PSYC 361 -- Chapter 6 Personality assessment

PERSONALITY

the CONTINUITY in a person's behavior and emotional style over time

PERSONALITY TRAITS

stable and consistent way of seeing the world and behaving in it

ENVIRONMENT

learning and conditioning

BIOLOGY

genetics and hereditary stuff

Clinical psychologists

who work more with adults do a lot of assessing characteristics in personality

GOAL of personality assessment

to Clarify DIAGNOSIS, Guide INTERVENTIONS, PREDICT how people may RESPOND in other situations

FIVE FACTOR MODEL (FFM)

says that all personalities have FIVE dimensions or traits

NEUROTICISM

Anxiety, hostility, depression and impulsivity

EXTRAVERSION

Warmth, assertiveness, excitement seeking, happiness and positivity

OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE

Fantasy, feelings, action taking and values

AGREEABLENESS

Niceness, trust, compliance, altruism

CONSCIENTIOUSNESS

Competence, order, duty, self discipline and achievement setting

SITUATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

your behavior is a result of the SITUATION you are in

CULTURE

shared beliefs and norms that shape behavior

STANDARDIZATION

Useful personality tests have to be administered and scored the SAME WAY every single time

RELIABILITY

the same person should get the same result if they take the test many times

INCREMENTAL VALIDITY

Tests should tell us something more about the individual than what can be found in interviews and observations

PERSONALITY CAN'T BE MEASURED

Phenomena that describes how personality is like i.e. traits, drives and ego defense mechanisms, are HYPOTHETICAL CONSTRUCTS

Personality Tests

Assessments designed to measure individual personality traits and characteristics.

Projective Tests

Tests that use ambiguous stimuli to assess how people respond, revealing aspects of their personality.

Objective Tests

Personality assessments that focus on quantitative measures and provide a single score.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

A projective test where individuals interpret ambiguous inkblots to reveal their psychological characteristics.

Projective Hypothesis

The theory that test takers unconsciously reveal aspects of their personality while trying to understand projective tests.

Freud's Concept of Projection

An ego defense mechanism where individuals divert their feelings onto unrelated objects or situations.

Incremental Validity

The extent to which a test provides additional information beyond what is already known.

Qualitative Response Interpretation

Analyzing responses based on the quality and depth of the information provided, rather than numerical scores.

Reliability in Testing

The consistency of a test's results over time and across different administrations.

Validity in Testing

The degree to which a test measures what it claims to measure.

Ambiguous Stimuli

Vague or abstract prompts used in projective tests to elicit responses from examinees.

Indirectness

A characteristic of projective tests where examinees are not directly asked about their thoughts or feelings.

Response Freedom

The ability of examinees to provide a wide range of responses without restrictions.

Open-Ended Responses

Responses that allow for an infinite range of answers, unlike restricted questionnaires.

Standardization

The process of ensuring consistency in the administration and scoring of tests.

Three Major Determinants in Rorschach Testing

Location, Content, and Determinant, which guide the interpretation of responses.

Location in Rorschach Testing

Refers to the specific spot on the inkblot card that the person chooses to respond to.

Content in Rorschach Testing

What the person sees in the inkblot card, such as rocks, frogs, or people.

Determinant in Rorschach Testing

The factors that prompted the person's answer during the test.

Inquiry Phase

The phase in Rorschach testing where the respondent reviews their previous responses and explains what prompted them.

Psychoanalytic Paradigm

A theoretical framework that emphasizes the role of unconscious processes in behavior and personality.

Major Purposes of Personality Tests

Used for various applications including clinical diagnosis, forensic studies, and psychological research.

Criticism of Rorschach Test

Concerns regarding its reliability and validity due to the existence of multiple versions and interpretations.

Training in Personality Assessment

A significant component of psychology education, focusing on test interpretation and application.

Clinical and Forensic Studies

Areas of psychology where personality assessments are commonly utilized.

Form of the blot

Aspects of the Rorschach test including color, texture, shading, and white space.

Exner Comprehensive System

The most frequently used scoring system for Rorschach tests.

Determinants

Factors that cause the response in Rorschach tests, more important than the content of the responses.

Rorschach interpretation

The process of analyzing responses to inkblots, which can indicate psychological conditions.

