Projective Personality Assessment

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Projective Personality Assessment

+ntroduction

Personality Assessment

Personality assessment is used for the measurement of

personal characteristics. Assessment is an end result of

gathering information intended to advance

psychological theory and research and to increase the

probability that wise decisions will be made in applied

settings (e.g., in selecting the most promising people

from a group of job applicants). The approach taken

by the specialist in personality assessment is based on

the assumption that much of the observable variability

in behavior from one person to other results from

differences in the etent to which individuals

possesses particular underlying personal characteristics (traits).

!t is a proficiency in professional psychology that involves the administration, scoring, and

interpretation of empirically supported measures of personality traits and styles in order to"

#efine clinical diagnoses

$tructure and inform psychological interventions

!ncrease the accuracy of behavioral prediction in a variety of contets and settings

(e.g., clinical, forensic, organi%ational, educational).

Ty,es o" Personality Tests

There are two types of tests that can be used to assess the personality of an individual"

Projective Tests

&on'Projective Tests

Projective Tests

!n psychology, a projective test is a personality test designed to let a person respond to

ambiguous stimuli, presumably revealing hidden emotions and internal conflicts projected by

the person into the test. This is sometimes contrasted with a so'called objective test or self'

report test in which responses are analy%ed according to a presumed universal standard (for

eample, a multiple choice eam), and are limited to the content of the test. The responses to

projective tests are content analy%ed for meaning rather than being based on presuppositions

about meaning, as is the case with objective tests. Projective tests have their origins in

psychoanalytic psychology, which argues that humans have conscious and unconscious

attitudes and motivations that are beyond or hidden from conscious awareness.

Theory "or Projective Tests


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The general theoretical position behind projective tests is that whenever a specific uestion is

asked, the response will be consciously'formulated and socially determined. These responses

do not reflect the respondent*s unconscious or implicit attitudes or motivations. The

respondent*s deep'seated motivations may not be consciously recogni%ed by the respondent

or the respondent may not be able to verbally epress them in the form demanded by theuestioner. Advocates of projective tests stress that the ambiguity of the stimuli presented

within the tests allow subjects to epress thoughts that originate on a deeper level than tapped

by eplicit uestions, and provide content that may not be captured by responsive tools that

may lack appropriate items. After some decrease in interest in the +-s and +s, newer

research suggesting that implicit motivation is best captured in this way has increased the

research and use of these tools.

y,othesis

This holds that an individual puts structure on an ambiguous situation in a way that is

consistent with their own conscious and unconscious needs. !t is an indirect method' testee is

talking about something that comes spontaneously from the self without conscious awareness

or editing.

#educes temptation to fake

/oes not depend as much on verbal abilities

Taps both conscious and unconscious traits

0ocus is clinical perspective ' not normative ' but has developed norms over the years

Ty,es o" Projective TestsThere are several commonly used projective techniues that were derived from 0reudian and

&eo'0reudian Theories.

)- .orschach +nkblot Test

The #orschach is the most commonly used projective techniue. The test consists of ten

white cards with blots of ink on them in black, black and red, or multi colored. These

inkblots were originally random in design and these have been maintained although much

research has gone into each card.

!f you*ve ever looked to the sky and saw images in the clouds, then you can appreciate the

idea behind the #orschach. !f the cards have no

specific shape (see eample to the left), just like the

clouds, the shapes we see are projections from our

unconsciousness. !n other words, it is not uncommon

for children to see bunny rabbits, kitty cats and

monsters in the clouds. These images represent their

needs for life and love as well as their underlying fears

about death and aggression. The research that has taken


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place with the #orschach cards has produced a standardi%ed protocol, eliminating the biggest

criticism of projective tests.

