PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES CHAPTER 11 Projective Technique Projection Projective Technique (or what are sometimes called as indirect interviewing techniques) for the collection of data have been developed by psychologists to use projections of respondents for inferring about underlying motives, urges, or intentions which are such that the respondent either resists to reveal them or is unable to figure out himself. • Psychological technique to get answers without asking a direct question. • Participants project their unconscious beliefs into other people or objects. • Reduces threat of personal vulnerability. • Consists of a stimulus and a response. Projection Methods Association Uncovers a brand’s identity or product attributes. • Word association for a product /brand. • Draw brands as people Construction Process allows participant to construct meaning. • Participant constructs a story or picture from a concept. • Collages are developed on a topic. • Bubble drawings or cartoon tests ask participant to construct a dialog. Completion For insight into participant’s need-value system. • Sentences, stories or conversat ions are completed • Ie “When I think of beer…..” Expressive For situations when participants cannot describe their actions but can demonstrate them. • Participants role play or act out a story. • Themes are developed based on participants’ personal interpret ations of pictures. • House where brand lives (Bud vs Guiness). Drawing • A well- known early example is the Machover Draw-a person test (D-A-P Machover 1949). • In this test the individual is provided with paper and pencil and is told to “draw a person’’. • Completion of the first drawing he or she is asked to draw a person of the opposite sex or of a different gender. • The drawing is usually followed by a series of question to elicit specific information about age, schooling, occupation. Types of Projective Techniques Pictorial Projective Technique • Rorschach Ink Blot Test • Thematic Apperception Test Verbal Projective Technique Association Technique Word Association Method Completion Techniques • Sentence Completion Drawing Technique • Draw a Person Test • House Tree Person Test I feel that my father seldom _______________________________________________________ When the odds are against me ____________________________________________________ I always wanted to _______________________________________________________________ Pictorial Projective Rorschach Inkblot Test This test consists of ten cards having prints of inkblots. The design happens to be symmetrical but meaningless. The respondents are asked to describe what they perceive in such symmetrical inkblots and the responses are interpreted on the basis of some pre-determined psychological framework. This test is frequently used but the problem of validity still remains a major problem of this test. Rorschach Inkblot Test VALIDITY Rorschach inkblot test’s popularity (1940sand 1950s) was based on Clinical. Evidence gathered from a group of Rorschach virtuosos who used blind analysis. RELIABILITY Traditionally the Rorschach is believed to be unreliable. Through meta-analysis, K. Parker (1 983) reported an overall internal Reliability coefficient of .83 ADMINISTRATION • Preliminary remarks concerning the purpose of testing. • Free association phase • Inquiry SCORING • Location – where on the blot was the percept seen(located)? – Whole (W), Common detail (D), or Unusual detail (Dd) • Determinant – What feature of the inkblot determined the response? – Form (F), Movement (M, FM, m), Color (C), Shading (T) • Form Quality – To what extent did the percept match the stimulus properties of the inkblot? – F+ or +; F; F- or – • Content – What was the percept? – Human (H), Animal (A), Nature (N) • Popular-original – How frequent is the percept seen in normative samples? Rorschach Inkblot Cards Thematic Apperception Test In the Thematic Apperception Test, the person is asked to observe a series of images and describe a story in each one of them, try to reconstruct what has happened, what is happening now and what he believes will happen next. The person also has to describe how the different characters think and feel. The examiner then scores the test based on the needs, motivations, and anxieties of the main character and how the story ends. According to the TAT manual: This technique allows us to know the impulses, emotions, feelings, and conflicts of the person some inhibited and underlying aspects or tendencies of the person that he would not admit or recognize because he is not aware of them. Procedure The TAT is popularly known as the picture Interpretation technique because it uses a standard series of provocative yet ambiguous pictures about which the subject must a story. The subject is asked to tell as dramatic a story as they can for each picture presented, including: •What has led up to the event shown? •What is happening at the moment? •What the characters are feeling and thinking? •What the outcome of the story was? Administration • Preliminary remarks concerning the purpose of testing. • Free association phase • Inquiry For Males: 1,2,3BM, 4, 6BM, 7BM, 11, 12M, and 1 2MF For Females: 1,2,3, 3BM, 4, 6GF, 7GF, 9GF, 11 & 13MF Cards should be given in the sequenc e numbered on the back. Cards to be Administered If depression and suicide are significant issues, this should be administered: 3BM, 13BM, and 14 For Males: 1,2,3BM, 4, 6BM, 7BM, 11, 12M, and 12MF For Females: 1,2,3, 3BM, 4, 