Personality Assessment – Projective Techniques Flashcards
Explain the projective hypothesis
Projective techniques require the client to respond to ambiguous stimuli
Projective hypothesis: Assume that the client will “project” his/her characteristic thoughts, feelings, etc.
onto the material
- Perception: what the person responds to
- Interpretation: how the person responds
* Interpreter examines responses for clues as to personality
Two separate meanings of ‘projections’
- Unconscious defence against unacceptable impulses in self by ascribing them to individuals or objects external to self (Freudian)
- Normal process in which inner states influence perception and interpretation of the external world
Are projective tests nomothetic?
No. They are very idiographic. No reference to other groups.
Do projective tests have good psychometric properties?
No. They fail as psychometric tools. But have high popularity still in clinical settings. e.g. 53% still use rorschach.
Discuss the Development of Projective Techniques
TWO influences in the first two decades of the 20th Century…
1) Theoretical development
• Psychoanalytic theory (freud-idea of accessing unconscious).
• Gestalt or holistic theories (preservation of unique self, looking at person as a whole).
2) Psychometric vs clinical tradition
• Psychometric: Standardised measurement; reliability and validity; focus on normal characteristics; search for traits
• Clinical: Careful, detailed study of the individual; focus on disturbed individuals; less interest in precise measurement; holistic approach (today in clinics its not surprising they use them still because we’ve moved towards holistic approaches).
What characteristics do all projective tests have in common?
- Stimuli are vague or ambiguous (Only brief general instructions are given)
- Use of an unstructured task – a task that permits an unlimited variety of possible responses (unlike the structure of self-reports!).
- Use disguised testing procedures (just means test takers themselves are rarely aware of the construct its testing, unlike self report where the items are quite obviously testing something. SO face validity of projective tests here is LOWER than self reports).
- Characterised by a global approach to the assessment of personality
- Regarded as effective in revealing covert or unconscious aspects of personality (covert meaning parts of the personality the patient is unaware they had).
- Primarily used as a clinical tool
Advantages of Projective Techniques over Self-Report Tests
two
- Capacity to bypass or circumvent the conscious defenses of respondents
- Capacity to allow clinicians privileged access to important psychological information of which respondents are unaware
one disadvantage of Projective Techniques over Self-Report Tests
DIFFICULT to determine in projective tests whether individual is faking or not
or being socially desirable, compared to self report.
Example of inkblot test?
The Rorschach
Example of Pictorial techniques?
Thematic Apperception Test
Verbal techniques examples (2) ?
- Word association tests
* Sentence completion
Performance techniques
- Drawing techniques: Draw-a-Person Test
* Play techniques and Toy tests
What is the association technique related to the Rorschach?
association technique: we see an unfamiliar object and make sense of it through familiar ideas/memories of our worlds.
What does the Rorschach involve? like how many inkblots
10 symmetrical inkblots on separate cards: 5 black and white; 2 contain red; 3 combine pastel shades
What are the two phases in the Rorschach?
- Association: you record what they say
* Inquiry: why and how they came to that conclusion of what it is
