Projective
Personality
Testing
Psychological Testing
Projective hypothesis
DEFINITION:
In a projective test, 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.”
Concerns About Projectives
Assumptions:
The
more unstructured
the stimuli, the more
examinees reveal about
their personality.
Projection is greater to
stimulus material that is
similar to the examinee.
Every response provides
meaning for personality
analysis.
There
is an
“unconscious.”
Subjects are unaware of
what they disclose.
Situational
Age
variables:
of examiner.
Specific instructions.
Subtle reinforcement
cues.
Setting - privacy.
Inkblots as projective stimuli
The
Rorschach:
Hermann
Rorschach (1884 - 1922).
10 bilaterally symmetrical inkblots on
separate cards:
5
black and white.
2 black, white, and red.
3 multicolor.
Inkblots: Initial administration
“What
might this be?”
Record response verbatim:
Include
time until first response.
Position of card, spontaneous statements,
nonverbal gestures or body movements.
No
discussion of examinee’s responses.
Inkblots: “The inquiry”
“What
made it look like _____?” or “How
do you see ____?”
Clarify
initial responses and determine
which aspects of inkblot were most
influential.
Determine
if examinee remembers
initial responses and if original response
is still seen.
Ask about “any new perceptions?”
Inkblots: “Testing the limits”
Ask
specific questions to get additional
information about personality
functioning.
Identify confusion/misunderstanding
about the task.
Determine if examinee is able to do
better with more testing structure.
Inkblots:
Scoring Categories
Location:
Part
Content:
of inkblot utilized:
Entire blot, large or small
section, minute detail, white
space.
Determinants:
Qualities
of the inkblot:
Form, color, shading,
movement.
Popularity
of response
Frequency
of response.
Human
figures,
animal figures, blood
etc.
Form:
How
accurately
examinee’s
perception matches
the corresponding
part of the inkblot.
Inkblots:
Interpretation of scores
Generate
hypotheses based on
patterns of response, recurrent
themes and interrelationships among
scoring categories:
Whole
responses - conceptual thought
processes.
Form - reality testing.
Human movement - imagination.
Color - emotional reactivity.
Inkblots:
Psychometric Properties
Split-half
and test-retest methods are
not feasible.
Inter-scorer reliability (with respect to
categories) is acceptable.
Inter-scorer reliability (with respect to
interpretation) is not always acceptable.
Convergent validity of .41:
WAIS
- .62
MMPI - .46
The Rorschach Ink Blot:
Still
widely used clinical instrument:
Most
frequently used projective test;
Most frequently taught projective technique
in counseling psychology programs and
practicum sites.
Extensively
used as a research
instrument:
Thousands
of references in the Mental
Measurements Yearbook.
Exner’s system for the
Rorschach
Comprised of best
features of 5
different systems.
Coding categories:
Location.
Determinants.
Form
quality.
Content.
Popularity.
Coding
categories
(cont.):
Organizational
activity.
Special scores.
Indexes
derived:
Obsessive
style.
Depression.
Coping deficit.
Schizophrenia.
Pictures as Projective Stimuli
First used in 1907:
Differences
reported
in responses of boys
and girls to 9
pictures.
Variety of pictures
utilized:
Paintings,
drawings,
etchings, or photos
of animals, people,
objects or anything.
Thematic Apperception Test
(TAT)
Morgan
and Murray (1935).
Elicit fantasy material from patients in
psychoanalysis.
31 cards:
30
black & white with scenes:
Describe
1
story.
blank:
Imagine
picture on card and tell related story.
TAT: Administration
A set
of 20 cards is recommended, but
the number may vary based on length
of stories:
Some
cards are suggested for use with
adult males, adult females, or both.
Some cards are best used with children;
however, all cards may be administered
to any subject.
TAT: Conclusions
Based
on:
Stories
told by examinee.
Clinician’s notes:
Examinee’s
response to the cards.
Extra-test behavior and verbalizations.
Analysis
training.
of story requires special
TAT: Interpretation
Murray’s
Need
concepts:
- determinants of behavior arising
from within the individual.
