Unit 7, Personality Assessment (Ch.11 Text)

Question 1

Personality assessment

Answer 1

e defined as the measurement and evaluation of psychological traits, states, values, interests, attitudes, worldview, acculturation, sense of humor, cognitive and behavioral styles, and/or related individual characteristics.

Question 2

Allport trait

Answer 2

“generalized and focalized neuropsychic system (peculiar to the individual) with the capacity to render many stimuli functionally equivalent, and to initiate and guide consistent (equivalent) forms of adaptive and expressive behavior”

Question 3

Holt and traits vs cattells definition

Answer 3

“are real structures inside people that determine their behavior in lawful ways” (p. 6), and he went on to conceptualize these structures as changes in brain chemistry that might occur as a result of learning: “Learning causes submicroscopic structural changes in the brain, probably in the organization of its biochemical substance”
Cattell (1950) also conceptualized traits as mental structures, but for him structure did not necessarily imply actual physical status.

Question 4

personality type

Answer 4

as a constellation of traits that is similar in pattern to one identified category of personality within a taxonomy of personalities. Whereas traits are frequently discussed as if they were characteristics possessed by an individual, types are more clearly descriptions of people. So, for example, describing an individual as “depressed” is different from describing that individual as a “depressed type.”

Question 5

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Answer 5

An assumption guiding the development of this test was that people exhibit definite preferences in the way that they perceive or become aware of—and judge or arrive at conclusions about—people, events, situations, and ideas. According to Myers (1962, p. 1), these differences in perception and judging result in “corresponding differences in their reactions, in their interests, values, needs, and motivations, in what they do best, and in what they like to do.”

Question 6

Holland 6 persoanlity tpes

Answer 6

argued that most people can be categorized as one of the following six personality types: Artistic, Enterprising, Investigative, Social, Realistic, or Conventional (Holland, 1973, 1985, 1997, 1999). His Self-Directed Search test (SDS; Holland et al., 1994) is a self-administered, self-scored, and self-interpreted aid used to type people according to this system and to offer vocational guidance.

Question 7

type a vs type b

Answer 7

a Type A personality, characterized by competitiveness, haste, restlessness, impatience, feelings of being time-pressured, and strong needs for achievement and dominance. A Type B personality has the opposite of the Type A’s traits: mellow or laid-back.

Question 8

MMPI AND PROFILE

Answer 8

. This pattern is referred to as a profile. In general, a profile is a narrative description, graph, table, or other representation of the extent to which a person has demonstrated certain targeted characteristics as a result of the administration or application of tools of assessment.1

Question 9

personality state and 2 definitions

Answer 9

-In one usage, a personality state is an inferred psychodynamic disposition designed to convey the dynamic quality of id, ego, and superego in perpetual conflict.
- a more popular usage of the term state—and the one we use in the discussion that follows—refers to the transitory exhibition of some personality trait. Put another way, the use of the word trait presupposes a relatively enduring behavioral predisposition, whereas the term state is indicative of a relatively temporary predisposition

Question 10

State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI),

Answer 10

The STAI test items consist of short descriptive statements, and subjects are instructed to indicate either (1) how they feel right now or at this moment (and to indicate the intensity of the feeling), or (2) how they generally feel (and to record the frequency of the feeling).

Question 11

Self-concept and most frequent method of assessing it

Answer 11

Self-concept may be defined as one’s attitudes, beliefs, opinions, and related thoughts about oneself. Inferences about an assessee’s self-concept may be derived from many tools of assessment.
often assessed through self report

Question 12

self-concept measure;

Answer 12

, an instrument designed to yield information relevant to how an individual sees him- or herself with regard to selected psychological variables.

Question 13

self-concept differentiation

Answer 13

refers to the degree to which a person has different self-concepts in different roles
-highly differentiated are likely to perceive themselves quite differently in various roles.

Question 14

Personality Inventory for Children (PIC) and its revision, the PIC-2

Answer 14

standardized interview of a child’s parent. Although the child is the subject of the test, the respondent is the parent (usually the mother), guardian, or other adult qualified to respond with reference to the child’s characteristic behavior.

Question 15

measures of response set or response style.

Answer 15

additional scales could be designed to shed light on how honestly testtakers responded to the test, how consistently they answered the questions, and other matters related to the validity of the test findings

Question 16

Response style

Answer 16

tendency to respond to a test item or interview question in some characteristic manner regardless of the content of the item or question. For example, an individual may be more apt to respond yes or true than no or false on a short-answer test. This particular pattern of responding is characterized as acquiescent.

