Unit 8, Personality assessment methods (Ch.12 Text)

Question 1

objective methods of personality assessment

Answer 1

contain short-answer items for which the assessee’s task is to select one response from the two or more provided. The scoring is done according to set procedures involving little, if any, judgment on the part of the scorer. As with tests of ability, objective methods of personality assessment may include items written in a multiple-choice, true–false, or matching format.

Question 3

can objective personality assessments actually be considered objective?

Answer 3

Ultimately, the term objective as applied to most personality tests may be best thought of as a shorthand description for a test format. Objective personality tests are objective in the sense that they employ a short-answer (typically multiple-choice) format, one that provides little, if any, room for discretion in terms of scoring. To describe a personality test as objective serves to distinguish it from projective and other measurement methods rather than to impart information about the reality, tangibility, or objectivity of scores derived from it.

Question 3

projective hypothesis/ projective method

Answer 3

e projective hypothesis holds that an individual supplies structure to unstructured stimuli in a manner consistent with the individual’s own unique pattern of conscious and unconscious needs, fears, desires, impulses, conflicts, and ways of perceiving and responding. In like manner, we may define the projective method as a technique of personality assessment in which some judgment of the assessee’s personality is made on the basis of performance on a task that involves supplying some sort of structure to unstructured or incomplete stimuli

Question 4

indirect vs direct

Answer 4

projective tests are indirect methods of personality assessment; assessees aren’t being directly asked to disclose information about themselves. Rather, their task is to talk about something else (like inkblots or pictures)

Question 5

“form interpretation test” rorscach

Answer 5

In the last section of that monograph, Rorschach proposed applications of his test to personality assessment. He provided 28 case studies employing normal (well, undiagnosed) subjects and people with various psychiatric diagnoses (including neurosis, psychosis, and manic-depressive illness) to illustrate his test

Question 6

process of ink blot test

Answer 6

After the entire set of cards has been administered once, a second administration, referred to as the inquiry, is conducted. During the inquiry, the examiner attempts to determine what features of the inkblot played a role in formulating the testtaker’s percept (perception of an image). Questions such as “What made it look like [whatever]?” and “How do you see [whatever it is that the testtaker reported seeing]?

Question 7

testing the limits and ink blots

Answer 7

A third component of the administration, referred to as testing the limits, may also be included. This procedure enables the examiner to restructure the situation by asking specific questions that provide additional information concerning personality functioning. If, for example, the testtaker has utilized the entire inkblot when forming percepts throughout the test, the examiner might want to determine if details within the inkblot could be elaborated on

Question 8

location. determinants, content, popularity, form of ink blots

Answer 8

Location is the part of the inkblot that was utilized in forming the percept. Individuals may use the entire inkblot, a large section, a small section, a minute detail, or white spaces. Determinants are the qualities of the inkblot that determine what the individual perceives, including form, color, texture, shading, and movement that the individual attributes to the inkblot. Content refers to the type of object the individual perceives in the response. Different scoring systems vary in some of the categories scored. Some typical content areas include human figures, animal figures, anatomical parts, blood, clouds, X-rays, and sexual responses. Popularity refers to the frequency with which a certain response has been found to correspond with a particular inkblot or section of an inkblot. A popular response is one that has frequently been obtained from the general population. A rare response is one that has been perceived infrequently by the general population. The form of a response is how accurately the individual’s perception matches or fits the corresponding part of the inkblot. Form level may be evaluated as being adequate or inadequate or as good or poor.

Question 9

Exner’s comprehensive system

Answer 9

for the test’s administration, scoring, and interpretation. Exner’s system has been well received by clinicians and is the single system most used and most taught today. However, to inextricably link the fate of the Rorschach to Exner’s system would be unfair, at least according to Bornstein and Masling (2005); Exner’s system has much to recommend it, but so do several other systems.

Question 10

psycometric soundness of the rorschach

Answer 10

-est-retest reliability procedures may be inappropriate for use with the Rorschach. This is so because of the effect of familiarity in response to the cards and because responses may reflect transient states as opposed to enduring traits
- ample evidence that acceptable levels of inter-scorer reliability can be attained with the Rorschach.

Question 11

The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Answer 11

• TAT was originally designed as an aid to eliciting fantasy material from patients in psychoanalysis
• The 30 picture cards, all black-and-white, contain a variety of scenes designed to present the testtaker with “certain classical human situations” (Murray, 1943). Some of the pictures contain a lone individual, some contain a group of people, and some contain no people.
  -Murray (1943) also advised examiners to attempt to find out the source of the examinee’s story. It is noteworthy that the noun apperception is derived from the verb apperceive, which may be defined as to perceive in terms of past perceptions
  -

Question 12

Murray, need, press, and thema

Answer 12

need (determinants of behavior arising from within the individual), press (determinants of behavior arising from within the environment), and thema (a unit of interaction between needs and press)

Question 13

implicit motive

Answer 13

we may define an implicit motive as a nonconscious influence on behavior typically acquired on the basis of experience.

Question 14

Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration Study

Answer 14

The direction of the aggression may be intropunitive (aggression turned inward), extrapunitive (outwardly expressed), or inpunitive (aggression is evaded so as to avoid or gloss over the situation). Reactions are grouped into categories such as obstacle dominance (in which the response concentrates on the frustrating barrier), ego defense (in which attention is focused on protecting the frustrated person), and need persistence (in which attention is focused on solving the frustrating problem).

Question 15

The Apperceptive Personality Test

Answer 15

represents an attempt to address some long-standing criticisms of the TAT as a projective instrument while introducing objectivity into the scoring system. The test consists of eight stimulus cards “depicting recognizable people in everyday settings”

Question 16

Word association test

Answer 16

is a task that may be used in personality assessment in which an assessee verbalizes the first word that comes to mind in response to a stimulus word. A word association test may be defined as a semistructured, individually administered, projective technique of personality assessment that involves the presentation of a list of stimulus words, to each of which an assessee responds verbally or in writing with whatever comes immediately to mind first upon first exposure to the stimulus word

Question 17

Kent-Rosanoff Free Association Test

Answer 17

The Kent-Rosanoff Free Association Test (Kent & Rosanoff, 1910) represented one of the earliest attempts to develop a standardized test using words as projective stimuli

Question 18

sentence completion test and sentence completion stems

Answer 18

is a semistructured projective technique of personality assessment that involves the presentation of a list of words that begin a sentence and the assessee’s task is to respond by finishing each sentence with whatever word or words come to mind.
sentence completion stems (the part of the sentence completion item that is not blank, but must be created by the testtaker)

Question 19

Rotter6 Incomplete Sentences Blank

Answer 19

The Rotter was developed for use with populations from grade 9 through adulthood and is available in three levels: high school (grades 9 through 12), college (grades 13 through 16), and adult. Testtakers are instructed to respond to each of the 40 incomplete sentence items in a way that expresses their “real feelings.”
=However, with this high degree of face validity comes a certain degree of transparency about the objective of the test. For this reason, sentence completion tests are perhaps the most vulnerable of all the projective methods to faking on the part of an examinee intent on making a good—or a bad—impression.

Question 20

auditory inkblots and skinner

Answer 20

Skinner created a series of recorded sounds much like muffled, spoken vowels, to which people would be instructed to associate. The sounds, packaged as a device he called a verbal summator, presumably would act as a stimulus for the person to verbalize certain unconscious material. Henry Murray, by the way, liked the idea and supplied Skinner with a room at the clinic in which to test subjects.

Question 21

figure drawing test

Answer 21

defined as a projective method of personality assessment whereby the assessee produces a drawing that is analyzed on the basis of its content and related variables.

Question 22

Draw A Person (DAP)

Answer 22

Subsequently, many clinicians will ask questions about the drawings, such as “Tell me a story about that figure,” “Tell me about that boy/girl, man/lady,” “What is the person doing?” “How is the person feeling?” “What is nice or not nice about the person?” Responses to these questions are used in forming various hypotheses and interpretations about personality functioning.

Question 23

overall cons of projective methods

Answer 23

critics have attacked projective methods on grounds related to the assumptions inherent in their use, the situational variables that attend their use, and several psychometric considerations.

Question 24

Murstein’s criticisms regarding the basic assumptions of projectives

Answer 24

Murstein dismissed the assumption that the more ambiguous the stimuli, the more subjects reveal about their personality. For Murstein the projective stimulus is only one aspect of the “total stimulus situation.” Environmental variables, response sets, reactions to the examiner, and related factors all contribute to response patterns. In addition, Murstein asserted that projection on the part of the assessee does not increase along with increases in the ambiguity of projective stimuli. -Another assumption underlying the use of projective tests is that something called “the unconscious” exists. Though the term unconscious is widely used as if its existence were a given, some academicians have questioned whether in fact the unconscious exists -assumes that it helps with impression management: might not be true

Question 25

Situational variables in projective tests

Answer 25

Proponents of projective techniques have claimed that such tests are capable of illuminating the mind’s recesses much like X-rays illuminate the body. Frank (1939) conceptualized projective tests as tapping personality patterns without disturbing the pattern being tapped. If that were true, then variables related to the test situation should have no effect on the data obtained. However, situational variables such as the examiner’s presence or absence have significantly affected the responses of experimental subjects

Question 26

psycometric soundness of projective tests

Answer 26

-Critics of projective techniques have called attention to variables such as uncontrolled variations in protocol length, inappropriate subject samples, inadequate control groups, and poor external criteria as factors contributing to spuriously increased ratings of validity. There are methodological obstacles in researching projectives because many test-retest or split-half methods are inappropriate.

