Week 13 Personality 2

Question 1

Is projection idiographic or nomothetic?

Answer 1

idiographic

Question 2

What do projective techniques assume?

Answer 2

that the client will project his/her characteristic thoughts, feelings etc. onto the material

Question 3

What is the Freudian definition of projection?

Answer 3

unconscious defense against unacceptable impulses in self by ascribing them to individuals or objects external to self

Question 4

What type of stimuli do projective techniques use?

Answer 4

ambiguous

Question 5

What are the two stages of the projective hypothesis

Answer 5

1. perception - what the person responds to

2. interpretation - how the person responds (the examiner examines responses for clues as to personality)

Question 6

What is the general definition of projection?

Answer 6

normal processes in which inner states influence perception and interpretation of the external world

Question 7

What type of theoretical development influenced the birth of the projective techniques?

Answer 7

psychoanalytic theories- they required tapping into the unconscious : Gestalt/holistic theories

Question 8

What development of two traditions influenced the birth of the projective techniques?

Answer 8

psychometric vs clinical traditions.
Psychometric- standardized, reliability + characteristics, search for traits
Clinical- careful, detailed study of the individual, focus on disturbed individual

Question 9

What do all projective techniques have in common? (5)

Answer 9

• stimuli are vague/ambiguous. Only brief general instructions are given
• unstructured task: unlimited variety of possible responses
• use disguised testing procedures
• global approach to assessment of personality
• primarily used as a clinical tool

Question 10

What are the supposed advantages of projective techniques over self-report tests?

Answer 10

• bypass/circumvent conscious defenses of respondents

- allow clinicians access to important psych info. that respondents are unaware

Question 11

What are four examples of projective techniques?

Answer 11

• inkblots (The Rorschach)
• Pictorial techniques (Thematic Apperception Test)
• Verbal techniques (word association tests)
• Performance techniques (drawing techniques, play techniques + toy tests)

Question 12

What type of technique, (other than projective) is the Rorshach inkblot test?

Answer 12

association technique- the stimulus triggers an association between it and concepts, memories, already held

Question 13

What does Rorschach use?

Answer 13

10 symmetrical inkblots on separate cards, 5 black and white, 2 contain red, 3 combine pastel shades

Question 14

What are the two phases of the Rorschach test?

Answer 14

1. association

2. inquiry (why and how the respondent answered the way they did)

Question 15

What type of need was the Rorschach founded for?

Answer 15

the need to distinguish between normal and abnormal, between delusional and non-delusional

Question 16

What are the two main approaches to score the Rorschach test?

Answer 16

1. perceptual-cognitive processes

2. phenomenological (responses are fantasies-they reveal what the individual would like to see within themselves)

Question 17

What are the common scoring categories for the Rorschach test?

Answer 17

location- where in the inkblot they look to
determinants- features of the blot that determine the response
content- does the content refer to humans, animals etc.

Question 18

Discuss Exner’s comprehensive system

Answer 18

• It criticized the disparate approach to the Rorschach

- advocated for standardized administration, scoring + interpretation

Question 19

What is the problem with Exner’s comprehensive system?

Answer 19

it is just a scoring system, it still doesn’t tell you how to interpret the responses

Question 20

What are criticisms re norms of Exner’s comprehensive system?

Answer 20

• over-pathologising normal US adults

- insufficient representation of minorities

Question 21

What are the positives/criticisms re reliability of Exner’s comprehensive system?

Answer 21

• adequate scorer reliability: Exner included no categories where interscorer reliability was less than .85
• test-retest reliability of coring ranged from .3-.9 (adequate is .8)-also only calculated for 40% of variables

Question 22

What has been found re validity of Exner’s comprehensive system?

Answer 22

recent meta-analysis found that 40 variables had good to excellent support for their validity, whilst 13 had little to none

Question 23

Discuss the Thematic Apperception Test

Answer 23

• contain pictures rather than inkblots
• two 1 hour session with 10 cards in each session
• construction technique: respondents construct a story, require complex cognitive activities

Question 24

How do individuals chose what stimuli they use in the TAT?

Answer 24

choose what is of interest to them

Question 25

What do the individuals describe when telling the story in the TAT?

Answer 25

what led up to the picture, what the character is thinking/feeling etc, the outcome of the story

Question 26

What does the original interpretation technique proposed by Murray for the TAT focus on?

Answer 26

content analysis

Question 27

What are the three elements of content analysis (interpretation technique) for the TAT? & what do they mean

Answer 27

1. hero- who the individual has identified him/herself with in the stimulus 2. needs- forces which organize perception/thought and action to resolve unsatisfactory situations e.g. achievement 3. press

Question 28

What scoring procedures are used for the TAT

Answer 28

a wide variety, lack of standardization. There is some normative info available but not really bc psychologists often use subjective norms to interpret the data

Question 29

What are three things that influence the validity of the TAT?

Answer 29

1. non-personality variables can influence the response/length of stories are told e.g. personal/situational variables 2. impact of fantasy on interpreting themes- individual may be talking about something in the story bc they are fantasizing about it rather than that attribute being part of their personality 3. interpreters tend to over-pathologise

Question 30

What are need-based scoring schemes for the TAT

Answer 30

focus on one-need of the individual e.g. need for achievement- McClelland et al. (1953)

Question 31

What is the reliability for need-based scoring schemes TAT

Answer 31

scorer reliability .8-.9 Internal consistency: rarely exceeds .3 to .4 test-retest generally .30

Question 32

Discuss validity of need-based scorings schemes TAT

Answer 32

construct validity is questionable

Question 33

Discuss sentence completion tests generally

Answer 33

- better at assessing attitudes, motives and conflicts rather than the general structure of personality - respondents are provided with an opening part of a sentence (stem) and are asked to complete it - are usually formulated to elicit responses relevant to a personality domain - can focus on single or multiple variable

Question 34

Discuss Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank test

Answer 34

- tests personal adjustment or emotional stability (neuroticism) - 40 sentence stems - each completion rated on a 7-point scale (1=no-maladjustment, 6= a lot of maladjustment)

Question 35

What is the reliability of the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank test?

Answer 35

- good test-retest reliability - good scorer reliability - pretty good coefficient alpha

Question 36

What is the validity of the Rotter Incomplete Blank test?

Answer 36

very little evidence available

Question 37

Discuss Draw-a-Person Tests in general

Answer 37

ask respondent to draw one or more people | administered and scored relatively quickly

Question 38

Discuss Machover draw-a-person test

Answer 38

a sign approach- draws inferences from isolated features of the drawings- NO EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THIS WHATSOEVER

Question 39

Discuss Koppitz draw-a-person test

Answer 39

- a global approach for children and adolescents - 30 emotional indicators that distinguish b/w children with/without emotional probs - comes to a maladjustment score, but not diagnostic

Question 40

Discuss norms for the Draw-a-person technique

Answer 40

some norms available

Question 41

What is the reliability for draw-a-person technique

Answer 41

scorer reliability- mostly above .70 test-retest- bad for specific features, good for global features internal- moderate to acceptable

Question 42

Discuss validity for draw-a-person technique

Answer 42

- lots of research on validity - conclusion is that it has negligible validity - some evidence for modest validity re global scoring approaches - questionable construct validity- open to influence of situational variable