Personality

1

• Lecture 3.
• Personality
• and
• intelligence assessment

2
Reference

• Murphy, K. R. Davidshofer, C. O. (1998).
  Psychological testing. Principles and
  applications International Edition (6/e). Upper
  Saddle River, N.J. Prentice-Hall, Inc.
  (chapters 15 17).

3
Types of tests

• Criterion the form of recording the examinees
  behaviour (Cattell)
• Tests of performance
• Behavior observations
• Self-report

4
Tests of Performance Referred to as "Tests of
Maximal Performance" Examinees are given a
well-defined task that they try to perform
successfully. Examinee must know what he/she
must do in response to the task. The subject
exerts maximal effort to succeed. Performance
tests are designed to uncover what an individual
can do, given the specific test conditions.
Examples - Intelligence Tests, language
proficiency - Biology test, flight simulator
5
Self Report Instruments

• - Participant is asked to report his or her
  feelings, attitudes, beliefs, values.
• When self-report makes sense
• Self-report relies upon the test takers
  awareness and honesty.
• It is the best method to measure internal states
  - things only the person themselves can be aware
  of and judge.
• People are not always good judges of their
  ability
• Provides an estimate

6
Self Report Instruments

• Many personality inventories such as the MMPI and
  the 16PF measures are based on self-report.
• Clinicians include self-report measures as part
  of their initial examinations of presenting
  clients.
• Self-Report measures are frequently subject to
  self-censorship.
• People know their responses are being measured
  and wish to be seen in a favorable light.
  (self-serving bias)
• Items are frequently included to measure the
  extent to which people provide socially desirable
  responses.

7
Behaviour Observation Naturalistic
observation Involves observing the subjects
behaviour and responses in a particular
context. Differs from performance tests in that
the subject does not have a single, well defined
task. The observer can record duration
intensity Examples - Examiner might observe
children interacting or an individual having a
conversation or some other social interaction. -
Companies recruit observers to pose as
salespeople to observe employees behaviors.
Subjects may be unaware they are being tested.

8
History of Test Development circa 1000 BC.
Chinese introduced written tests to help fill
civil service positions Civil Laws, Military
Affairs, Agriculture, Geography 1850 The United
States begins civil service examinations. 1885
Germans tested people for brain damage 1890
James Cattell develops a "mental test" to assess
college students . Test includes measures of
strength, resistance to pain, and reaction time.
1905 Binet-Simon scale of mental development
used to classify mentally retarded children in
France. 1914 World War I produces need in U.S.
to quickly classify incoming recruits. Army Alpha
test and Army Beta test developed. Looked at
psychopathology. 1916 Terman develops Stanford
- Binet test and develops the idea of
Intelligence Quotient
9
History of Test Development 1920 - 1940 factor
analysis, projective tests, and personality
inventories first appear. 1941-1960 vocational
interest measures developed 1961-1980 item
response theory and neuropsychological testing
developed 1980 - Present Wide spread
adaptation of computerized testing. "Smart"
Tests which can give each individual different
test items develop
10
Formal classification of tests

• One-dimensional tests (one-scale instruments)
  interpretation in terms of trait intensity
  (quantitative diagnosis) or typological
  (qualitative diagnosis).
• Multi-dimensional tests (multi-scales
  instruments) interpretation in terms of profile
  (model of parallel or hierarchical traits), which
  may lead to the typological or differential
  (within subject) diagnosis.

11
Fig 1. The test scores, assessing the trait
intensity
Average score moderate trait intensity
Low score low trait intensity
High score high trait intensity
12
Fig. 2. One-scale test scores, serving for
typological diagnosis
Test score similar to the upper group
Test score similar to the lower group
13
Typological diagnosis of one-scales scores

• Typological (one-scale diagnosis) refers to the
  special one-type.
• Typological diagnosis may refer also to two-types
  classification
• abnormal (type I) normal abnormal (type
  II, opposite to type I)

14
Fig. 3. Multi-scale test scores, serving for
profile diagnosis (parallel traits)
15
Differential diagnosis of the test profile

• Comparisons of the scales within one subject,
  like comparison between verbal IQ and nonverbal
  IQ (strictly quantitative assessment).

