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Block 4 Unit 4 Other Measures of Personality

1. Name some important personality inventories.

Important personality inventories include the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI), and the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI).

2. What is meant by ink blot tests?

Inkblot tests are projective personality assessments that use ambiguous inkblots as stimuli. Respondents are asked to describe what they see in the blots, which is believed to project their feelings, thoughts, and conflicts.

3. What is meant by apperception?

Apperception is the process where new experiences are interpreted through the lens of existing knowledge, memories and motives.

4. What are the other apperception tests available?

Besides the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) there are also the Senior Apperception Test (SAT) and the Children Apperception Test (CAT).

5. Discuss the Children Apperception Test.

The Children's Apperception Test (CAT) is a projective test for children that uses pictures of animals in various situations. Children are asked to tell stories about the pictures which can reveal their inner feelings, conflicts, and personality traits. It takes 20-45 minutes to administer and is used in clinical, research, or educational settings.

6. Discuss the Senior Apperception Test.

The Senior Apperception Test (SAT) is designed to be used for elderly people, using age related stimuli to elicit stories and other information to assess personality and psychological functioning.

7. Discuss the relevance of MMPI-2 as a diagnostic tool.

The MMPI-2 is a multi-trait self-report test used widely to assist clinical psychologists in diagnosing psychological disorders. It includes clinical and validity scales that help identify patterns of behaviour, while also assessing the honesty of the respondent.

8. What are the modifications done on TAT?

The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) has been modified to develop the Senior Apperception Test (SAT) for the elderly and the Children Apperception Test (CAT) for children.

9. Give a comparative account of Rorschach with TAT.

Both Rorschach and TAT are projective tests; Rorschach uses inkblots as stimuli, while TAT uses pictures of people or animals. Both tests rely on subjective interpretation but can provide insights into unconscious aspects of personality.

10. Discuss the Apperception concept and the related tests.

Apperception is a psychological concept where new experiences are understood by relating them to existing knowledge, feelings, and motivations. Apperception tests, such as the TAT, SAT and CAT, involve using ambiguous stimuli to elicit stories that reveal the individual's needs and feelings.

11. What are the uses of Apperception Tests.

Apperception tests are used to assess an individual's personality, identify specific motivational needs, assess an individual's world view and to open a dialogue between a therapist and client.

12. What are the unique features of Children’s Apperception Test?

The CAT uses animal figures in various situations instead of pictures of people, which makes the test more relatable and engaging for children. It is used to examine a child’s psychological processes in terms of their perception and interpretation of their environment, including their family, and social relationships.

13. How is MMPI-2 different from original MMPI? Personality

Differences Between MMPI and MMPI-2 The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was updated and restandardized in 1989, resulting in the MMPI-2. The MMPI-2 has 567 items, the same as the original, but with significant changes. These include:

• Items with sexist wording and outdated content were modified.
• Items with objectionable content were eliminated.
• New national norms, more representative of the current population, were calculated.
• These modifications enhanced the value of the MMPI-2, making it preferable over the original.

14. Briefly describe NEO-PI.

NEO-PI Description

The NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) is an objective test used to measure personality traits not linked to psychological disorders, focusing on the "big five" dimensions of personality. It measures:

• Neuroticism: Includes facets such as anxiety, hostility, depression, self-consciousness, impulsiveness, and vulnerability.
• Extraversion: Includes warmth, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity, excitement-seeking, and positive emotions.
• Openness to Experience: Includes fantasy, aesthetics, feelings, actions, ideas, and values.
• Agreeableness: Includes trust, modesty, compliance, altruism, straightforwardness, and tender-mindedness.
• Conscientiousness: Includes competence, self-discipline, achievement-striving, dutifulness, order, and deliberation.

The NEO-PI is designed to provide a general description of normal personality relevant to clinical, counselling, and educational situations. The test is available in self-report (Form-S) and observer report (Form-R) formats. The five domain scales have internal consistency coefficients ranging from .86 to .95, while facet scales range from .56 to .90. It has been validated against other personality inventories and projective techniques. This test is effectively used in counseling, clinical, business, and research settings.

15. Describe the Rorschach Test.

Description of the Rorschach Test

The Rorschach test, developed by Hermann Rorschach in 1921, is a projective psychological test that uses a series of 10 inkblots. The test is designed to assess personality characteristics and emotional functioning.

• The examinee is shown each of the 10 inkblots individually and asked to describe what they see.
• Five of the inkblots are black and white, two are red and grey, and three are multicoloured.
• The test administrator asks the examinee what each blot might be or represent.
• Following the initial responses, the examiner asks questions about the features (shape, colour, shading) that determined each response and may use a "testing the limits" procedure to discover what the examinee can see.
• The test is based on the assumption that individuals will project their own personality and emotions onto the ambiguous stimuli.
• Responses are scored by psychologists using predetermined categories such as colour, shape, movement, use of the whole or part of the blot, and the content of responses.