Question 27

objective versus projective dichotomy

Answer 27

Truth in labeling is not served by characterizing one class of tests as “objective” (in the face of many questions regarding their objectivity), and another class of tests as something “other than objective.” Observers might conclude that one group of tests is indeed objective, while the other group of tests must be “subjective.” As an alternative to the objective/projective dichotomy, Weiner (2005) suggested substituting the terms structured, in place of objective, and unstructured, in place of projective. The more structured a test is, the more likely it is to tap relatively conscious aspects of personality.

Question 28

behavioral assessment

Answer 28

“what a person does in situations rather than on inferences about what attributes [the person] has more globally”

Question 29

sign vs sample approach

Answer 29

An advantage of the sign approach over the sample approach is that—in the hands of a skillful, perceptive clinician—the client might be put in touch with feelings that even she was not really aware of before the assessment. The client may have been consciously (or unconsciously) avoiding certain thoughts and images (those attendant on the expression of her sexuality, for example), and this inability to deal with those thoughts and images may indeed have been a factor contributing to her ambivalence about meeting men.

Question 30

Behavioral assessors most frequent ap[proachers

Answer 30

seldom make such deeper-level inferences. For example, if self-esteem is not raised as an area of difficulty by the client (in an interview, a diary, a checklist, or by some other behavioral assessment technique), this problem area may well be ignored or given short shrift. Behavioral assessors do, however, tend to be more empirical in their approach, as they systematically assess the client’s presenting problem both from the perspective of the client and from the perspective of one observing the client in social situations and the environment in general.

Question 31

differences betwen traditional measures and behavioural assessment

Answer 31

Differences between traditional and behavioral approaches to psychological assessment exist with respect to several key variables (Hartmann et al., 1979). For example, in traditional approaches to assessment, data is typically used to diagnose and classify, while in behavioral approaches, assessment data is used to describe targeted behaviors and maintaining conditions, usually for the purpose of selecting specific therapeutic techniques and then tracking response to therapeutic intervention. With respect to presumed causes of behavior, traditional assessment is more likely to evaluate the traits and states of the individual (collectively referred to as “personality”), while behavioral assessment is more likely to focus attention on the conditions in the environment that were instrumental in establishing a targeted behavior, as well as the environmental conditions that are currently maintaining the behavior. Rather than drawing inferences about personality from samples of behavior (as in traditional approaches to assessment), behavioral approaches to assessment focus on the meaning (in the sense of purpose, utility, or consequences) of the behavior itself. In traditional assessment, an individual’s behavioral history is afforded great weight—almost, but not quite, to the point of being predictive of future behavior. By contrast, in behavioral approaches, behavioral history is important to the extent that it provides baseline information relevant to an individual’s learning history

Question 32

frequency or event recording vs intrerval recording

Answer 32

frequency or event recording. Each time the targeted behavior occurs, it is recorded. Another schedule of assessment is referred to as interval recording. Assessment according to this schedule occurs only during predefined intervals of time e intensity of the behavior. Intensity of a behavior may be gauged by observable and quantifiable events such as the duration of the behavior, stated in number of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years.

Question 33

timeline followback (TLFB) methodology

Answer 33

TLFB was originally designed for use in the context of a clinical interview for the purpose of assessing alcohol abuse. Respondents were presented with a specific calendar time period and asked to recall aspects of their drinking. A feature of TLFB is that respondents are prompted with memory aids (such as memorable dates including birthdays, holidays, events in the news, and events of personal importance) to assist in recall of the targeted behavior during the defined timeline. From the recalled information, patterns regarding the targeted behavior (such as substance abuse versus abstinence) emerge.

Question 34

ecological momentary assessment

Answer 34

Another assessment methodology entails recording problem behavior-related events (such as drinking, smoking, and so forth) not retrospectively, but as they occur. This is accomplished by means of a handheld computer used to maintain an electronic diary of behavior. Referred to as ecological momentary assessment,

Question 35

Why conduct behavioral assessment?