Method

The tester and subject typically sit net to each other at a table, with the tester slightly behind

the subject. This is to facilitate a relaed but controlled atmosphere. There are ten official

inkblots, each printed on a separate white card, approimately +-12 cm in si%e. 3ach of the

blots has near perfect bilateral symmetry. 0ive inkblots are of black ink, two are of black and

red ink and three are multicolored, on a white background. After the test subject has seen and

responded to all of the inkblots (free association phase), the tester then presents them again

one at a time in a set seuence for the subject to study" the subject is asked to note where he

sees what he originally saw and what makes it look like that (inuiry phase). The subject is

usually asked to hold the cards and may rotate them. 4hether the cards are rotated and other

related factors such as whether permission to rotate them is asked, may epose personalitytraits and normally contributes to the assessment. As the subject is eamining the inkblots, the

psychologist writes down everything the subject says or does, no matter how trivial. Analysis

of responses is recorded by the test administrator using tabulation and scoring sheet and, if

reuired, a separate location chart.

'- Thematic A,,erce,tion Test

The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) was developed by 5enry 6urray, a student of

psychoanalytic thought. The TAT consists of numerous cards with black and white and

grayscale pictures. These pictures where chosen for two reasons. 0irst, they are ambiguousto some etent and portray emotion and thought without specifying details. An eample


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would be a silhouette of a man looking off into the distance. 4hile there is obvious

emotional and intellectual activity, the details are not revealed.

$econd, they correspond to the major themes of psychoanalytic thought, such as the oedipal

comple, where the son develops an attraction for the mother and then identifies with the

father. There are relationship cards and several that portray both seual and aggressive

undertones without depicted actual violence, aggression, or seual activity.

The TAT probably comes in second after the #orschach in terms of its use and research as a

projective test. !ndividuals being tested are asked to tell a story about each card, including

what led up to the picture, what is happening in the present, and how the story will end. The

basic premise is that unconscious themes will begin to develop relating to specific types of

cards or to the test in general. These themes can then be interpreted and used for further

eploration

/- ouse-Tree-Person


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The 5ouse'Tree'Person test (5'T'P) reuires no specific materials and is not standardi%ed at

all. The assessor tells the

individual to draw a

picture of a house, a tree,

and a person. 7ncecompleted, he may ask

the individual to tell a

story related to each

picture, including who,

what, where, how, and

why*s of each.

3amples of follow up

uestions"

A"ter the ouse" 4ho lives here8 !s the occupant happy8 4hat goes on inside the house8

4hat*s it like at night8 /o people visit the house8 4hat else do the people in the house want

to add to the drawing8

A"ter the Tree:4hat kind of tree is this8 5ow old is the tree8 4hat season is it8 5as anyone

tried to cut it down8 4hat else grows nearby8 4ho waters this tree8 Trees need sunshine to

live so does it get enough sunshine8

A"ter the Person is dra0n" who is the person8 5ow old is the person8 4hat do they like and

dislike doing8 5as anyone tried to hurt them8 4ho looks out for them8

5TP is given to persons above the age of three and takes approimately +9 minutes to

complete based on the subject*s level of mental functioning. /uring the first phase, the test'

taker is asked to draw the house, tree, and person and the test'giver asks uestions about each

picture. There are : uestions originally designed by ;uck but art therapists and trained test

givers can also design their own uestions, or ask follow up uestions. This phase is done

with a crayon. /uring the second phase of 5TP, the

test'taker draws the same pictures with a pencil or pen.

Again the test'giver asks similar uestions about the

drawings. &ote" some mental health professionals onlyadminister phase one or two and may change the

writing instrument as desired.


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1- $ra0 a Person Test

The /raw'a'Person tests (/AP, /AP test, or >oodenough?5arris /raw'a'Person test) is a

psychological projective personality or cognitive test used to evaluate children and

adolescents for a variety of purposes. Test administration involves the administrator

reuesting children to complete three individual drawings on separate pieces of paper.

@hildren are asked to draw a man, a woman, and themselves. &o further instructions are

given and the child is free to make the drawing in whichever way heshe would like. There is

no right or wrong type of drawing, although the child must make a drawing of a whole person

each time B i.e. head to feet, not just the face. The test has no time limitC however, children

rarely take longer than about + or +9 minutes to complete all three drawings. 5arris*s book

(+:D) provides scoring scales which are used to eamine and score the child*s drawings. The

test is completely non'invasive and non'threatening to children, which is part of its appeal.