Question 17

Impression management/ 3 types

Answer 17

term used to describe the attempt to manipulate others’ impressions through “the selective exposure of some information (it may be false information) . . . coupled with suppression of [other] information
3 types: phenomena of enhancement (the claiming of positive attributes), denial (the repudiation of negative attributes), and self-deception—“the tendency to give favorably biased but honestly held self-descriptions

Question 18

validity scale

Answer 18

a validity scale as a subscale of a test designed to assist in judgments regarding how honestly the testtaker responded and whether observed responses were products of response style, carelessness, deliberate efforts to deceive, or unintentional misunderstanding.

Question 19

Locus (meaning “place” or “site”) of control

Answer 19

a person’s perception about the source of things that happen to him or her. In general, people who see themselves as largely responsible for what happens to them are said to have an internal locus of control. People who are prone to attribute what happens to them to external factors (such as fate or the actions of others) are said to have an external locus of control. A person who believes in the value of seatbelts, for example, would be expected to score closer to the internal than to the external end of the continuum of locus of control as opposed to a nonbuckling counterpart.

Question 20

structured interview.

Answer 20

the interviewer must typically follow an interview guide and has little leeway in terms of posing questions not in that guide. The variable of structure is also applicable to the tasks assessees are instructed to perform

Question 21

graphology

Answer 21

Such instructions might be used if the assessor was attempting to learn something about the assessee by handwriting analysis,

Question 22

semantic differential

Answer 22

characterized by bipolar adjectives separated by a seven-point rating scale on which respondents select one point to indicate their response. This type of item is useful for gauging the strength, degree, or magnitude of the direction of a particular response and has applications ranging from self-concept descriptions to opinion surveys.

Question 23

forced-choice format

Answer 23

where ideally each of the two choices (there may be more than two choices) is equal in social desirability. The Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (Edwards, 1953) is a classic forced-choice test

Question 24

The Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank

Answer 24

a standardized test that employs such items, and the manual features normative data

Question 25

frame of reference

Answer 25

may be defined as aspects of the focus of exploration such as the time frame (the past, the present, or the future) as well as other contextual issues that involve people, places, and events.

Question 26

Q-sort technique.

Answer 26

Q-sort is an assessment technique in which the task is to sort a group of statements, usually in perceived rank order ranging from most descriptive to least descriptive. The statements, traditionally presented on index cards, may be sorted in ways designed to reflect various perceptions.Rogers (1959) used the Q-sort to evaluate the discrepancy between the perceived actual self and the ideal self. At the beginning of psychotherapy, clients might be asked to sort cards twice, once according to how they perceived themselves to be and then according to how they would ultimately like to be. The larger the discrepancy between the sortings, the more goals would have to be set in therapy.

Question 27

Tyler Vocational Classification System

Answer 27

designed for use in military settings and contains cards with statements that the assessee is instructed to sort in terms of their perceived importance to effective leadership. The Tyler Q-sort contains cards on which occupations are listed; the cards are sorted in terms of the perceived desirability of each occupation

Question 28

nomothetic approach vs idiographic approach

Answer 28

-The nomothetic approach to assessment is characterized by efforts to learn how a limited number of personality traits can be applied to all people/ . According to a nomothetic view, certain personality traits exist in all people to varying degrees. . -An idiographic approach to assessment is characterized by efforts to learn about each individual’s unique constellation of personality traits, with no attempt to characterize each person according to any particular set of traits.

Question 29

normative vs ipsative approach

Answer 29

normative approach, whereby a testtaker’s responses and the presumed strength of a measured trait are interpreted relative to the strength of that trait in a sample of a larger population. However, you may recall that an alternative to the normative approach in test interpretation is the ipsative approach/ ipsative approach, a testtaker’s responses, as well as the presumed strength of measured traits, are interpreted relative to the strength of measured traits for that same individual.

Question 30

threat assessment

Answer 30

a process of identifying or evaluating entities, actions, or occurrences, whether natural or man-made, that have or indicate the potential to harm life, information, operations and/or property

Question 30

actuarial approach to assessing threat asessment

Answer 30

employs a fixed set of risk factors that are combined to produce a score. In turn, this score is used to gauge an individual’s relative risk compared to a normative group. One of the disadvantages of such strictly “objective” procedures is that they typically prohibit the evaluator from considering unique, unusual, or context-specific variables that might require intervention.

Question 31

Costa and McCrae’s

Answer 31

five-factor model (with factors that have come to be known as “the Big Five,” sometimes also expressed as “the Big 5”). has gained the greatest following.

Question 32

The Revised NEO Personality Inventory

Answer 32

used in both clinical applications and a wide range of research that involves personality assessment. Based on a five-dimension (or factor) model of personality, the NEO PI-R is a measure of five major dimensions (or “domains”) of personality and a total of 30 elements or facets that define each domain.

