(6)PSYC110: Personality Testing: Concepts and Assessment Methods

Vocabulary flashcards covering personality assessment methods, testing settings, Cattell's 16PF, the Big Five Personality model, and the MMPI/MMPI-2 validity and clinical scales.

Educational Setting

Setting where tests are for identifying students with special needs, and for placement.

• Personality Test

• Aptitude Test

• Achievement Test

• Informal Evaluation

(PA AI)

Personality Test

A test in educational setting used to measure motivation, study, habits, and interests.

Aptitude Test

A test used in educational settings to measure the potential of a person.

Achievement Test

A test used in educational settings to assess accomplishment or degree of learning.

Informal Evaluation

A non-systemic assessment in an educational setting that leads to the formation of an opinion or attitude.

Clinical/Counseling Setting

Setting wherein tests are used to screen for or diagnose psychological disorders

• Personality Test

• Intelligence Test

• Neuropsychological Tests

• Geriatric Tests

  
  

(PING)

Intelligence Test

A test used in clinical/counseling settings to assess cognitive or mental ability

Personality Test

A test used in clinical/counseling setting to measure how a person usually thinks, feels, and behaves.

Neuropsychological Tests

Assessments used in clinical and counseling settings for the evaluation of the brain and nervous system and their relation to behavior.

Geriatric Tests

Assessments conducted in clinical or counseling settings to evaluate quality of life and screen for dementia.

Industrial/Organizational Setting

Setting where in tests are used for hiring, promotion, transfer, and eligibility for training.

• Skill Test

  • Measures how well a person can do a particular work

  • Interviews

    • Behavioral: Past behavior

    • Situational: Hypothetical behavior

• Personality Test

  • Integrity Test, RIASEC Test

Skill Test

A test used in industrial/organizational settings that measures how well a person can do a particular work.

Personality Tests

A test used in industrial/organizational settings that measures workplace tendencies and traits.

Ex: Integrity Tests, RIASEC Interest Tests

Behavioral Interview

An interview format used in industrial/organizational settings that focuses on an individual's past behavior.

Situational Interview

An interview format used in industrial/organizational settings that assesses an individual's hypothetical behavior.

Scope and theory

A condition where a foundational factor in structuring and conducting personality assessments that involves examining general personality traits, vulnerability to specific illnesses, and performance in academic or industrial settings.

• Evaluates general personality, vulnerability to specific illnesses, and performance (academic or industrial).

Procedures and item formats

A condition where the specific methods and modalities are used to gather data during a personality evaluation. 

Specific Formats Included:

• Face-to-face interviews 

• Computer-administered tests 

• Behavioral observation 

• Paper-and-pencil tests 

• Evaluation of case history data 

• Evaluation of portfolio data 

• Recording of physiological responses 

Frame of Reference

A condition of the aspects of the focus of exploration in personality assessment, such as the time frame (past, present, or future) and other contextual issues involving people, places, and events.

• Explores time frames (past, present, future) and contextual factors (people, places, events).

Scoring and Interpretation

A condition where a key step in structuring and conducting personality assessments that determines how a test's data will be analyzed and evaluated, utilizing either a Nomothetic Approach (comparing scores to group norms) or an Idiographic / Ipsative Approach (evaluating traits within the individual)

Nomothetic Approach

An approach to scoring and interpretation in personality assessment that applies universal standards and group-based norms across individuals.

• Uses this scoring to compare an individual's test results against established group norms. 

Idiographic (Ipsative) Approach

An approach to scoring and interpretation in personality assessment that evaluates an individual's unique traits relative to themselves rather than against a broader normative group.

16 Personality Factor (16PF)

A 185-item personality assessment developed by Raymond Cattell using the data reduction method or factor analysis.

• He said among the traits in the English language, 16 were primary factors.

• From 171 traits, he identified 36 surface traits (observable characteristics or behaviors) and 16 source traits (underlying factors responsible for observable behaviors).

Factor Analysis

A statistical data reduction method used by theorists like Raymond Cattell, Paul Costa Jr., and Robert McCrae to identify primary factors and dimensions of personality.

Surface Traits

In Raymond Cattell's 16PF theory, the 36 observable characteristics or behaviors identified from a pool of 171 English language traits.

Source Traits

In Raymond Cattell's 16PF theory, the 16 underlying factors responsible for observable behaviors.

16 Personality Factor (16PF)

A 185-item personality test developed by Raymond Cattell using factor analysis to measure 16 primary source traits.

The Big Five Personality Test

A prominent personality scale in 1990, developed by Paul Costa Jr. and Robert McCraeusing data reduction method or factor analysis that evolved from a 3-factor test (NEO) in 1983 to a 5-factor model in 1985 (featuring the A and C scales developed in 1982), encompassing tools like the NEO PI-R (30 facets) and the 44-item Big Five Inventory. 

• NEO PI-R (Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness Personality Inventory)

  • total of 30 elements or facets that define each domain.

