Personality Assessment: PSY 831
Spring 2014, Tuesdays 1:50-4:40
153 Psychology Building
Professor: Christopher J. Hopwood, Ph.D.
(hopwood2@msu.edu)
The purpose of this graduate clinical psychology course is to cover the empirical and clinical bases of personality
assessment. The course covers the history and theory of measurement in personality psychology, the influences of
culture and personality development on psychological assessment; theories of test construction as applied to a
range of assessment methods, test administration and interpretation; interviewing; consulting; and report writing.
It will consist of didactic training as well as a practical component to facilitate both understanding of and
experience with the personality assessment process. This course will focus exclusively on personality assessment;
companion courses in the clinical doctoral curriculum cover cognitive/neuropsychological assessment and
psychometrics.
Assignments
Assignments will either be completed in person or can be turned in electronically prior to class or on paper in class.
Points will be deducted for any late assignment for which an extension is not approved before the assignment is
due.
Reaction Papers should be relatively short (about 1-2 pages double spaced). They can be about any topic related
to the readings or the course. The goal is for the papers to reflect your curiosity or interest in some aspect of
personality assessment. Examples might include anything from a scholarly critique of a point of view expressed in
the readings to an exploration of your concerns about doing clinical personality assessment, and many things in
between. Reaction papers should be interesting to you, in which case they will likely be interesting to me too.
Interpretation Assignments require you to make interpretations about people based on test data that I will
provide. Your interpretations should be prepared as if they were going to be in a psychological report (I will
provide example reports). Interpretations will be based on referral questions that may range from concrete (e.g.,
what is the likelihood that this person would meet diagnostic criteria for depression?) to abstract (e.g., why do you
think this person has never had a mutually satisfying, long-term relationship?).
Interviews with Instructor will be scheduled in class and will occur in my office. I will ask you to role play the
assessor and I will role play an assessee. The content of the role plays will be described in class. There will be three
foci across the three interviews: developing rapport, getting questions, and discussing results.
Reports will be based on cases that we review in class. You should prepare a complete report in the standard
format for this course. We will review one another’s reports. The case will be discussed and the report will be
assigned in class on Tuesday, two weeks before it is due. The report should be drafted by the following Tuesday,
and sent to all of your classmates and me before class. You should provide feedback about each of your
classmate’s reports by Thursday at midnight, and cc me on this email. You should then edit your report based on
comments and turn it in the following Tuesday in class.
Grades
Grades will be based on three sources: 3 reports will be worth 16% each (48% total), 7 other assignments will be
worth 6% each (42% total), and class participation will be worth 10%. Class participation will include being an
active member of in class discussions and activities and providing comments on drafts of your colleagues’ reports.
You should complete all readings before class. There will be one extra credit assignment at the end of the course
worth 2% of your grade.
Availability
I am available by appointment. Alternatively, my office door (107A Psychology) is often open and when it is you are
welcome to come in.
Michigan State University PSY 831: Personality Assessment, Spring, 2013 1
Required Books
Archer, R.P. & Smith, S.R. (2008). Personality Assessment. New York: Routledge.
Finn, S.E. (2007). In Our Clients’ Shoes: Theory and techniques of therapeutic assessment. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Kazdin, A.E. (2002). Methodological Issues and Strategies in Clinical Research (3 rd Edition). Washington, DC:
American Psychological Association.
Wiggins, J.S. (2003). Paradigms of Personality Assessment. New York: Guilford.
Required Readings (will be provided):
Blais, M.A. & Hopwood, C.J. (2010). A model of personality organization to integrate assessment data from
multiple sources. In Blais, Mark A., Baity, Mathew R., & Hopwood, Christopher J. Clinical Applications of
the Personality Assessment Inventory. NY: Routledge Mental Health.