Press - determinants of behavior arising
from within the environment.
Thema - interaction between need and
press.
TAT Interpretation (cont.)
Basic
assumption:
Examinee
is identifying with protagonist in
the story.
Examinee’s concerns, hopes, fears, and
desires are reflected in the protagonist’s
needs, demands, and conflicts.
That is, the examinee’s personality is
projected onto the protagonist.
TAT Psychometric properties
Reliability:
Split-half,
test-retest,
and alternate-form
reliability measures are
not appropriate.
Inter-rater
reliability is
acceptable.
Situational factors:
Examiner.
Events
just prior to
administration.
Delivery
of instructions.
Transient internal needs
states.
Stimulus pull.
Desire to fake good or
bad.
Validity:
Conflicting
opinions
regarding the validity of
the assumptions and the
interpretations.
Variations of the TAT
Thompson TAT
1949:
Use
with African
Americans.
CAT 1949 (3-10):
Pictures
of animals.
CAT
- H:
Humans
instead of
animals.
Blacky
Pictures Test
1950:
Used
Blacky the dog
and his family and
friends.
Blacky Test
Blacky Test
Blacky Test
Blacky Test
Other Picture-Story Tests
The
Picture Story Test 1949:
Used
with adolescents.
Education
Apperception Test and
School Appreciation Test:
Measure
kids’ attitudes toward school and
learning.
TEMAS:
Hispanic
characters and urban settings.
Other picture-story tests (cont.)
Make
A Picture Story Method 1952:
Arrange
pictures of figures on pictorial
backgrounds.
The
Apperception Personality Test
1990:
8
stimulus cards with recognizable people
in everyday settings; more upbeat than
TAT.
Multiple choice questions fill in the gap.
Words as Projective Stimuli
Semi-structured
technique:
Use
of open-ended words, phrases and
sentences provides a framework within
which the examinee must operate.
Word
association and sentence
completion tests:
2
best-known examples.
Early Influences:
Word Projection
Galton
1879:
Present
series of words and respond with first
word that comes to mind.
Jung
1910:
Key
words representing possible areas of
conflict.
Kent-Rosanoff
Free Association Test
1910:
Attempt
words.
to standardize responses to specific
Word Association Test
Rapaport,
3
Gill and Schafer (1946):
part test consisting of 60 words.
Basis
of evaluation:
Popularity.
Response
time.
Content.
Test-retest
response.
Sentence Completion Tests
Complete
“I
the following:
like to _____________.”
Stems
may be general or specific
depending on the setting.
Obtain information about interests, goals,
fears, conflicts, needs, etc.
High degree of face validity:
Most
vulnerable projective test to faking.
Rotter Incomplete Sentences
Blank (1950)
Most
popular.
40 incomplete sentences .
3 levels:
high
school, college and adult.
Estimates
of inter-scorer reliability (with
respect to scoring categories) are in the
.90s.
Projective:
Figure Drawings
Quick
and easy administration:
Individually
or in a group.
Non-clinicians can administer.
Pencil and paper only.
Used
to obtain information about
intelligence, neurological intactness, visualmotor coordination, cognitive development,
and learning disabilities.
Questionable use.
Machover’s
Draw-A-Person Test
Administration:
“Draw
a person” on
piece of 8 1/2 X 11
blank white paper.
2nd drawing of
other sex.
“Tell me a story
about the figure.”
Machover’s
Draw-A-Person Test Evaluation
Criteria
Placement
of the figure:
right
- future; left - past; upper right - suppress
past and optimism; lower left - depression.
Facial
large
Light
expressions:
eyes or ears - suspiciousness; paranoid.
pencil pressure:
character
Figure
disturbance.
size, line quality, symmetry etc.
Other Figure Drawings
House
Tree Person
(HTP)
Buck
1948.
Kinetic
Family Drawing
(KFD):
Burns
& Kaufman (1970).
Picture of everyone in
family doing something.
No widely accepted
scoring system.
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