Answer 35

to provide behavioral baseline data with which other behavioral data (accumulated after the passage of time, after intervention, or after some other event) may be compared to provide a record of the assessee’s behavioral strengths and weaknesses across a variety of situations to pinpoint environmental conditions that are acting to trigger, maintain, or extinguish certain behaviors to target specific behavioral patterns for modification through interventions to create graphic displays useful in stimulating innovative or more effective treatment approaches = insurance companies tend to favor behavioral assessments over more traditional assessments. This is because behavioral assessment is typically not linked to any particular theory of personality, and patient progress tends to be gauged on the basis of documented behavioral events.

Question 36

behavioral observation.

Answer 36

As its name implies, this technique involves watching the activities of targeted clients or research subjects and, typically, maintaining some kind of record of those activities. Researchers, clinicians, or counselors may themselves serve as observers, or they may designate trained assistants or other people (such as parents, siblings, teachers, and supervisors) as the observers. Even the observed person can be the behavior observer, although in such cases the term self-observation is more appropriate than behavioral observation.

Question 37

behavior rating scale

Answer 37

a preprinted sheet on which the observer notes the presence or intensity of targeted behaviors, usually by checking boxes or filling in coded terms

Question 38

broad-band instruments, vs narrow

Answer 38

broad-band instruments, designed to measure a wide variety of behaviors, and narrow-band instruments, which may focus on behaviors related to single, specific constructs. A broad-band instrument might measure, for example, general firefighter ability, while a narrow-band instrument might measure proficiency in one particular aspect of those abilities, such as proficiency in administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Question 39

Self-monitoring

Answer 39

may be defined as the act of systematically observing and recording aspects of one’s own behavior and/or events related to that behavior. Self-monitoring is different from self-report

Question 40

Reactivity

Answer 40

Reactivity refers to the possible changes in an assessee’s behavior, thinking, or performance that may arise in response to being observed, assessed, or evaluated.

Question 41

analogue study

Answer 41

research investigation in which one or more variables are similar or analogous to the real variable that the investigator wishes to examine. This definition is admittedly very broad, and the term analogue study has been used in various ways

Question 42

analogue behavioral observation,

Answer 42

analogue behavioral observation, which, after Haynes (2001b), may be defined as the observation of a person or persons in an environment designed to increase the chance that the assessor can observe targeted behaviors and interactions. The person or persons in this definition may be clients (including individual children and adults, families, or couples) or research subjects (including students, co-workers, or any other research sample). The targeted behavior, of course, depends on the objective of the research.

Question 43

situational performance measure

Answer 43

is a procedure that allows for observation and evaluation of an individual under a standard set of circumstances. A situational performance measure typically involves performance of some specific task under actual or simulated conditions. -Common to all situational performance measures is that the construct they measure is thought to be more accurately assessed by examining behavior directly than by asking subjects to describe their behavior

Question 44

leaderless group technique

Answer 44

is a situational assessment procedure wherein several people are organized into a group for the purpose of carrying out a task as an observer records information related to individual group members’ initiative, cooperation, leadership, and related variables. Usually, all group members know they are being evaluated and that their behavior is being observed and recorded. -ity. The group determines how it will accomplish the task and who will be responsible for what duties. The leaderless group situation provides an opportunity to observe the degree of cooperation exhibited by each individual group member and the extent to which each is able to function as part of a team.

Question 45

role play,

Answer 45

r acting an improvised or partially improvised part in a simulated situation, can be used in teaching, therapy, and assessment.

Question 46

Biofeedback

Answer 46

Biofeedback is a generic term that may be defined broadly as a class of psychophysiological assessment techniques designed to gauge, display, and record a continuous monitoring of selected biological processes such as pulse and blood pressure.

Question 47

plethysmograph i

Answer 47

biofeedback instrument that records changes in the volume of a part of the body arising from variations in blood supply. Investigators have used this device to explore changes in blood flow as a dependent variable. For example, Kelly (1966) found significant differences in the blood supplies of normal, anxiety-ridden, and psychoneurotic groups (the anxiety group having the highest mean) by using a plethysmograph to measure blood supply in the forearm.

Question 48

penile plethysmograph i

Answer 48

n instrument designed to measure changes in blood flow, but more specifically blood flow to the penis. Because the volume of blood in the penis increases with male sexual arousal, the penile plethysmograph has found application in the assessment of adolescent and adult male sexual offenders = phallometric data (the record from a study conducted with a penile plethysmograph) as a means of compelling them to speak more openly about their thoughts and behavior

Question 49

a lie detector or polygraph

Answer 49

, the polygraph provides a continuous written record (variously referred to as a tracing, a graph, a chart, or a polygram) of several physiological indices (typically respiration, galvanic skin response, and blood volume/pulse rate) as an interviewer and instrument operator (known as a polygrapher or polygraphist) asks the assessee a series of yes–no questions. Judgments of the truthfulness of the responses are made either informally by surveying the charts or more formally by means of a scoring system.

