environment designed to increase the chance that the assessor can observe targeted behaviors and interactions Situational performance measure. Procedure that allows for observation and evaluation of an individual under a standard set of circumstances. Leaderless group technique: Several people are organized into a group for the purpose of carrying out a task as an observer records their information related to individual group members' initiative, cooperation, leadership, and related variables. © McGraw Hill 25  Varieties of Behavioral Assessment 3 Role play. Psychophysiological methods. Biofeedback: Designed to gauge, display, and record a continuous monitoring of selected biological processes. Plethysmograph: Biofeedback instrument that records changes in the volume of a part of the body arising from variations in blood supply. Penile plethysmograph: Instrument designed to measure changes in blood flow, but more specifically blood flow to the penis. Polygraph: Lie detector test. Unobtrusive measures: A telling physical trace or record. © McGraw Hill 26  Issues in Behavioral Assessment Contrast effect. Behavioral rating may be excessively positive or negative because a prior rating was excessively negative or positive. Solution: Composite judgment can be used. Composite judgment: Averaging of multiple judgments. Reactivity: Changes in an assessee's behavior, thinking, or performance May arise in response to being observed, assessed, or evaluated Solutions: Hidden observers or clandestine recording techniques can be used Equipment costs and cost of training behavioral assessors. © McGraw Hill 27  A Perspective Mental health professionals are called upon by society to make diagnostic judgments and intervention on the basis of very little information. The clinical approach is more favorable than the actuarial approach in those situations where data are insufficient to formulate rules for decision making and prediction. Mostly, contemporary practitioners adopt the actuarial approach. © McGraw Hill 28  End of Main Content Because learning changes everything. ® www.mheducation.com Copyright © 2022 McGraw Hill. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill, including, but not limited to, network storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning.