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Chapter 8. Personality Assessment. Objective Testing. Objective Personality Measures Fixed set of responses True/false Yes/No Dimensional scaling. Assessment Procedures. Objective Testing. Advantages Economical Large group testing Computer scoring & interpretation
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Chapter 8 Personality Assessment
Objective Testing • Objective Personality Measures • Fixed set of responses • True/false • Yes/No • Dimensional scaling
Objective Testing • Advantages • Economical • Large group testing • Computer scoring & interpretation • Single dimension or trait can be targeted • Straightforward • Objective & reliable
Objective Testing • Disadvantages • Questions may be uncharacteristic of respondent • Underlying reason for behavior not evident • Mixed behaviors, unrepresentative • Distorted or lost information • Purposeful incorrect answering • Misinterpretation
Objective Testing • Content validation • What to assess? • Assess major manifestations of condition/trait of interest • Requires • Definition of variables • Consulting experts • Judges for assessment of relevance • Psychometric analysis
Objective Testing • Content validation • Issues • Assumption of interpretation • Patient accuracy • Honesty • “Expert” definitions
Objective Testing • Empirical criterion keying • Minnesota Multiphastic Personality Inventory (MMPI) • No assumption based on content of item • What matters is that those in the diagnostic group share responses • If those in a certain group consistently respond to an item in the same way, it can be considered a “sign” of their diagnostic status • Empirical basis, not always rational • Difficult to interpret meanings
Objective Testing • Factor analysis • Intercorrelations among items • Exploratory • Reduce to the basic dimensions • Confirmatory • Test hypothesized structure • Empirical emphasis
Objective Testing • Construct validity • Combination of approaches • Specific scales for specific concepts • Valid when scale matches target • Feedback modifies theories and measures
Objective Testing • MMPI & MMPI-2 • Self-report inventory • Purpose • Originally to identify psychiatric diagnoses • Categorical organization • Also used to infer personality traits • Computerized
Objective Testing • MMPI & MMPI-2 • Validity • Issues • Test taking attitudes • Response sets • Response bias
Objective Testing • MMPI & MMPI-2 • Validity Scales • ? (cannot say) • F (infrequency) • L (Lie) • K (defensiveness) • Addendums • Fb (back page) • VRIN (variable response infrequency) • TRIN (true response infrequency)
Objective Testing • MMPI & MMPI-2 • Screening capabilities • Severity • Hypothesis generation • Issues of test length • Personality traits • Atheoretical test • Not developed with constructs in mind
Objective Testing • MMPI & MMPI-2 • Reliability and Validity • Difficulties in evaluating • Poor internal consistency • Incremental validity • Cutoff scores
Objective Testing • MMPI & MMPI-2 • Concerns • Non-clinical usage (e.g., personnel selection) • Necessary revisions? • Appropriate test pool? • Unclear validity • Excessive overlapping among scale items
Objective Testing • Revised NEO-Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) • 240 items • 5 point response scale • Five factor model • Neuroticism • Extraversion • Openness to experience • Agreeableness • Conscientiousness
Objective Testing • Revised NEO-Personality (NEO-PI-R) • Rational-empirical test • Reverse scoring • Strong reliability & stability • Relevant to psychological disorders
Objective Testing • Revised NEO-Personality • Limitations • Lack of validity scales • Need for more demonstration of clinical relevance • Treatment planning • Psychometric criticisms
Projective Testing • Procedure for discovering a person’s characteristic modes of behavior by observing behavior in response to a situation that does not elicit or compel a specific response
Projective Testing • Characteristics • Examinee imposes own structure • Unstructured stimulus • Indirect methodology • Freedom of response • Many variables to rate
Projective Testing • Standardization • Benefits • Facilitation of communication • Established norms • Issues • Misleading descriptions • Too many variables
Projective Testing • Reliability • Test retest • Split half issues • Validity • Must be specific in what is predicted
Projective Testing • Rorschach inkblots • Multiple variation in scoring • 10 cards • Administration • Card is shown, responses offered & noted • Evaluation and rating of answers
Projective Testing • Rorschach • Scoring • Location • Content • Determinants • Popular/original answers • Exner’s Comprehensive system of scoring • Research based approach • Psychometric data
Projective Testing • Reliability • Facing challenges • Lacks retest studies • Reliability of clinicians’ interpretations • Validity • Anecdotal accounts vs. empirical research • When is the test most useful? • Environmental conditions, and influence on interpretations
Projective Testing • Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) • Reveals personality characteristics • Interpretation to stories about pictures • Infers psychological needs, themes, interpersonal styles • Rarely formally scored • Subjective instrument
Projective Testing • Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) • 31 TAT cards • Situational images • Ambiguous in detail • Administration • 6-12 pictures selected • Examinee creates story • Scoring • Less emphasis on quantified system • Avoids distortion • Lacks empirical data
Projective Testing • Thematic Apperception Test • Reliability • Difficult to evaluate • Must rely on judges’ interpretation • Validity • Comparisons to case data & therapist evaluations • Matching techniques & analysis of protocol • Comparison of clinical diagnoses & judgment • Principles of interpretation
Projective Testing • Sentence completion • Rotter Sentence Blank • 7 point scale • Varied for youth • Objective scoring, free response • Cognitive & behavioral assessment, in some sense
Projective Testing • Illusory Correlation • Clinicians learn false association of test responses to specific characteristics over time • Powerful source of error • Incremental validity • Degree to which procedure adds to prediction • Must be beyond base rates
Use & Abuse of Testing • Protection • APA standards require training • American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) certifications • Restrictions in purchasing tests • Privacy • Right to explanations • Relevancy of testing • Informed consent
Use & Abuse of Testing • Confidentiality • Right of privileged communication for psychologists and psychiatrists • Influence of Tarasoff case • Breaches of confidentiality warranted when safety is an issue • Influence of managed care • Consent for release
Use & Abuse of Testing • Discrimination • Knowingly or unknowingly • Influence of civil rights movement • Can be built into test items themselves • Phrasing and constructions
Use & Abuse of Testing • Test Bias • Validity issue: if it can be demonstrated that the validity of a test varies significantly across groups, then a case can be made that the test is “biased” • Things to remember: • Differences in mean scores do not necessarily indicate test bias • Tests may be valid (and not biased) for some purposes, but not for others • One can “overcome” test bias by using different prediction equations for the different groups
Use & Abuse of Testing • Test Bias • For example, a personality inventory for hostility – scores vary for men and women. Is it biased? • Correlation between hostility scores and predicted verbal fights similar for men and women • Not biased, since the test’s predictive validity was comparable for both groups: similar scores “mean” the same thing • Correlation between hostility scores and predicted physical fights different for men and women • Potentially biased, since the test’s predictive validity is not the same for both groups: similar scores do not “mean” the same thing
Use & Abuse of Testing • Computer based assessment • Administers & interprets testing • Advantages • Cheaper • Enhances client attention and motivation • Standardization • Issues • Misuse, poor training/understanding • Reliability & validity • Testing situational control • Test security & cultural biases
Use & Abuse of Testing • Computer-Based Test Interpretation (CBTI) • Advantages • Speed of results & interpretations • Database access • Processes complex scoring patterns • Issues • Scientific scrutiny • Inappropriate usage • Reliability • Validity • Clinical usefulness