16
Famous tests

• 1905 Binet Simon the first intelligence
  scale
• 1906 Heymans Wiersma the first personality
  assessment (peer-rating)
• 1917 Woodworth the first personality inventory
  (psychopathology)
• 1927-1934 Strong/Kuder the first vocational
  inventories

17
The history of well-known tests

• 1939 Wechsler Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence
  Scale (1997 - WAIS-III)
• 1943 Hathaway McKinley Minnesota
  Multiphasic Personality Inventory (1989 - MMPI
  2)
• 1949 Cattell 16 PF (Personality Factors)
• 1950 - 1990 - Eysenckian inventories
• 1990 2000 Big Five inventories (Costa
  McCrae).

18
Journals presenting tests (and psychometric
problems)

• Psychometrika
• Educational and Psychological Measurement
• Applied Psychological Measurement
• Journal of Educational Measurement
• Journal of Educational Psychology
• Journal of Applied Psychology
• Personnel Psychology
• Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

19
Advantages and disadvantages of the tests
Tests represent the best, fairest, and the
most accurate technology available for making
many important decisions about individuals, but
at a time the psychological testing is highly
controversial (Murphy Davidshofer, 1989, p.
2).
20
Ethical (controversial) aspects of testing

• The impact of testing on society (artificial or
  real differences, efficiency or equity, helping
  or hurting people)
• Invasion of privacy (information about private
  life, problem of confidentiality and informed
  consent)
• The fair use of tests (the equal availability of
  the test material testing disabled examinees).

21
WAIS
22
Wechslers Definition of IQ

• Intelligence is the aggregate or global capacity
  of the individual to act purposefully, to think
  rationally and to deal effectively with his
  environment.
• Global because it characterizes individuals
  behavior as a whole
• Aggregate because it is composed of elements or
  abilities that are qualitatively differentiable
• Wechsler, 1939

23
WAISIII Subtests for IQ Scores

• Verbal
• Vocabulary
• Similarities
• Arithmetic
• Digit Span
• Information
• Comprehension

• Performance
• Picture Completion
• Digit SymbolCoding
• Block Design
• Matrix Reasoning
• Picture Arrangement

24
Earlier Coordinate Versions

• 1939 Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale (WB)
• 1946 Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale-2nd
  Edition (WB-II)
• 1949 Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
  (WISC) Ages 5-15.11
• 1955 Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
• 1967 Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of
  Intelligence (WPPSI) Ages 4-6.5
• 1981 Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised
  (WAIS-R)
• 1989 Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of
  Intelligence-Revised (WPPSI-R) Ages 3-7.3
• 1991 Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children,
  3rd Edition (WISC-III)
• 1991 Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised-as
  a Neuropsychological Instrument (WAIS-R-NI)
• 1999 WISC-III as a Process Instrument
  (WISC-III-PI)
• 2003 Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children,
  4th Edition (WISC-IV) Ages 6-16.11

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The Weschler Test (WAIS-IIIR)
26
Applications of WAIS-III

• Assessment of intellectual ability
• 1. Used as psychoeducational test for secondary
  abd post-secondary school planning and placement
• often a core test for assessing learning
  disabilities and for determining exceptionality
  and giftedness
• Used in school settings to predict future
  academic achivement
• Used to retest an adolescent if tests were uesd
  for decision of special education placement
• 2. Useful for the differential diagnosis of
  neurological and psychiatric disorders
• Range of application age 16-89 (80-89 data drawn
  exclusively from the US sample)

27
WAIS - III

• The Weschler Test (WAIS-IIIR)
• 14 subtests
• 7 subtests make up verbal intelligence
• 6 subtests make up performance intelligence
• Summary Scores Verbal IQ (VIQ), Performance IQ
  (PIQ), and Full-Scale IQ (FSIQ). Range of FSIQ
  45-155

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What are we Measuring in the WAIS?

• Verbal IQ Score
• Measure of acquired knowledge, verbal reasoning
  and attention to verbal materials
• Performance IQ score
• Measure spatial processing, attentiveness to
  detail and visual motor integration

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What are we Measuring in the WAIS?

