1. TAT and Sentence Completion Tests

2. Strengths of Sentence Completion Tests  Open-ended, free response  Easily administered, brief  Engaging for client  Purpose disguised, some projection  Can develop special purpose tests  Can become part of clinical interview (maybe most common use)

3. Limitations of Sentence Completion Tests  Low reliability, validity (ISB is a possible exception)  Response styles play a strong role  Interpretation may be time-consuming  Requires literate client  Limited incremental validity of screener

4. Rotter’s Incomplete Sentences Blank (ISB)  40 items with short stems  Takes about 20 minutes, easy to administer  Has a scoring manual with scoring criteria  Acceptable reliability  Cutoff of 135 for maladjustment

5. Scoring the ISB 6. Severe conflict: suicidal, severe family probs, strong neg attitudes, bizarre 5. Moderate conflict: inferiority, generalized social difficulty, psychosomatic complaints, concern over failure. 4. Mild conflict: specific c., not deep- seated or incapacitating. 3. Neutral: neither + or -. Lacking emotion or personal reference. 2. Specific positive: + attitude toward spec. things (e.g., school, hobbies) and general warm feelings toward others. 1. General positive: gen + feelings, optimism, humor, social adjustment 0. Very positive: clear and intense humor, optimism, acceptance of others.

6. TAT: Description and Administration  A set of 31 somewhat ambiguous black-and white illustrations  Up to 20 cards are selected for presentation, based on client’s age and gender  Client is instructed to create a story that describes: What are they doing? What happened before? What are they thinking and feeling? What will be the outcome?  Client’s stories are recorded verbatim

7. TAT: Strengths  Richness of personality description  Reflects current concerns  Describes interpersonal issues, patterns, motivations  Taps unconscious material

8. TAT: Limitations  Questionable reliability and validity  No standardization  Multiple scoring systems  Time-consuming  Relies on clinical intuition  Little known cross- culturally

9. TAT Stories: Some Assumptions  Storyteller ordinarily identifies with a person in the story.  The storyteller’s dispositions, strivings and conflicts are sometimes represented symbolically.  All stories are not of equal importance.  Themes that arise directly out of card are less significant than those which are more indirect.  Recurrent themes are most important.

10. TAT Interpretation  Multiple scoring systems, none standard (Murray’s is too cumbersome)  Interpretation relies on clinical skill and intuition of the tester.  Considerations: Do stories coincide with typical themes? Conformity with instructions Repetition/intensity of themes Sequence of themes (perseveration) Psychodynamic content Conflicts

11. TAT: Lilienfeld et al Critique  Different stimulus sets limit generalizability  Multiple scoring systems  Limited incremental validity  Validity results from different systems are equivocal  No norms available  It doesn’t matter: clinicians use intuitive systems anyway