Question 33

description of NEO-PI factors

Answer 33

Neuroticism domain (now referred to as the Emotional Stability factor) taps aspects of adjustment and emotional stability, including how people cope in times of emotional turmoil. The Extraversion domain taps aspects of sociability, how proactive people are in seeking out others, as well as assertiveness. Openness (also referred to as the Intellect factor) refers to openness to experience as well as active imagination, aesthetic sensitivity, attentiveness to inner feelings, preference for variety, intellectual curiosity, and independence of judgment. Agreeableness is primarily a dimension of interpersonal tendencies that include altruism, sympathy toward others, friendliness, and the belief that others are similarly inclined. Conscientiousness is a dimension of personality that has to do with the active processes of planning, organizing, and following through

Question 34

criterion group/empirical criterion

Answer 34

-a criterion group is a reference group of testtakers who share specific characteristics and whose responses to test items serve as a standard according to which items will be included in or discarded from the final version of a scale. -The process of using criterion groups to develop test items is referred to as empirical criterion keying because the scoring or keying of items has been demonstrated empirically to differentiate among groups of testtakers

Question 35

empirical keying process

Answer 35

Create a large, preliminary pool of test items from which the test items for the final form of the test will be selected. Administer the preliminary pool of items to at least two groups of people: Group 1: A criterion group composed of people known to possess the trait being measured. Group 2: A randomly selected group of people (who may or may not possess the trait being measured) Conduct an item analysis to select items indicative of membership in the criterion group. Items in the preliminary pool that discriminate between membership in the two groups in a statistically significant fashion will be retained and incorporated in the final form of the test. Obtain data on test performance from a standardization sample of testtakers who are representative of the population from which future testtakers will come. The test performance data for Group 2 members on items incorporated into the final form of the test may be used for this purpose if deemed appropriate. The performance of Group 2 members on the test would then become the standard against which future testtakers will be evaluated. After the mean performance of Group 2 members on the individual items (or scales) of the test has been identified, future testtakers will be evaluated in terms of the extent to which their scores deviate in either direction from the Group 2 mean.

Question 36

MMPI 3 validity scales

Answer 36

the L scale (the Lie scale), the F scale (the Frequency scale—or, perhaps more accurately, the “Infrequency” scale), and the K (Correction) scale.

Question 37

purpose of the MMPI f scale

Answer 37

The 64 items on the F scale (1) are infrequently endorsed by members of nonpsychiatric populations and (2) do not fit into any known pattern of deviance. the individual with a high F score may be an eccentric individual or someone who was attempting to fake bad. Malingerers in the armed services, people intent on committing fraud with respect to health insurance, and criminals attempting to cop a psychiatric plea are some of the groups of people who might be expected to have elevated F scores on their profiles.

Question 38

purpose of MMPI k score

Answer 38

K score is a reflection of the frankness of the testtaker’s self-report. An elevated K score is associated with defensiveness and the desire to present a favorable impression. A low K score is associated with excessive self-criticism, desire to detail deviance, or desire to fake bad. A true response to the item “I certainly feel useless at times” and a false response to “At times I am all full of energy” (Dahlstrom et al., 1972, p. 125) would be scored on the K scale. The K scale is sometimes used to correct scores on five of the clinical scales. The scores are statistically corrected for an individual’s overwillingness or unwillingness to admit deviance.

Question 39

MMPI scoring system

Answer 39

Scores on each MMPI scale are reported in the form of T scores which, you may recall, have a mean set at 50 and a standard deviation set at 10. A score of 70 on any MMPI clinical scale is 2 standard deviations above the average score of members of the standardization sample, and a score of 30 is 2 standard deviations below their average score.

Question 40

Supplementary scales

Answer 40

is a catch-all phrase for the hundreds of different MMPI scales that have been developed since the test’s publication. These scales have been devised by different researchers using a variety of methods and statistical procedures, most notably factor analysis. There are supplementary scales that are fairly consistent with the original objectives of the MMPI, such as scales designed to shed light on alcoholism and ego strength.

Question 41

configural interpretation and mmpi

Answer 41

, interpretation based not on scores of single scales but on the pattern, profile, or configuration of the scores. However, their proposed method for profile interpretation was extremely complicated, as were many of the proposed adjunctive and alternative procedures.