Emotionality

The relationship of color in Rorschach tests to emotions, e.g., blue indicates sadness.

Good form

Indicates a person is in tune with their emotions, especially if associated with blue.

White space

Too much white space in responses may indicate an oppositional or psychotic nature.

Detail

Excessive detail in responses may suggest obsessive tendencies.

Content based interpretation

Analysis of specific themes in responses, such as small animals indicating cuteness or passivity.

Suspicion

Turning a card over in the Rorschach test may indicate suspicion about what is present.

Illusory correlations

False associations made between responses and personality traits that cannot be proven.

Inter rater reliability

The consistency of scoring between different clinicians using Rorschach tests, which is often low.

Free wheeling interpretative approaches

Unstructured methods of interpretation by clinicians that hinder standardization of reliability.

Incremental validity

The ability of a test to provide additional information beyond what is already known, which Rorschach tests lack.

Unconscious findings

Insights into unconscious thoughts and problem-solving styles that advocates claim Rorschach tests can reveal.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

A projective test that reveals personality through interpretation of pictures.

Conflict

One of the aspects that TAT aims to reveal about a person's personality.

Attitudes

Another aspect that TAT seeks to uncover in a person's personality.

Goals

A key element that TAT aims to reveal about individuals.

Repressed content

Unconscious thoughts that TAT may help to uncover.

Situational influences

External factors that can affect a person's responses in TAT.

Cultural stereotypes

Preconceived notions that may influence the interpretation of TAT responses.

Inferring needs

Using TAT to understand what clients desire, such as achievement, power, and sex.

Interacting with environment

Observing how clients engage with their surroundings through TAT.

Content of personality

What TAT is used to infer about an individual's personality traits.

Mode of social interactions

The manner in which an individual interacts socially, as inferred from TAT.

MALADJUSTMENT

Used to reveal the root of problems and to help in RELATIONSHIPS.

RELATIONSHIPS

One of the most central functions in psychological assessment.

TAT

Consists of 31 cards depicting people in various situations, objects, and more.

Rorschach test

A test that is more ambiguous than the TAT.

GENDER ambiguity

Not always clear what the GENDER of the people in the picture is.

Administration of TAT

Select between 6 -12 cards for administration to give to a client.

Scoring and interpretation

Most clinicians understand that quantified scoring can cause useful evidence to be lost or distorted.

VALIDITY

Hard to test for the test's validity due to many interpretations possible from the cards.

PARANOIA

Indicated by phrasing used in the stories created from the cards.

ANXIETY

Indicated by accidents and traumas seen in the cards.

DEPENDENCY

Indicated by references to family members in the stories.

SEX problems

Indicated by avoiding mentioning gender cues in some of the pictures.

Reliability and validity of TAT

Hard to assess due to variation in how to give and interpret the test.

QUALITATIVE impressions

Reliant on impressions of the stories provided by the respondents.

OBJECTIVE PERSONALITY TEST

Standard set of questions with a fixed set of options.

MEASURABLE

Can be quantified using formats like T/F or YES/NO.

DIMENSIONAL scale

Scale where 0 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.

DISSATISFACTION

Objective tests emerged from dissatisfaction with subjectivity of projective tests.

LACK of reliability and validity

A problem that objective tests aim to solve.

OBJECTIVITY

Solves the problem caused by projective tests.

CHARACTERIZE

The items on many tests may or may not characterize who is responding.

Insomnia

A behavior that may have different underlying reasons for different individuals.

Advantages of objective tests

Economical and efficient; large groups can be tested simultaneously.

SCORING IS SIMPLE

Interpretation is easier and less skill is needed for clinicians.

MISUSE

Can occur by people who don't know how to use objective tests properly.

Objective Tests

Tests that have a mixture of behavior, cognition, and emotion.

Single Score

Inventories that provide a single score reflecting a combination of behaviors, cognitions, and emotions.

Faking

The act of misrepresenting one's answers on inventory questions.

Forced Choice Items

Test items that require a true/false response, preventing elaboration and potentially losing significant data.

WEIRD Society

A demographic that is more likely to understand advanced test questions, consisting of white, educated, and wealthy individuals.

Content Validation

The process of specifying what to measure, writing test items, and having experts assess their relevance.