To evaluate intelligence, the test administrator uses the /raw'a'Person" E$$ (uantitativescoring system). This system analy%es fourteen different aspects of the drawings (such as

specific body parts and clothing) for various criteria, including presence or absence, detail,

and proportion. !n all, there are :2 scoring items for each drawing. A separate standard score

is recorded for each drawing, and a total score for all three.

The purpose of the test is to assist professionals in inferring children*s cognitive

developmental levels with little or no influence of other factors such as language barriers or

special needs.


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*- Animal Meta,hor Test

The Animal 6etaphor Test is a projective psychological test created by /r. Albert =evis, the

director and founder of the 6useum of the @reative Process. The Animal 6etaphor test

consists of a series of creative and analytical prompts. Fnlike conventional projective tests,

the Animal 6etaphor works as both a diagnostic and therapeutic battery. !t is premised on

self'analysis via self'report uestions. The test combines facets of art therapy, cognitive

behavioral therapy, and insight therapy, while also providing a theoretical platform of

behavioral analysis.

The test has been used widely as a clinical tool, as an educational assessment, and in human

resource selection. The primary purpose of Animal 6etaphor Tests is to describe emotions

that vary from affectionate love to reasoning behind discerning insults.

The first step in the test is to ask the individual to draw two animals. The second step is to

describe each of the animalsG superficial and internal characteristics, including their age in

human years, their genders, and three of their personality traits. The individual is then

reuired to write a dialogue between the two animals, through which through which their

deepest subconscious processes and internal conflicts are revealed.

The ultimate purpose of the test is to identify how this animal drama pertains to your life and

what changes you are willing to make to reverse your particular patterns of conflict.


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:'

%- 2ord Association

4ord association testing is a techniue developed by @arl Hung to eplore complees in the

personal unconscious. Hung came to recogni%e the eistence of groups of thoughts, feelings,

memories, and perceptions, organi%ed around a central theme, that he termed psychological

complees. This discovery was related to his research into word association, a techniue

whereby words presented to patients elicit other word responses that reflect related concepts

in the patientsG psyche, thus providing clues to their uniue psychological make'up.

4ord Association tests can take many forms as there is no single accepted list of words.

$imply put, when using this type of test, the assessor would read a list of words, asking the

participant to write down the very first thing that comes to mind after each. The object is to


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bypass defense mechanisms that are at play and get to the unconscious before these defenses

have a chance to work.

3- Sentence com,letion:

$entence @ompletion Test, was first developed by 5erman 3bbinghaus in +-I. $entencecompletions tests typically provide respondents with beginnings of sentences referred to as

Jstems,K and respondents then complete the sentences in ways that are meaningful to them.

The responses are believed to provide indications of attitudes, beliefs, motivations, or other

mental states. There is debate over whether or not sentence completion tests elicit responses

from conscious thought rather than unconscious states. This debate would affect whether

sentence completion tests can be strictly categori%ed as projective tests.

A sentence completion test form may be relatively short, such as those used to assess

responses to advertisements, or much longer, such as those used to assess personality. A long

sentence completion test is the 0orer $entence @ompletion Test, which has + stems. The

tests are usually administered in booklet form where respondents complete the stems by

writing words on paper.

The structures of sentence completion tests vary according to the length and relative

generality and wording of the sentence stems. $tructured tests have longer stems that lead

respondents to more specific types of responsesC less structured tests provide shorter stems,

which produce a wider variety of responses. There are many sentence completion testsavailable for use by researchers. $ome of the most widely used sentence completion tests

include"

.otter +ncom,lete Sentence Blankwas developed by Hulian #otter and #afferty in

+9. !t comes in three forms i.e. school form, college form, adult form for different

age groups, and comprises 2 incomplete sentences

Miner Sentence 4om,letion TestThe 6$@$ includes a 2 item multiple choice

scale. Among the 2 items are seven subscales. !t measure managerial motivation

2ashin#ton 5niversity Sentence 4om,letion Test (4F$@T) is pencil'and'paper

test which consists of D: items and measures ego development.