Question 42

difference between MMPI and MMPI-2

Answer 42

The most significant difference between the two tests is the more representative standardization sample (normal control group) used in the norming of the MMPI-2

Question 43

VALIDITY SCALES IN MMPI-2

Answer 43

added Back-Page Infrequency (Fb), True Response Inconsistency (TRIN), and Variable Response Inconsistency (VRIN). The Back-Page Infrequency scale contains items seldom endorsed by testtakers who are candid, deliberate, and diligent in their approach to the test. Of course, some testtakers’ diligence wanes as the test wears on and so, by the “back pages” of the test, a random or inconsistent pattern of responses may become evident. The Fb scale is designed to detect such a pattern. The S scale is a validity scale designed to detect self-presentation in a superlative manner

Question 44

The MMPI-2-RF

Question 45

problem with the scales in MMPI-2

Answer 45

-One basic problem was overlapping items. The method of test development initially used to create the MMPI, empirical criterion keying, practically ensured there would be some item overlap. But just how much item overlap was there? Per pair of clinical scales, it has been observed that there is an average of more than six overlapping items in the MMPI-2 (Greene, 2000; Helmes & Reddon, 1993). Item overlap between the scales can decrease the distinctiveness and discriminant validity of individual scales and can also contribute to difficulties in determining the meaning of elevated scales. -A second problem with the basic structure of the test could also be characterized in terms of overlap—one that is more conceptual in nature. Here, reference is made to the pervasive influence of a factor that seemed to permeate all of the clinical scales. The factor has been described in different ways with different terms such as anxiety, malaise, despair, and maladjustment. It is a factor that is thought to be common to most forms of psychopathology yet unique to none.

Question 46

demoralization:

Answer 46

” results from persistent failure to cope with internally or externally induced stresses. . . . Its characteristic features, not all of which need to be present in any one person, are feelings of impotence, isolation, and despair. -Tellegen (1985) also made reference to demoralization when he wrote of a factor that seemed to inflate correlations between measures within clinical inventories. Many of the items on all of the MMPI and MMPI-2 clinical scales, despite their heterogeneous content, seemed to be saturated with the demoralization factor.

Question 47

restructured cl;inical scales

Answer 47

the restructured clinical (RC) scales were less intercorrelated than the original clinical scales, and their convergent and discriminant validity were greater than those original scales. -One goal of the restructuring was to make the clinical scales of the MMPI-2 more distinctive and meaningful. As described in detail in a monograph supplement to the MMPI-2 administration and scoring manual, Tellegen et al. (2003) attempted to (1) identify the “core components” of each clinical scale, (2) create revised scales to measure these core components (referred to as “seed scales”), and (3) derive a final set of Revised Clinical (RC) scales using the MMPI-2 item pool. Another objective of the restructuring was, in essence, to extract the demoralization factor from the existing MMPI-2 clinical scales and create a new Demoralization scale. This new scale was described as one that “measures a broad, emotionally colored variable that underlies much of the variance common to the MMPI-2 Clinical Scales”

Question 48

The MMPI-3

Answer 48

Newly released in Fall 2020, the third edition of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-3) is offered electronically either online through Pearson’s Q-global or locally through Q-local or in a paper-and-pencil format for hand-scoring or through a mail-in scoring service. It includes 72 new items, 24 updated items, and 4 new scales.

Question 49

The MMPI-A-RF

Answer 49

The MMPI-A-RF (Archer et al., 2016) uses the same norms as the MMPI-A, but has reconfigured the scale items to reduce item overlap and sharpen the theoretical meaning of the scales. The MMPI-A-RF contains 10 clinical scales (identical in name and number to those of the MMPI-2-RF) and seven validity scales.

Question 50

Multiphasic Personality Inventory–Adolescent

Answer 50

The individual items of the MMPI-A largely parallel the MMPI-2, although there are 88 fewer items. Some of the MMPI-2 items were discarded, others were rewritten, and some completely new ones were added. Recently, the MMPI-A was restructured to mirror the MMPI-2-RF.

Question 51

Acculturation

Answer 51

ongoing process by which an individual’s thoughts, behaviors, values, worldview, and identity develop in relation to the general thinking, behavior, customs, and values of a particular cultural group. The process of acculturation begins at birth, a time at which the newborn infant’s family or caretakers serve as agents of the culture

Question 52

. Values vs instrumental vs terminal values/ why its important

Answer 52

Values are that which an individual prizes or the ideals an individual believes in. . Instrumental values are guiding principles to help one attain some objective. Honesty, imagination, ambition, and cheerfulness are examples of instrumental values. Terminal values are guiding principles and a mode of behavior that is an endpoint objective. = The different values people from various cultures bring to the assessment situation may translate into widely varying motivational and incentive systems. Understanding an individual’s values is an integral part of understanding personality.

Question 53

identity vs identification

Answer 53

Identity in this context may be defined as a set of cognitive and behavioral characteristics by which individuals define themselves as members of a particular group. Stated simply, identity refers to one’s sense of self. Levine and Padilla (1980) defined identification as a process by which an individual assumes a pattern of behavior characteristic of other people, and referred to it as one of the “central issues that ethnic minority groups must deal with”

Question 54

worldview

Answer 54

is the unique way people interpret and make sense of their perceptions as a consequence of their learning experiences, cultural background, and related variables.