Personality Assessment

2. Personality Assessment • DAPT

3. Barnum Effect • People’s willingness to interpret vague, general statements as personally meaningful interpretations of their personality

4. Why do we test? • Tell us “how much” of a trait you have. • Why do we test? • 1) Clinical • 2) Employment • 3) Curiosity

5. How do we test? • 1) Create a test • 2) Validate the test • 3) Use the test

6. Methods for creating a test • Rational Method • Projective Tests • Factor Analytic Method • Empirical Method • Combination of Methods

7. Rational Method • Questionnaire

8. 1) Enjoy being reckless.  • 2) Take risks.  • 3) Avoid dangerous situations. • 4) Seek danger.  • 5) Know how to get around the rules. • 6) Would never make a high risk investment. • 7) Am willing to try anything once.  • 8) Seek adventure. • 9) Would never go hang-gliding or bungee-jumping. 

9. 1) Enjoy being reckless.  • 2) Take risks.  • 3) Avoid dangerous situations. • 4) Seek danger.  • 5) Know how to get around the rules. • 6) Would never make a high risk investment. • 7) Am willing to try anything once.  • 8) Seek adventure. • 9) Would never go hang-gliding or bungee-jumping. 

10. Rational Method • Straight forward and obvious items • Most common method of test construction • For this to work: • 1) Items must mean the same thing to subjects as it does to the test creator • 2) Person must be able to self-assess • 3) Person must be willing to self-assess • 4) Items must be valid indicators of characteristic

11. Projective Tests

19. Inkblots as projective stimuli • The Rorschach: • Hermann Rorschach (1884 - 1922). • 10 bilaterally symmetrical inkblots on separate cards: • 5 black and white. • 2 black, white, and red. • 3 multicolor.

20. Inkblots: Initial administration • “What might this be?” • Record response verbatim: • Include time until first response. • Position of card, spontaneous statements, nonverbal gestures or body movements.

21. InkblotsInterpretation of scores • Generate hypotheses based on patterns of response, recurrent themes and interrelationships among scoring categories

22. Assumptions: The more unstructured the stimuli, the more examinees reveal about their personality. Every response provides meaning for personality analysis. There is an “unconscious.” Subjects are unaware of what they disclose. Assumptions of Projective Tests

29. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) • Morgan and Murray (1935). • Elicit fantasy material from patients in psychoanalysis. • 31 cards: • 30 black & white with scenes: • Describe story. • 1 blank: • Imagine picture on card and tell related story.

30. TAT: Conclusions • Based on: • Stories told by examinee. • Clinician’s notes: • Examinee’s response to the cards. • Analysis of story requires special training.

31. TAT Interpretation (cont.) • Basic assumption: • Examinee is identifying with protagonist in the story. • Examinee’s concerns, hopes, fears, and desires are reflected in the protagonist’s needs, demands, and conflicts. • That is, the examinee’s personality is projected onto the protagonist.

32. Projective Tests for Children • “The Adventures of Blacky the Dog”

33. Blacky Test

37. Other Projective Tests • Draw a person test • Draw a house test • Word association

38. Methods for creating a test • Rational Method • Projective Tests • Factor Analytic Method • Empirical Method • Combination of Methods

39. Factor Analytic Method • 1) Name different makes of cars • 2) In groups: • Imagine you work in a car lot and you must organize these cars in some manner into 4 different groups • 3) Organize the cars and name the groupings

40. Factor Analytic Method • Done in 5 steps • 1) Create many items • 2) Give these items to many people • 3) Correlate items together • 4) Look for “groupings” of items • 5) Name the “groupings” (i.e. factors)

41. Factor Analytic Method • Limitations: • Only as good as the items • Sometimes get “odd” factors • Still must name the factor (not done by the computer)

42. Factor Analytic Method

43. Factor Analytic Method Factor 3 Follow a schedule. Like harmony in my life Am deeply moved by others' misfortunes.

45. Empirical Method • I prefer a shower to a bath • I sometimes tease animals • I will sometimes wear a dress • I like watching football • I am happy • I typically open doors for others • As a child I liked playing with dolls

46. Empirical Method • Done in 3 Steps: • 1) Create items • Items can be anything!

47. Empirical Method • 2) Administer the items to two groups • Criterion Group • Composed of people that possess the trait • Control Group • Composed of people that do not possess the trait

48. Empirical Method • 3) Select items that the two groups answered differently

49. Empirical Method • Basic Logic: • Different kinds of people have distinctive ways of answering certain questions. • If you answer questions the same way that members of a diagnostic group did, you might belong to that group too!

50. Empirical Method • Thus, the content of empirical items does not matter • “I sometimes tease animals” • Not depressed • “I have a great fear of snakes” • Prejudiced • “I do not enjoy detective stories” • Hospitalized hysterics • “I like tall women” • Impulsive males • “I gossip a little at times” • High IQ