Donnellan, M.B. & Robins, R.W. (2009). The development of personality across the life span. In G. Matthews and
P. Corr (Eds). Cambridge Handbook of Personality Cambridge University Press.
Fischer, C. T. (1985). Assessing process. In C. Fischer, Individualizing Psychological Assessment. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth.
Haynes, S.N., Leisen, M.B., & Blaine, D.D. (1997). Design of individualized behavioral treatment programs using
functional analytic clinical case models. Psychological Assessment, 9, 334-348.
Hopwood, C.J. (2010). An interpersonal perspective on the personality assessment process. Journal of Personality
Assessment, 92, 471-479.
Kvaal, S., Choca, J., Groth-Marnat, G., & Davis, A. (2011). The integrated psychological report. In T.M. Harwood, L.E.
Beutler, & G. Groth-Marnat, (Eds.) Integrative Assessment of Adult Personality (3rd Ed., pp. 413-446). New
York: The Guilford Press.
Mihura, J. L., Meyer, G. J., Dumitrascu, N., & Bombel, G. (2012). The validity of individual Rorschach variables:
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of the Comprehensive System. Psychological Bulletin
Morey, L.C. & Hopwood, C.J. (2007). Casebook for the Personality Assessment Inventory: A structural summary
approach. Lutz, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
Pincus, A.L., Lukowitsky, M.R., & Wright, A.G.C. (2010). The interpersonal nexus of personality and
psychopathology. In T. Millon, R. Kreuger, & E. Simonsen (Eds.), Contemporary directions in
psychopathology: Scientific foundations for DSM-V and ICD-11 (pp. 523-552). New York: Guilford.
Poston, J.M. & Hanson, W.E. (2010). Meta-analysis of psychological assessment as therapeutic intervention.
Psychological Assessment, 22, 203-212.
Various supplemental handouts
Michigan State University PSY 831: Personality Assessment, Spring, 2013 2
Schedule
Date
Topic
Reading
Assignments Due
1: Foundations of Personality Assessment
1/7
History of Personality
Assessment
Clark & Watson (Kazdin); Meyer et al.
(Kazdin)
1/14
Developmental and
Cultural Issues
Costa & McCrae (A&S); Donnellan & Robins,
2009; Merrell & Harlacher (A&S); PAI-A, PIY,
and BASC reports
Reaction Paper 1
1/21
Therapeutic Assessment
Finn, 2007 (1-4); Poston & Hanson, 2010
Reaction Paper 2
1/28
Assessment Approaches
Wiggins, 2003 (Intro, 3,4,7,10)
Interview 1
2. Test Interpretation
2/4
MMPI
Ben-Porath & Archer (A&S); Wiggins, 2003
(5,11); Caldwell report
2/11
MMPI and Report
Writing
Blais & Hopwood, 2010; Kvaal et al., 2011
Interpretation 1
2/18
Performance-Based
Assessment
Mihura et al., 2012; Meyer & Viglione (A&S);
RPAS scoring and interpretation guide
Interview 2
2/25
Performance-Based
Assessment
Ackerman et al. (A&S); Wiggins, 2003 (1,8)
Interpretation 2
3/11
PAI
Morey & Hopwood (A&S)
3/18
PAI
Morey & Hopwood (2007) selected chapters
3/25
PAI
Morey & Hopwood (2007) selected chapters
4/1
Interpersonal
Assessment
Pincus, Lukowitsky, & Wright, 2010; Wiggins,
2003 (2, 9)
Report 1
3. Providing Durable Benefit
4/8
Integrative
Interpretation
Wiggins, 2003 (12); Blais & Smith (A&S)
Report 2
4/15
Diagnostic Interviewing
and Assessment
Interventions
Finn, 2007 (5-8); Hopwood, 2010; Maruish
(A&S)
Interview 3
4/22
Consultation and
Treatment Planning
Finn & Fischer (A&S); Haynes, Leisen, &
Blaine, 1997
Report 3
Michigan State University PSY 831: Personality Assessment, Spring, 2013 3