6GF, 7GF, 9GF, 11 and 13MF For research purposes: 1, 2, 3BM, 3GF, 4, 5, 6BM, 6GF, 8BM, and 8GF Note: Cards should be given in the sequence numbered on the back. TAT Sample Cards Verbal Projective Technique Association Technique (Word Association Method) These tests are used to extract information regarding such words which have maximum association. In this sort of test the respondent is asked to mention the first word that comes to mind, ostensibly without thinking, as the interviewer reads out each word from a list. If the interviewer says cold, the respondent may say hot and the like ones. Completion Techniques Sacks’ Sentence Completion Test Developed by Dr. Joseph Sacks Sentence completion tests typically provide respondents with beginnings of sentences, referred to as “stems,” and respondents then complete the sentences in ways that are meaningful to them. Nature of the Test FAMILY: The family area included three sets of attitudes namely: a) those towards mother, b) father, and c) family unit. It is hoped that even when the subject becomes evasive or cautious, at least one of the four items in each area will reveal significant response. SEX: The sex area includes attitudes towards woman and heterosexual relationship. The 8 items in this area allows the subject to express himself with regards to woman, towards marriage, and with respect to sexual relationship. INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP: The area of interpersonal relationship includes attitudes towards friends and acquaintances, colleagues at work or school, superior at work or school, and people supervised. The 16 items in this area affords the subject to express his feelings towards those. SELF-CONCEPT: The area of self-concept includes fear, guilt feelings, goals and attitudes towards one’s own ability, concept of himself as he is, he was and as he hopes to be. There are 24 items included in this area. Reliability and Validity The validity of each sentence completion test must be determined independently and this depends on the instructions laid out in the scoring manual. Compared to positivist instruments, such as Likert-type scales, sentence completion tests tend to have high face validity. Scoring 2 - SEVERELY DISTURBED - appears to require the therapeutic aid in handling emotional conflicts in this area. 1 – MILDLY DISTURBED - has emotional conflict in this area but appears able to handle them without therapeutic aid. 0 – No Significant - disturbance rated in this area X – Unknown - insufficient evidence Interpretative Guide Attitude towards Mother (14, 29, 44, 59) 2 = Completely rejects and depreciates mother whom he considers over demanding. 1 = Sees mother’s fault but accepts and tolerates differences. 0 = express only positive feelings towards the mother. Attitude towards Father (1, 16, 31, 46) 2 = feels extreme hostility and contempt with overt death wishes. 1 = admires father but wishes that their relationship were closer. 0 = expresses complete satisfaction with father’s personality. Attitude towards Family Unit (2, 27, 42, 57) 2 = feels rejected by the family which lacks solidarity and which has constantly contended with difficulties. 1 = aware that the family does not recognize him as a mature person but has no difficulty in relating with them. 0 = instability of the family domicile has had little effect on his favorable feeling towards them. Attitude towards Women ( 10, 25, 40, 55) 2 = extremely suspicious, possible Homosexual tendency 1 = high ideas but ambivalent feelings. 0 = only minor or superficial criticisms Attitude towards Heterosexual Relationship (11,26,41,56) 2 = appears to ha ve given up achieving good sexual adjustment 1 = deserved sexual experiences but reservation about his ability to maintain marital relationship. 0 =indicates satisfaction towards this area Attitude towards Friends and Acquaintances (8,23,38,53) 2 = suspicious and apparently seclusive 1= seems to wait approval of others before committing himself emotionally 0 = express mutual relationship with friends and self. Attitude towards People Supervised (4,19,34,58) 2 = feels he can handle or control hostility in handling others 1 = feels capable of doing good supervisory but has misgivings about assuming an authoritarian role. 0 = feels controllable and well accepted by subordinates. Attitude towards Supervisors at work or School (6,21,36,51) 2 = resents or fear authority 1 = mild difficulty in accepting difficulty 0 = Attitude towards Colleague at work/school (13,28,43,58) 2 = feels rejected by colleagues, and condemns them 1 = has some difficulty at work and depends on colleagues 0 = expresses good mutual feelings. Fear (7,22,37,52) 2 = disturbed by the apparent fear of loving, possibility to control his feelings 1 = fear of self-assertion which is fairly common and not pervasive. 0 = lack of fear Guilt Feelings (15,30,45,60) 2 = concerned with spiritual feeling and physical sex drives 1 = has regret over past and seems mildly disturbed by his failure to control his trouble. 