• Verbal Comprehension
• Measure of verbal acquired knowledge and verbal
  reasoning
• Working Memory
• Measures how one attends to, holds and processes
  information briefly.

30
What are we Measuring in the WAIS?

• Perceptual Organization
• Measures spatial processing and attentiveness to
  detail
• Processing Speed
• Measures ability to process visual information
  quickly

31
Verbal Subtests

• The verbal scales assess the individuals
  competency in the following areas
• A) The ability to work with abstract symbols
• B) The amount degree of benefit a person has
  garnered from their education
• C) Memory verbal ability
• D) Verbal fluency.
• The verbal scales are generally more vulnerable
  to cultural influence than the performance
  scales.

32
Vocabulary

• Sample Question
• What is the definition of breakfast?
• What is the definition of tirade?

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Vocabulary

• Measures
• Language development
• Word knowledge
• Overall verbal intelligence
• Language usage and accumulated verbal learning
  ability
• Educational background
• This test tests acquired verbal knowledge, and
  the ability to easily express many ranges of
  ideas.
• Vocabulary is the most stable (least variable) of
  all the subtests. As such, it is often used to
  indicate a test takers intellectual potential and
  sometimes to estimate their premorbid level of
  function.
• High scores on vocabulary indicate high
  intelligence. Test takers with high scores often
  have wide ranges of interests, have acquired lots
  of general information, and sometimes have high
  achievement needs. Low scores suggest a poor
  educational background, lower IQ, impaired
  development of language and/or poor motivation.

34
Similarities

• Sample Items
• In what ways are a piano and drum alike?
• In what ways are steam and fog alike?

35
Similarities

• Logical, abstract thinking, concept formation,
  crystallized and fluid intelligence,
  distinguishing essential from nonessential
  details
• Requires that the test taker be aware of the
  belongingness or togetherness of objects in the
  environment. Thus, test takers require the
  ability to reason abstractly and to form verbal
  concepts.
• Scores decrease substantially in persons
  afflicted with schizophrenia, persons who are
  very rigid or inflexible thinkers, persons with
  senile dementia.
• High scores show good verbal concept formation
  and good abstract reasoning.

36
Information

• Sample Question
• At what temperature does water boil?
• Who was Catherine the Great?

37
Information

• Measures
• A) Range of general factual knowledge
• B) Old learning or schooling
• C) Intellectual curiosity and commitment to
  collect knowledge
• D) Awareness of day-to-day world
• E) Long-term memory
• This test samples the type of knowledge that an
  average person with average opportunities should
  know. The knowledge is usually based on
  over-learned material.
• This type of knowledge is very resistant to
  neurological damage (unless left hemisphere
  stroke) and psychological disturbance.

38
Comprehension

• Sample Items
• What do people use money for?
• Tell me some reasons why child labor laws are
  needed.

39
Arithmetic

• Sample Items
• How much is 4 dollars plus 5 dollars?
• The price of shirts is 2 for 31 dollars. What
  is the price of 1 dozen shirts?

40
Arithmetic

• Measures
• Computational skills and school learning
• fluid intelligence,
• Auditory memory and sequencing ability / short
  term memory (esp. auditory)
• Numerical reasoning, auditory sequencing, and
  numerical manipulation speed
• Concentration and attention
• Contact reality and mental alertness
• Logical reasoning and abstraction
• Test takers often find this subtest more
  challenging and stressful than the other subtests
  because it is more demanding and is timed.
• Persons who do well here tend to come from high
  socioeconomic families, are obedient
  teacher-oriented students and persons with
  intellectualizing tendencies. It also shows
  alertness, concentration, and good auditory
  short-term memory.
• Low scores suggest poor mathematical reasoning,
  poor concentration, distractibility, or poor
  auditory short-term memory.