• Utilized the data reduction method or factor analysis

• Initial test only covered three: NEO back in 1983

• It became a five-factor personality in 1985

• Revision of the test that developed A and C Scales in 1982

  • Agreeableness and Conscientiousness Scales

  • OCEAN

NEO PI-R

The Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness Personality Inventory developed by Paul Costa Jr. and Robert McCrae, comprising 30 elements or facets across its domains.

• is designed so that each of its 5 main domains is defined by 6 specific facets

• adding up to a total of 30 elements or facets across the whole instrument.

OCEAN or Big Five Inventory (BFI)

A 44-item test used to measure an individual's personality across the five core dimensions represented by the acronym OCEAN (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism).

The Big Five

• Extraversion

• Neuroticism

• Openness

• Agreeableness

• Conscientiousness

(OCEAN)

Cattell's Five (circa 1960)

A set of five broad dimensions corresponding to the Big Five:

• Introversion/Extraversion

• Low Anxiety/High Anxiety

• Tough-Mindedness/Receptivity

• Independence/Accommodation

• Low Self-Control/High Self-Control

(ILLIT)

Basic Tendencies

A core component of the Big Five personality model defined as the raw material of personality that is generally inferred rather than observed, representing what you naturally tend to be.

Characteristic Adaptations

A core component of the Big Five personality model consisting of acquired personality structures that develop as people adapt to their environment, representing how you adjust with your environment.

Self-Concept

A core component of the Big Five personality model comprising knowledge, views, and evaluations of the self, forming the identity that gives a sense of purpose and coherence.

• It’s how you understand yourself.

Biological Bases

A peripheral component of the Big Five model consisting of genes, hormones, and brain structures, which are the principal biological mechanisms that influence basic tendencies.

Objective Biography

A peripheral component of the Big Five model defined as the cumulative events and experiences one has had over one's lifetime.

External Influences

A peripheral component of the Big Five model defined as the particular physical or social situations that exert an influence on the personality system.

Openness

A Big Five domain (also called the Intellect Factor) characterized by active imagination, aesthetic sensitivity, attentiveness to inner feelings, preference for variety, intellectual curiosity, and independence of judgment.

Conscientiousness

A Big Five personality dimension that relates to the active processes of planning, organizing, and following through.

Extraversion

A Big Five domain that taps aspects of sociability, assertiveness, and how proactive individuals are in seeking out others.

Agreeableness

A Big Five dimension of interpersonal tendencies that includes altruism, sympathy toward others, friendliness, and the belief that others are similarly inclined.

Neuroticism

A Big Five domain that taps aspects of an individual's adjustment and emotional stability.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

A 566 true–false item assessment developed by Starke R. Hathaway and John Charnley McKinley, designed as an aid to psychiatric diagnosis for adolescents and adults 14 years of age and older.

MMPI Clinical Scales

The ten primary diagnostic scales of the MMPI:

1. Hypochondriasis (Hs)

2. Depression (D)

3. Hysteria (Hy)

4. Psychopathic deviate (Pd)

5. Masculinity-femininity (Mf)

6. Paranoia (Pa)

7. Psychasthenia (Pt)

8. Schizophrenia (Sc)

9. Hypomania (Ma)

10. Social introversion (Si).

(HDHP - MPP - SHS)

L Scale (Lie Scale)

An MMPI validity scale that calls into question the examinee's willingness to reveal anything negative of a personal nature if their score does not fall within certain limits.

F Scale (Frequency Scale)

An MMPI validity scale used to determine if the respondent did not take the test seriously and was just responding to items randomly.

K Scale

An MMPI validity scale reflecting the frankness of self-report, where high scores indicate defensiveness and a desire for a favorable impression, and low scores indicate excessive self-criticism, desire to detail deviance, or desire to fake bad.

Cannot Say Scale (? Scale)

An MMPI validity scale that counts the number of items omitted or marked 'cannot say,' which can reflect indecisiveness, defensiveness, carelessness, and lack of experience relevant to the item.

MMPI-2

A revised version of the MMPI consisting of 567 true–false items (394 identical to the original, 66 modified or rewritten, and 107 new items), retaining the original clinical and validity scales while introducing additional validity scales:

• Black-Page Infrequency (Fb)

• True Response Inconsistency (TRIN)

• Variable Response Inconsistency (VRIN)

• S Scale

• FBS Scale

Black-Page Infrequency (Fb) Scale

An MMPI-2 validity scale containing items seldom endorsed by candid, deliberate, and diligent testtakers, used to detect random or inconsistent responses on later test items.

True Response Inconsistency (TRIN) Scale

An MMPI-2 validity scale containing paired items seldom endorsed inconsistently by candid, deliberate, and diligent testtakers, used to detect acquiescent or non-acquiescent response styles.

Variable Response Inconsistency (VRIN) Scale

An MMPI-2 validity scale designed to identify indiscriminate response patterns by examining responses to paired items.

S Scale

An MMPI-2 validity scale developed by James Butcher to detect the self-presentation of the testtaker in a superlative manner.

FBS Scale (Faking Bad Scale)

An MMPI-2 validity scale developed by Paul Lees-Haley to detect malingerers who submitted bogus personal injury claims.