Question 50

polygraph problems

Answer 50

The reliability of judgments made by polygraphers has long been, and today remains, a matter of great controversy (Alpher & Blanton, 1985; Iacono & Lykken, 1997). Different methods of conducting polygraphic examinations exist (Lykken, 1981), and polygraphic equipment is not standardized (Abrams, 1977; Skolnick, 1961). A problem with the method is a high false-positive rate for lying. The procedure “may label more than 50% of the innocent subjects as guilty” (Kleinmuntz & Szucko, 1984, p. 774). In light of the judgments that polygraphers are called upon to make, their education, training, and background requirements seem minimal. One may qualify as a polygrapher after as few as six weeks of training

Question 51

unobtrusive measure

Answer 51

A type of measure quite different from any we have discussed so far is the nonreactive or unobtrusive variety (Webb et al., 1966). In many instances, an unobtrusive measure is a telling physical trace or record. In one study, it was garbage—literally (Cote et al., 1985). Because of their nature, unobtrusive measures do not necessarily require the presence or cooperation of respondents when measurements are being conducted.

Question 52

Issues in Behavioral Assessment

Answer 52

not always easy to observe objectively. An overly complicated or vague behavior rating system can result in unreliable measurement. -A behavioral rating may be excessively positive (or negative) because a prior rating was excessively negative (or positive). This source of error is referred to as a contrast effect.

Question 53

composite judgment,

Answer 53

To combat potential contrast effects and other types of rating error, rigorous training of raters is necessary. However, such training may be costly in terms of time and labor. For example, teaching professionals how to use the behavior observation and coding system of the Marital Interaction Coding System took “two to three months of weekly instruction and practice to learn how to use its 32 codes” (Fredman & Sherman, 1987, p. 28). Another approach to minimizing error and improving inter-rater reliability among behavioral raters is to employ a composite judgment, which is, in essence, an averaging of multiple judgments. -, reactivity is another possible issue with regard to behavioral assessment; people react differently in experimental than in natural situations.

Question 54

problem with personality diosorder diagnosis

Answer 54

red flag concerning the unique and “real” existence of a DSM-based diagnosis of a personality disorder is the relatively high co-morbidity rates that have been observed between different varieties of personality disorders, and between personality disorders and other psychiatric disorders (like depression, anxiety, and substance abuse; see Clark, 2007). This means that people who are diagnosed with one variety of personality disorder are frequently diagnosed as having another variety of personality disorder (or some other psychiatric disorder) -Another potential problem with the DSM vis-a-vis the categorization of personality disorders is what might be termed the “all-or-none error.” Using the DSM diagnostic system, one either has or has not a personality disorder. Here, it is worth noting that longitudinal research suggests that a diagnosis of personality disorder is not very stable (Zanarini et al., 2012). In general, personality disorders may be comprised of some problem thinking and behavior that is acute and transitory in nature, and other such problems that are more lasting and trait-like

Question 55

g factor and bpd

Answer 55

On the basis of their factor-analytic study with nearly one-thousand psychiatric inpatients, Sharp et al. concluded that the nine criteria cited in the DSM-5 for borderline criteria are in some way analogous to the general factor (g) in conceptualizations of intelligence. Rather than defining a separate and distinct variety of personality disorder, these nine criteria, taken together as a whole, seemed to be the “g” of personality pathology. The investigators also tested the hypothesis that borderline personality disorder could best be accounted for by two sets of factors, a general factor (g), and more disorder-specific (s) factors (much like the construct of intelligence, with its overarching g factor, and its more individual s factors). The results suggested that the borderline criteria loaded most strongly and virtually exclusively, on the general (g) factor, with little trace of s to be found =The failure of borderline personality disorder to emerge as a distinct factor may be seen by some as challenging the very diagnostic validity of borderline personality disorder. However, Sharp et al. (2015) interpreted this finding somewhat differently. They suspected that borderline personality disorder actually represents the core features of personality pathology in general. More specifically, the nine borderline criteria represent some of the basic elemental features that cut across all personality disorders.

Question 56

actuarial approach

Answer 56

encourages the retention only of hypotheses and predictions that have proven themselves. Conversely, it enables practitioners to quickly discover and discard untenable hypotheses and predictions (Masling, 1997). Of course, in many instances, skill in clinical assessment can be conceptualized as an internalized, less formal, and more creative version of the actuarial approach.