41
Digit Span

• Sample Items
• 7-1
• 4-2-5-3-9-8-6

42
Digit Span

• Measures
• A) Immediate recall both forwards and backwards
• B) Ability to shift thought patterns
  (reversibility)
• C) Attention and concentration, short-term
  memory
• D) Auditory sequencing.
• Test of auditory/vocal short-term memory and
  attention.
• 1) The person must accurately encode the
  information
• 2) The test taker must accurately recall,
  sequence, and vocalize the auditory information.
• Persons who are less anxious appear to do best on
  this test.
• Persons who score well on digit backwards
  generally reflect persons who are flexible, have
  considerable concentration skills, and tolerate
  stress well.
• Digit span along with digit symbol/coding are the
  most sensitive subtest for determining brain
  damage, intellectual impairments, and learning
  disabilities.
• A) A 5-item discrepancy between digit forward and
  backward may suggest organic damage. Especially
  if digit backward scores are lower than the
  information and vocabulary subtests.
• B) Lowered digit forward is more often associated
  with left hemisphere lesions, lowered digit
  backward with right frontal damage or diffuse
  brain damage.

43
Letter-Number Sequencing

• Sample Items
• L-2 (2-L)
• D-2-G-5-H-8-K-3 (2-3-5-8-D-G-H-K)

44
Letter-Number Sequencing

• The test taker must reorder and repeat the list
  by saying the numbers first (in ascending order)
  and then the letter in alphabetical order.
• Overall the verbal component is assessing the
  ability to work with abstract symbols, verbal
  fluency, and verbal meaning.
• highly influenced by the amount and degree a
  person has received from education ? subject to
  cultural effects.

45
Performance Subtests

• Overall the scores on the performance scales
  represent
• A) The degree and quality to which an individual
  makes nonverbal contact with the surrounding
  environment.
• B) The capacity to integrate perceptual stimuli
  with purposeful motor behaviour.
• C) The ability to work quickly in concrete
  situations.
• D) The ability to interpret visuospatial stimuli.
  
• The performance tests are not as vulnerable to
  cultural bias as the verbal subtests.
• If a person scores significantly better on the
  Performance than the Verbal subtests (i.e., 12
  points or greater) what could this mean?
• Superior perceptual organization abilities.
• Very good at working under time constraints.
• A tendency toward low academic achievement
• Greater possibility of acting out
• Someone for a low SES.
• The presence of a language deficit (e.g.,
  learning disability).
• Certain populations are also likely to have a P gt
  V discrepancy Native Americans, Hispanics,
  bilingual persons, and blue-collar workers where
  visual-spatial learning is stressed.

46
Picture Completion

• 1) Picture Completion

47
Picture Completion

• Measures
• A) Visual recognition and identification
  (long-term visual memory).
• B) Reality contact awareness of environmental
  detail.
• C) Visual conceptual ability (perception of whole
  to its parts).
• D) Discrimination of essential from nonessential
  details.
• E) Ability to organize visually organized
  material.
• Persons who find it difficult to detach
  themselves emotionally from each object also
  score poorly.
• Persons who are impulsive also score low (quick
  responses without detail analysis). Low scorers
  may also have poor concentration, and poor visual
  organization.
• Persons scoring high are alert, have good visual
  acuity, and have the ability to recognize
  important visual information.

48
Block Design
49
Block Design

• Measures
• A) Analysis of whole into its parts.
• B) Spatial visualization
• C) Nonverbal Concept Formation
• D) Visual-motor coordination and perceptual
  organization
• E) Ability to concentrate and perceptual speed.
• It involves nonverbal problem solving skills
  since it requires an understanding of a problems
  components and then putting these components back
  into a whole.
• To score well a person must be able to think
  abstractly and demonstrate a high degree of
  flexibility since the frame of reference changes
  quickly.
• Administration is such that the researcher can
  directly observe the test takers responses.
• It is relatively culture free, and has low
  correlations (.4) with education.
• Depression and right hemisphere brain damage
  significantly lower block design scores.
• Persons afflicted with Alzheimers score very low
  on block design. It is a good tool for early
  diagnosis/detection of Alzheimers.

50
Matrix Reasoning
51
Matrix Reasoning
52
Matrix Reasoning

• Measures
• A) Planning ability.
• B) Nonverbal reasoning (perceptual organization).
  