0 = does not seem to be aware of guilt feelings. Attitude towards Own Ability (2,7,32,47) 2 = feels completely incompetent and hopeless 1 = feels he has a specific ability but tends to fear difficulty 0 = confident on his ability to overcome Obstacles. Attitude towards Past (9,24,39,54) 2 = feels rejected and isolated 1 = 0 = feels well adjusted, no significant disturbance in the past Attitude towards the Future (5, 20, 35, 50) 2 = pessimistic, no hope in his own resources for happiness and success 1 = unsure of himself but tries to be optimistic 0 = seems confident in achieving his goals Goals (3, 18,53,49) 2 = lack of motivation for achievement 1 = desires material things for family as well as for himself 0 = no significant problems in this goal. Draw a Person Test • • • It is a psychological projective personality and cognitive test used to evaluate children and adolescents for a variety of purposes. It is a test where the subject is asked to draw a picture of a man, a woman, and themselves. no further instructions are given and the pictures are analyzed on a number of dimensions. A test used to measure non verbal intelligence or to screen emotional or behavioral disorders. Analysis Face Omitting: omission of facial features is an expression of avoidance of social problems. Eyes: reveals inner image of the self. Emphasis: suspicious of the outside world. Detail: concern with social functions; a male who draws eyelashes shows homosexual tendencies. Eyes closed/ no pupil: emotionally immature or people who want to shut out the world. Piercing eyes: paranoid schizophrenic Eyebrow: an emphasis on good or bad grooming. Nose: sexual symbol; emphasis indicates sexual difficulty, sexual immaturity, Inferiority or other sexual insufficiencies Chin: if it is not included, it may be a way of compensating for weakness, indecision, or a fear of r esponsibility; it can be interpreted as having a strong drive to be Socially forceful and dominant. Lips: girls who draw cupid- bow lips are considered sexually precocious. Full lips On a male represents narcissism. People who draw something in the mouth Indicates oral erotic trends. Mouth: most often distorted in people with sexual difficulties Over emphasis- emphasized importance of food, profane language, and temper Tantrums. Teeth: sign of aggression. Closed mouth: shutting the mouth against something, wanting to keep something in, especially a homosexual experience Wide grinning mouth- seeks approval. Hair: messy hair may represent a feeling of immortality while more wavy and Glamorous hair can mean a person is sexually immature. Contact features like legs, arms, feet and hands: the movement of contact features is an important element. The amount of movement of the features is suggested to decrease with age and is thought to represent the amount of contact one has with the outside world. Arms and hands: represent ego development and social adaptation. Omitted: represents a complete withdrawal from the environment. If a male omits a female’s arms, then he has been rejected by his mother and unaccepted by females. If one omits hands, they are thought to have a lack of confidence in social contexts. Shading: too vigorously shaded hands could indicate feelings of guilt in regard to aggressive impulses. Placement of arms: extended arms represent good relationship with the environment or spontaneity. If they are wasted the individual could have a low sense of physical reality. Placement of hands: behind the back may represent glamor aspirations for girls, in the pocket could indicate withdrawal from society or feelings of guilt about masturbation. • Fingers: fingers are especially impportant because of their connection with an individuals personal identity and are mostly used to represent levels of aggression. If they are over exaggerated they can be indicators of guilt. How long they are may represent levels of aggression, too long may mean the person is overly aggressive, too short, means they are reserved. Toes: often not included in drawings because of shoes, but if they are, it is a sign of aggression. If female shows painted toenails, they may have heightened female aggression. House Tree Person Test The house-tree-person test (HTP) is a projective personality test, a type of exam in which the test taker responds to or provides ambiguous, abstract, or unstructured stimuli (often in the form of pictures or drawings). Description The HTP can be given to anyone over the age of three. Because it requires test takers to draw pictures, it is often used with children and adolescents. It is also often used with individuals suspected of having brain damage or other neurological impairment. The test takes an average of 150 minutes to complete; it may take less time with normally functioning adults and much more time with neurologically impaired individuals. Administration • Pencil & white paper • Patient asked to draw a good house (as good as possible), take as much time as needed, erase anything you need to. • Then the pencil is taken away & you can use crayons in anyway to shade in or draw. Interpretation HOUSE It is loosely based on research and on the symbolic meaning of the aspects of the house. They should hopefully be nurturing places with normal levels of detail and normal size. Too little and the client may reject family life; too big and they may be overwhelmed by it. TREE The trunk is seen to represent the ego, sense of self, and the intactness of the personality. Thus heavy lines or shadings to represent bark indicate anxiety about one's self, small trunks are limited ego strength, large trunks are more strength A tree split down the middle, as if hit by lightening, can indicate a fragmented personality and serious mental illness, or a sign of organicity. PERSON The idea is that the person of the same sex is like you, and the person of the opposite sex is what you may not admit is like you. Very Jungian when you think of it, in that the opposite sex is the anima or animus.