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Picture Arran#ement Test

The Picture Arrangement Test is a psychological test created by $ilvan Tomkins. !t is

performed by giving the subject pictures of a person with various facial epressions. This

psychological test consists of 19 sets of D pictures which the subject must arrange into a

seuence that they feel makes the best sense. The reliability of this test has been disputed,

however. 0or eample, patients suffering from schi%ophrenia have been found to score as

more normal than patients with no such mental disorders. 7ther picture tests"

Thompson version,

@AT (animals) and @AT'5, (humans)

$enior AT,

;lacky pictures test ' dogs

Picture $tory Test ' adolescents

3ducation Apperception Test 'attitudes towards learning 6ichigan Picture Test ' children -'+2

T36A$ ' 5ispanic children

6ake'A'Picture $tory' make own pictures from figures :yrs L up.

6- Gra,holo#y

>raphology is the analysis of the physical characteristics and patterns of handwriting

purporting to be able to identify the writer, indicating psychological state at the time of

writing, or evaluating personality characteristics. !t is generally considered a pseudoscience

(false). The term is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to forensic document eamination.@linicians who assess handwriting to derive tentative information about the writer*s

personality attend to and analy%e the writing*s organi%ation on the page, movement style and

use of distinct letterforms.

7- 8ree Association

A psychoanalytic techniue first developed by $igmund 0reud and still used by some

therapists today, free association invites patients to relate whatever thoughts come to mind,

without censorship or embarrassment, in order for the therapist and patient to learn more

about how thepatient thinks and

feels.

0reud would sit in

his chair behind the

patient so as not to

allow any

projection to occur.

5e would then

allow the patient to

talk, without


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interruption or guidance, for an etended period.

0reud would take notes, analy%e themes, and piece

together aspects of the unconscious that peak out.

3ample"

J4ell, this morning ! woke up and had coffeeM7n

my drive to work ! listened to the radioM4hat is it

with the radio, anyway8 $o many ads all the timeM!

really hate my workM/id you know that beavers

can hold their breath for more than ten minutes8

That was on the radio tooM>od, ! wish ! were a

beaver so ! didnGt have to go to work.K

7thers might provide a topic for this free

association, such as *mother* or *anger* and then sit back to allow the patient to freely

associate. 4ithout pressures, aniety, or fears, the aspects of the unconscious are freer to

show themselves. !nterrupting or guiding the patient would therefore strengthen the defenses

and push the unconscious impulses back down.

)(- $ream Analysis

Another favorite of Psychoanalytic therapists, dream interpretation allows the assessor to

find themes and hidden meaning in the patients dreams. 0reud believed that all dreamsconsist of manifest, or obvious content, and latent or hidden content.

The manifest content of dreams is the story like details that we share with others. 0or

eample, dreaming of flying would include details of how it came about, who was there,


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where the person flew, how fast, how high, etc. The latent content consists of bits and pieces

of the unconscious that seep out while we are asleep and our defense mechanisms are their

weakest. The dream of flying may represent a deeper unconscious need for freedom, a fear

becoming too grounded or stuck, or perhaps even an epression of one*s seual impulses.

The interpretation afforded a specific dream can vary dramatically and most agree that usingthis techniue in conjunction with other information is its only ethical use.

4oncerns 0ith Projective Tests

Assum,tions

The more unstructured the stimuli, the more eaminees reveal about their personality.

Projection is greater to stimulus material that is similar to the eaminee

3very response provides meaning for personality analysis.

There is an unconscious.

$ubjects are unaware of what they disclose

Situation 9ariables

Age of eaminer

$pecific instructions

$ubtle reinforcement cues

$etting'privacy


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.e"erences

http"en.wikipedia.orgwikiProjectiveNtest

http"allpsych.compersonalitysynopsisrorschach.html

https"medium.comOgtweedythe'animal'metaphor'test'dI-29fd+:-a+

http"jungcurrents.comjung'dreams'symbollically'magritte

http"psychology.about.comodpsychologicaltestingfprojective'tests.htm

http"www.sparknotes.compsychologypsych++personalitysectionI.rhtml

http"homepages.neiu.edumecondonproj'lec.htm

Documents

Projective Personality Assessment