• C) Visual-motor coordination and speed.
• High scores indicate an efficiency for planning
  ahead, and a flexible mental orientation. These
  abilities suggest and excellent ability to
  inhibit impulsive action.
• Low scores reflect impulsivity and poor
  visual-motor coordination. Often low scores also
  indicate frontal cerebral impairment.

53
Picture Arrangement
54
Picture Arrangement

• Measures
• A) Ability to plan and anticipate consequences
  (understanding an entire situation).
• B) Time conception and sequencing.
• C) Understanding nonverbal interpersonal
  situations.
• D) Speed of planning and associating information.
  
• Picture arrangement is a test of ability to plan,
  interpret, and anticipate social events within a
  cultural context.
• Picture arrangement and block design are key
  measures of nonverbal intelligence, with block
  design being less influenced by culture.
• Picture arrangement is very sensitive to brain
  damage in areas that disrupt nonverbal social
  skills.

55
Digit Symbol-Coding
1
2
1
2
56
Digit Symbol/Coding

• Measures
• A) Psychomotor speed with paper-and-pencil,
  ability to follow directions, short-term memory.
• B) Ability to learn a new task.
• C)Ability to quickly shift mental sets.
• D) Capacity for sustained attention and
  concentration.
• E) Sequencing ability.
• To score high persons need to have high
  psychomotor speed as well as good visual-motor
  integration.
• The test requires appropriately combining newly
  learned memory of the digit with a particular
  symbol.
• Digit symbol is highly sensitive to both organic
  and functional impairments. As with block design
  depressed and brain damaged persons have a great
  deal of difficulty with this test. Scores are
  also highly dependent on age. The older you are
  the poorer your performance.
• Since much time pressure exists, anxiety,
  obsessiveness, and perfectionism significantly
  lower scores.

57
Symbol Search
58
Symbol Search

• Measures
• A) Speed of visual search.
• B) Planning and speed of information processing.
• C) Encoding information for further processing
  (learning).
• It is designed to be a pure test to assess
  information-processing speed.
• High scores indicate that test takers rapidly
  absorb information and can also integrate and
  respond to this information. Good amounts of
  visual-motor coordination, short-term visual
  memory, planning, attention, and concentration
  are also needed.
• Low scores suggest slow mental process, visual
  perceptual troubles, lack of motivation, anxiety,
  and short-term memory impairment. A reflective,
  perfectionistic, or obsessive problem-solving
  style also tends to lower scores.

59
Object Assembly
60
Object Assembly

• Measures
• A) Ability to benefit from sensory-motor
  feedback.
• B) Visual-motor integration.
• C) Holistic processing (parallel processing).
• D) Synthesis. Putting things together in familiar
  configurations.
• E) Differentiation of familiar objects.
• Object Assembly is a test of motor coordination
  and control (like block design and digit symbol).
  
• Persons who have difficulty changing their frame
  of references (e.g., obsessive-compulsive
  persons) tend to do very poorly.
• Persons who score well or poorly on block design
  tend to score similarly with object assembly.

61
Common test errors

• A) Failure to record test taker responses, circle
  scores, or record times.
• B) Too lenient or too tough! Give too many or too
  few points for an answer.
• C) Failing to question when required by test
  manual.
• D) Improper questioning of test taker.
• E) Clerical errors (improper conversion of raw to
  standard scores, calculation of chronological
  age, etc.)

62
Culture IQ

• IQ tests have been criticized for being biased in
  favor of white, middle-class people.
• But efforts to construct culture-free and
  culture-fair tests have been disappointing.
• Culture affects nearly everything to do with
  taking a test, from attitudes to problem-solving
  strategies.
• Negative stereotypes about a persons ethnicity,
  gender, or age may cause the person to suffer
  stereotype threat, a burden of doubt about his or
  her own abilities, which can lead to anxiety or
  "disidentification" with the test.