16. What is the criticism against the Rorschach Test? 

Criticism of the Rorschach Test

The Rorschach test has faced criticism, including:

• The interpretation of the responses is highly dependent on the examiner's subjective judgment, leading to concerns about reliability among examiners.
• Scoring relies on the skill and clinical intuition of the examiner, resulting in low reliability.
• There is limited evidence to support the validity of the test.
• Some critics question the ability of inkblot interpretation to accurately assess personality.
• Despite standardization attempts, such as Exner's Comprehensive System, concerns remain about the test's psychometric properties.

17. How is the scoring done on Rorschach cards?

Scoring of Rorschach Cards

Scoring of the Rorschach test may include:

• Responses are scored on various categories, including location (whether the whole or part of the blot was used), determinants (such as form, colour, and shading), content (human figures, animal details, etc), and the originality of the response.
• A simple count of the total number of responses can serve as a rough index of mental ability.
• The form quality of responses shows how accurately the response matches the location, and its originality.
• The content is also scored, with categories like human figures (H), human details (Hd), animal figures (A), animal details (Ad), art objects, plants, maps, landscapes, and clothing.
• Certain responses are scored as popular because they are frequently given.

18. Describe Holtzman inkblot test. In what these are different from the Rorschach test?

Description of the Holtzman Inkblot Test (HIT)

The Holtzman Inkblot Test (HIT) was developed by Holtzman et al. in 1961 to address the limitations of the Rorschach test, such as the unlimited number of responses and poor scorer reliability.

• The HIT has two parallel forms (A and B), each with 45 cards.
• The inkblots are both coloured and achromatic (black and white) and markedly asymmetric.
• Only one response per card is taken from the subject.
• Each response is followed by a two-part question about where the perception was seen in the blot and what the perception suggests about the blot.
• The responses are classified under 22 response variables.
• The HIT is more standardised than the Rorschach.
• The scorer reliability of the HIT is highly satisfactory, and validity data has also yielded satisfactory results.
• The HIT has overcome the problem of productivity ratio by specifying the number of responses.
• Holtzman also developed a variant of HIT called HIT 25, consisting of 25 cards. 

• The HIT has a fixed number of cards and a fixed number of responses, whereas the Rorschach does not.
• The HIT has more objective scoring criteria than the Rorschach.
• The HIT's blots are more varied, some are asymmetrical, and some have colours and different visual textures.
• The HIT is generally considered to have better psychometric properties than the Rorschach.

19. How is the scoring done for this test?

Scoring of the Holtzman Inkblot Test

The scoring of the HIT involves classifying all responses under 22 response variables, which have percentile norms based on eight groups of people, including normal and pathological individuals, ranging in age from 5 years to adulthood. These 22 variables are developed by computer analysis of hundreds of test protocols.

20. Describe the Thematic Apperception Test. What theory is TAT based on?

Description of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is a projective test developed by Henry Murray and his colleagues. It is used to assess perception of interpersonal relationships.

• It consists of a series of 20 black and white pictures of people in ambiguous situations.
• The individual is asked to tell a story about each picture, including what is happening, what led up to it, and what might happen in the future.
• The stories are analyzed by a psychologist to reveal the individual's hidden emotions and unconscious conflicts.
• The examiner looks for recurring themes and the projection of hidden emotions onto the characters in the pictures.
• The stories are analyzed in reference to Murray’s list of "needs" and "press," with needs referring to individual motivations (e.g. achievement, affiliation, aggression) and press referring to environmental forces. TAT Theory The TAT is based on the theory that people project their own internal needs, desires, and conflicts onto ambiguous stimuli. This idea was originally based on Freud's psychoanalytic theory, which suggests that unconscious processes play a significant role in behavior.

21. On what criteria are the stories interpreted on TAT cards?

Criteria for Interpreting Stories on TAT Cards

Stories told in response to the TAT cards are interpreted based on various criteria, including:

• Themes: The central ideas or patterns that emerge in the stories can provide insights into the individual's needs and concerns.
• Hero Identification: The character with whom the respondent identifies, often referred to as the "hero," can reveal aspects of the respondent's own self-perception and values.
• Emotional Tone: The emotional atmosphere of the story can reveal the individual's underlying feelings and mood.
• Needs and Press: Murray's concepts of "needs" (internal motivations) and "press" (environmental forces) are used to analyze the stories for recurring themes related to motivations, conflicts, and environmental interactions.
• Unconscious Conflicts and Desires: The stories are evaluated for evidence of unresolved conflicts, fears, and desires that may not be consciously recognised by the person taking the test.
• Mental Disorders: Certain types of responses can be indicative of mental disorders, such as overcautiousness and preoccupation with details suggesting obsessive-compulsive disorder, or excessive focus on the relationship with one sex that suggests homosexuality.
• Frequency and Intensity: The examiner pays attention to the frequency and intensity with which certain themes appear in the person's stories.