Personality Assessment

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Personality Assessment

• Empirical personality theoryOverview
• Assessment approaches
• Modern instruments
• MMPI-2
• Rorschach
• TAT
• Other

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History

• Originally, largely questionnaire with
  personality psycho-pathology items (continuum
  concept)
• Woodworth Personal Data Sheet
• Bernreuter Personality Inventory

• 1920s Rorschach
• 1930s1940s MMPI
• 1940s ThematicApperception Test
• Projective drawing tests
• Sentence completion tests

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Empirical Personality Theory

• To be distinguished from broad, speculative
  theories
• Freud, Adler, etc.
• Other theories based on Trait-and-Factor concepts
• Traits are dispositions
• Disposition statistically reliable tendency to
  behave in certain ways, covarying across (certain
  classes of) situations
• Triggered by, and thus sensitive to, situations
• Example gasoline has disposition to burn when
  ignited

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Five-Factor Theory

• Most widely accepted theory today
• Based on factor analysis (what is that?) of
  non-evaluative acquaintance adjective ratings
• Cross-checked by analyses of self-report data
• Factors Extraversion/Surgency, Agreeableness,
  Stress Reactivity/Neuroticism, Conscientiousness
  ( Constraint), Intellect (Openness to
  Experience) (Absorption, per Tellegen) OCEAN
  for short
• Per Tellegen, there is two-factor higher level
  structure corresponding to mood positive vs.
  negative emotionality (1st 2 factorspositive,
  Conscientiousnessnegative)
• Each factor has materially significant facets
  (lower level factors)
• May be 7 big factorsPositive and Negative
  Valence (excellence evilness)or more

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Assessment Approaches

• Ratings by acquaintances (expensive)
• Questionnaires (objective assessment)
• Projective technique (what is projective
  hypothesis?)
• inkblot techniques
• story telling techniques
• interpretation of drawings
• Behavioral assessment (act frequency)
• Situational testing with ratings or act counts

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Innovative Methodologies

• Projective testing
• Criterion keyed scales
• Compare groups, pick items which discriminate
• Originally used on Strong Vocational Interest
  Blank
• Then used to build most MMPI scales
• vs. rational (or iterative) scale construction
• Validity scales
• MMPI L, F, and K VRIN, TRIN, S
• Acquiescence, Social Desirability, Infrequency
  scales

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Tests Commonly Used Today

• MMPI-2 (revision of MMPI, renorming)
• Millon Multiaxial Clinical Inventory-III
• tied loosely to DSM
• Rorschach
• Thematic Apperception Test
• Drawing tests (especially with children)
• Draw-a-Person
• House-Tree-Person

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MMPI-2 Profile Sheet
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MMPI-2 Interpretation

• Check validity scales
• Interpreted by code type, e.g. 49? in book
• Actuarial interpretation for the 1/2 or so of
  profiles which fit neatly into code types
• Clinical interpretation for the rest
• Combine correlates of individual elevated scales

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Sample
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Sample Actuarial Description 49' MMPI
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Sample Actuarial MMPI 49' Description
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Sample Actuarial MMPI 49' Interpretation
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Rorschach-like Card
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Rorschach Interpretation

• Two main types commonly used today
• Exners scores and their statistical and
  lore-based correlates
• Location
• Determinants (form, color, shading, etc.)
• Content (including movement)
• Content-based interpretations (especially
  psychoanalytic)

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Administering/Scoring the Exner CS Rorschach

• Standardized seating, order of cards,
  instructions (What might this be?)
• Encourage 2 responses on first card, then stop
• First time through cards (free association),
  ask no questions
• Second time through cards, ask questions

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Questions During Exner Rorschach Inquiry

• Location (Where do you see that?
  percept)e.g., whole blot, big detail, small
  detail, white space
• Determinants (What is there that makes it look
  like that?)e.g., form, color, shading,
  texture
• Note contente.g., inanimate, animal, human, are
  percepts in motion, special (blood, X-ray, ),
  popular response vs. not
• Note various odd behaviors/speech

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Exner Score Sheet - 1
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Exner Score Sheet - 2
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TAT Usage

• Different clinicians use different cards
• Almost no scoring done
• Content-based interpretation
• often in terms of interpersonal conflicts
  relationships

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Sample TAT Card (12F)
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Murrays TAT Scoring - Needs

• n Abasement
• n Achievement
• n Acquisition
• n Affiliation
• n Aggression
• n Autonomy
• n Blamavoidance
• n Cognizance
• n Creation

• n Deference
• n Dominance
• n Excitance
• n Exposition
• n Harmavoidance
• n Intraggression
• n Intranurturance
• n Nurturance
• n Sex
• n Succorance

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TAT Scoring Inner States

• Conflict
• Emotional Change
• Dejection
• Other Anxiety, Exaltation, Distrust, Jealousy

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TAT Scoring Variables

• Superego
• Pride
• Ego Structurization

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TAT Scoring Presses

• p Affiliation
• p Aggression
• p Dominance
• p Nurturance
• p Rejection
• p Lack, Loss
• p Physical Danger
• p Physical Injury

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Sentence Completion Tests

• Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank items are
  brief
• Most girls _____.
• Loevingers SCT longer, more evocative items
• My main problem is _____.
• Being with other people _____.
• A woman should always _____.
• When I am criticized, _____.

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Scoring/Research with Loevingers SCT

• Loevinger et al. have scoring schemes for 9 Ego
  Development stages Pre-social/Symbiotic,
  Impulsive, Self-protective, Conformist,
  Self-aware, Conscientious, Individualistic,
  Autonomous, Integrated
• Ego Development as Master Trait controlling
  other traits, impulses, etc. Scored from SCT
• Interrater reliability fair to excellent
• Lots of established correlates of stage-scores
• Notably associated with, but not synonymous with,
  (verbal) IQ