Personality and Behavioral Assessment

Question 1

True or false. There are measures of personality that are perfect.

Answer 1

FALSE. No measure of personality is perfect.

Question 2

True or false. It is best to use multiple methods.

Answer 2

TRUE.

Question 3

What are the multiple methods used to measure or assess personality and behavior?

Answer 3

1. Tests
2. Interviews
3. Observations
4. Other Sources

Question 4

What can be made with more confidence?

Answer 4

Convergent conclusions can be made with more confidence.

Question 5

What is assessment?

Answer 5

1. Assessment based on “what works” empirically
2. Similar to movement regarding “what works” in
   therapy, but data is not quite as abundant yet
3. Typically tied to particular disorders
   - Ex. SCID and BDI-II for assessing depression

Question 6

Culturally Competent Assessment

Answer 6

1. Every culture has its own definitions of
   “normal” and “abnormal”
2. Culturally competent clinical psychologists
   are aware of this, and of the influence of
   their own cultural perspective
3. Especially important not to
   overpathologize
4. View as abnormal what is culturally normal

Question 7

Objective Personality Tests

Answer 7

1. Include unambiguous test items, offer clients a limited
   range of responses, and are objectively scored
2. Typically self-report questionnaires
3. Typically a series of brief statements or questions to
   which clients respond in a true/false or multiple choice
   format

Question 8

Minnesota Multiphasic

Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2)

Answer 8

1. Most popular and most psychometrically sound
   objective personality test
   - Used worldwide; translated into dozens of languages
2. Pencil & paper format
3. 567 self-descriptive sentences
4. Client marks true or false for each
5. MMPI and MMPI-2 also feature validity scales
   - To measure test-taking attitudes
   - Can identify clients who “fake good” or “fake bad,” or clients who respond randomly
6. MMPI-A (for adolescents, age 14-18) was published in 1992
   - Similar clinical scales, validity scales, and administration
7. MMPI-2-RF—most recent edition—briefer, less overlap between clinical scales

Question 9

Millon Clinical Multiaxial

Inventory (MCMI-III)

Answer 9

1. Originally created by Theodore Millon
2. Like the MMPI-2 in some ways
   - Comprehensive objective personality test
   - Self-report, pencil & paper format
3. Main difference: MCMI-III emphasizes
   personality disorders
   - Its clinical scales are based on DSM
   personality disorders (e.g., antisocial,
   borderline, narcissistic, paranoid)

Question 10

NEO Personality Inventory—

Revised (NEO-PI-R)

Answer 10

1. Originally created by Paul Costa and Robert McCrae
2. Another objective personality test
   - Pencil & paper, self-report format
3. Main distinction: measures “normal” personality traits (not pathologies)
   - Based on Five Factor model of personality
   - Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness
4. Lacks validity scales, and of limited help with clinical diagnosis

Question 11

California Psychological

Inventory-III (CPI-III)

Answer 11

1. Another objective personality test
   - Pencil & paper, self-report
2. Like NEO-PI-R, doesn’t emphasize pathology
3. Emphasizes positive attributes of personality—strengths, assets, internal resources
4. Consistent with recent positive psychology movement
5. Also goes by name CPI-434 (434 items)

Question 12

Beck Depression Inventory-II

BDI-II

Answer 12

1. Not a comprehensive test of personality,
   but a brief, targeted measure of one
   characteristic (depression symptoms)
2. 21 items; takes 5-10 minutes to complete
3. Pencil & paper, self-report format
4. Lacks validity scales, and much more
   limited scope than other tests discussed
   to this point

Question 13

Rorschach Inkblot Method

Answer 13

1. Created in 1921 by Hermann Rorschach
2. 10 inkblots (5 in color, 5 black & white) are presented
3. Clients say what they see in each blot (in “response” phase)
4. Later (in “inquiry” phase), explain what features of the blot caused them to make their responses
5. Exner’s Comprehensive System is most widely used scoring system
6. Scoring emphasizes how the client perceives the blot as well as what the client sees
7. Scoring variables include:
   - Location (Whole blot, large part, or small detail?)
   - Determinants (Form, color, or shading of blot?)
   - Form Quality (Conventional? Distorted?)
   - Popular (What others see? Idiosyncratic?)
   - Content (What kinds of objects appear frequently?)
   - Reliability and validity are questionable and hotly debated

Question 14

Tell-Me-a-Story (TEMAS)

Answer 14

1. Recent TAT-style apperception test
2. Greater emphasis on cultural sensitivity (via portrayal
   of diverse individuals in cards)
3. Greater emphasis on empirical scoring via normative
   data

Question 15

Sentence Completion Tests

Answer 15

1. The ambiguous stimuli are not inkblots or interpersonal scenes, but beginnings of sentences
2. Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank (RISB) is most widely used
3. Simulated examples:
   - I enjoy_______________.
   - It makes me furious_______________.
   - My greatest weakness_________.
4. Not often formally or empirically scored
5. Reliability and validity are questionable

Question 16

Behavioral Assessment

Answer 16

1. Assumes that client behaviors are not 
signs of underlying issues or problems; 
instead, those behaviors are the 
problems
2. The behavior a client demonstrates is 
a sample of the problem itself, not a 
sign of some deeper, underlying 
problem

Question 17

Techniques of Behavioral Assessment

Answer 17

1. Behavioral observation is the most
   essential technique
   - Direct, systematic observation of a client’s
   behavior in the natural environment
   - Also known as naturalistic observation
   - Requires operationally defining target behavior
   and measuring its frequency, duration, or
   intensity across specified time periods
   a. Often more accurate than asking client to report on
   their own behaviors
2. Laptop computers or handheld devices can be used to record observed behaviors
3. Numerous software programs have been created for
   this purpose
4. Clients can use similar technological tools for self-
   monitoring