63
Many social scientists consider IQ tests useful
for predicting school performance and diagnosing
learning difficulties, as long as test scores are
combined with other information and used
"intelligently." But ... critics would like to
dispense with the tests because they are so often
misused or misinterpreted.
64
Cultural Differences - USA

• Researchers have found that
• European Americans have higher IQ scores than
  African Americans
• Hispanic Americans have higher IQ scores than
  African Americans but lower IQ scores than
  European Americans
• Asian Americans have higher IQ scores than all of
  the groups

65
Gender Differences

• Researchers have found that
• Men score higher on math problem solving
• Men score higher on visual spatial rotation
• Women tend to score higher on verbal fluency

66
FCBTI answer key

• Briskness (Zwawosc)
• Yes 3, 29, 31, 34, 37, 49, 55, 94, 110, 114,
  115, 116, 119
• No 11, 36, 41, 57, 62, 83, 98
• Perseveration(Perseweratywnosc)
• Yes 2, 7, 9, 26, 32, 40, 46, 61, 78, 103, 107
• No 1, 15, 16, 19, 21, 24, 28, 47, 85
• Sensory sensitivity (Wrazliwosc sensoryczna)
• Yes 14, 17, 48, 51, 77, 93, 102, 112, 113
• No 8, 10, 23, 27, 30, 33, 45, 56, 100, 106,
  109,

67
FCBTI answer key

• Emotional reactivity(Reaktywnosc emocjonalna)
• Yes6, 12, 25, 35, 43, 50, 63, 66, 68, 69, 74,
  91, 99
• No 39, 42, 44, 59, 70, 108, 120
• Endurance (Wytrzymalosc)
• Yes 60, 64, 79, 87, 90, 92, 95, 101, 117
• No 5, 38, 52, 58, 71, 72, 76, 80, 81, 82, 84
• Activity (Aktywnosc)
• Yes 13, 18, 20, 22, 53, 54, 67, 75, 86, 88,
  89, 96, 97, 104, 105, 111, 118
• No 4, 65, 73

68
The Regulative Theory of Temperament (RTT) - an
overview

• Theory primarily presented by Strelau about
  twenty year ago, has undergone several changes
• The current status of the RTT - described by nine
  postulates
• It ascribes temperament to formal characteristics
  of behavior present since early infancy in humans
  and animals, and underline the biological
  background of temperament characteristics as well
  as their possible changes due to biologically
  determined life-span variation and individual-
  specific interaction with the environment
• RTT underlines the functional significance of
  temperament characteristics especially under
  extreme demands

69
The Regulative Theory of Temperament (RTT) - an
overview

• the structure of temperament is described by six
  following traits briskness, perseverance,
  sensory sensitivity, emotional reactivity,
  endurance, and activity
• the location of RTT traits among dozens of other
  temperament and personality characteristics can
  be demonstrated by means of correlational and
  factor analytic studies
• a theoretical model of the "temperament-stress"
  aimed at examining the functional significance of
  temperamental characteristics as postulated by
  the RTT is constructed

70
Temperament - definition

• Temperament refers to basic, relatively stable,
  personality traits expressed mainly in the formal
  (energetic and temporal) characteristics of
  reactions and behavior. These traits are present
  from early childhood and they have their
  counterparts in animals. Primarily determined by
  inborn biological mechanisms, temperament is
  subject to changes caused by maturation and
  individual-specific genotype-environment
  interplay
• (Strelau, 1998)

71
Postulates of RTT

• 1. Temperament reveals itself in the formal
  characteristics of behavior. This statement,
  based on the conviction that for centuries formal
  traits of behavior have constituted the most
  frequently quoted feature that describes the
  nature of temperament, determined from the very
  beginning our way of studying temperament.

72
Briskness (BR)

• tendency to react quickly, to keep a high tempo
  in performing activities, and to shift easily in
  response to changes in the surroundings from one
  behavior (reaction) to another

73
Perseveration (PE)

• tendency to continue and to repeat behavior after
  cesation of stimuli (situations) evoking this
  behavior

74
Sensory Sensitivity (SS)

• Ability to react to sensory stimuli of low
  stimulative value
• Pertains to different modalities

75
Emotional Reactivity (ER)

• tendency to react intensively to
  emotion-generating stimuli, expressed in high
  emotional sensitivity and in low emotional
  endurance

76
Endurance (EN)

• ability to react adequately in situations
  demanding long-lasting or high stimulative
  activity and under intense external stimulation