Projective Assessment of Personality I Pertemuan 3 Matakuliah: Psikologi Diagnostik Tahun: 2010

Projective Assessment of Personality Frank (1939) initiated this approach, stressing that projective tests had two principal features: –the use of media that were variously described as ambiguous, unstructured –plastic and tasks in which there were a wide range of possible responses that were relatively free from social prescriptions, thus allowing for maximum expression of individual differences. An individual’s response(s) to these stimuli can reflect internal needs, emotions, past experiences, thought processes, relational patterns, and various aspects of behavior Subject’s lack of awareness of the intent of the examiner Bina Nusantara University 3

Projective Assessment of Personality Subtypes of Projective tests: Association techniques (e.g., the Rorschach, word association) in which a word or image is associated with stimuli Completion techniques (e.g., the Sentence Completion Test) Construction techniques (e.g., the TAT) involving the creation of an art form such as a story or picture Expressive techniques such as play or psychodrama. Bina Nusantara University 4

Projective Assessment Projection Coined in the 1930s, the term projective tests was derived from psychoanalytic concepts In contrast to questionnaires, inventories, and other assessment instruments of the time, such methods were intended as techniques for making unconscious aspects of personality manifest. Freud’s concept of projection as a defensive operation, nonetheless used the term to characterize ways subjects attributed their own desires, feelings, and behaviors to others or at least ways in which needs and motives influenced perception Apperception - organizational scheme shaped by the individual’s past experience. Bina Nusantara University 5

Rorschach First introduced by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach in 1920’s. Consists of 10 inkblots. Test was criticized in the 1950’ and 1960’s because of the lack of norms and standardized procedures. Bina Nusantara University 6

Rorschach The central assumption of the Rorschach is that stimuli from the environment are organized by a person’s specific needs, motives, and conflicts, and by certain perceptual “sets.” Rorschach responses provide three types of data, which are commonly referred to as the structural, the thematic, and the behavioral components of the test protocol Generate comprehensive descriptions of a respondent’s personality functioning incl. adaptive strengths and weaknesses in how people manage stress, attend to and perceive their surroundings, form concepts and ideas, experience and express affect, view themselves, and regard other people. Bina Nusantara University 7

Administration Step 1: Introducing the Respondent to the Technique Step 2: Giving the Testing Instructions –Exner (1993) recommends that the examiner hand the subject the first card and ask, “What might this be?” Step 3: The Response (Association) Phase –Record the time and all responses in verbatim Step 4: Inquiry –collect the additional information required for an accurate scoring of the responses. It is intended to clarify the responses that have already been given, not to obtain new responses Step 5: Scoring Bina Nusantara University 8

Scoring Code the different categories and calculate the different quantitative formulas in the structural summary. There is general agreement throughout the different Rorschach systems that these categories include (a)The location, or the area of the inkblot that is used. This can vary from the use of the entire blot (whole response) to the use of an unusual detail (Dd). (b)The determinants, or specific properties of the blot they used in making their responses (color, shape, and so on); and (c)The content, or general class of objects to which the response belongs (human, architecture, anatomy, etc.). Popular Responses refers to the presence of frequently perceived responses. Special Scores incl. unusual characteristics of the response such as unusual verbalizations or inappropriate logic. Bina Nusantara University 9

Thematic Apperception Test Developed by Henry Murray (1938) 31 TAT cards depicting people in a variety of ambiguous situations (one blank card) The examinee is instructed to make up a story that includes what is occurring in the picture: the thoughts and feelings of the characters, the events that led up to the situation, and the outcome of the story. Bina Nusantara University 10

Thematic Apperception Test The basic assumption was that unconscious fantasies could be revealed by interpreting the stories subjects told regarding ambiguous pictures—access to things that a client was either unwilling to tell or unconscious of. Murray’s needs-press theory Thema – units of behavior that result from the interaction between needs and press Bina Nusantara University 11

Thematic Apperception Test Murray (1943) describes the TAT as a “method of revealing to the trained interpreter some of the dominant drives, emotions, sentiments, complexes, and conflicts of personality Imore structured stimuli and require more organized and complex verbal responses Assesses the “here and now” features of an individual’s life situation rather than the basic underlying structure of personality. Bina Nusantara University 12

Assets and Limitations Less susceptibility to faking Focus on the global nature of personality Ease of rapport can be approached from, and interpreted by, a number of different theoretical orientations. Bina Nusantara University 13 Greater potential for the subject to bias and distort his or her responses Inadequate internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and standardization in administration and scoring Confounded by verbal abilities, age, sex, intelligence, and reading ability (Klein, 1986). Quite sensitive to situational variables

TAT - Administration Variations on the instructions should also emphasize the four requirements of the story structure: 1. Current situation 2. Thoughts and feelings of the characters 3. Preceding events 4. Outcome Bina Nusantara University 14

TAT - Procedure Time Record responses, behavioral observations Questioning and Inquiry Order of presentation Use of the TAT (or CAT) with children Bina Nusantara University 15

TAT - Scoring Systems The Bellak scoring system (Bellak & Abrams, 1997) Cramer’s (1996) scoring system Weston’s coding system (1995) Bina Nusantara University 16

Children Apperception Test Developed by psychiatrist and psychologist Leopold Bellak and Sonya Sorel Bellak and first published in 1949 CAT is an individually administered projective personality test appropriate for children aged three to 10 years. Presenting a series of pictures and asking a child to describe the situations and make up stories about the people or animals in the pictures Bina Nusantara University 17

Children Apperception Test Assess conflicts related to certain stages of a child's development include relationship issues, sibling rivalry, and aggression. Animals were chosen for the pictures because it was believed that young children relate better to animals than humans. Theoretical basis – Murray’s theory of personality Bina Nusantara University 18

CAT - Administration The CAT takes 20–45 minutes to administer The test may be used directly in therapy or as a play technique in other settings. After carefully establishing rapport with the child, the examiner shows the child one card after another and encourages the child to tell a story about the characters. The examiner may ask the child to describe, for example, what led up to the scene depicted, the emotions of the characters, and what might happen in the future. Bina Nusantara University 19

CAT - Interpretation The scorer's interpretation should take into account the following variables: the story's primary theme the story's hero or heroine the needs or drives of the hero or heroine the environment in which the story takes place the child's perception of the figures in the picture the main conflicts in the story the anxieties and defenses expressed in the story the function of the child's superego and the integration of the child's ego. Bina Nusantara University 20