Chapter 8 Assessment: Self-Report and Projective Measures INTRODUCTION TO CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY 2E HUNSLEY & LEE PREPARED BY DR. CATHY CHOVAZ, KING’S COLLEGE, UWO

 Central Concepts in Self-Report and Projectives  The Person-Situation Debate  Self-presentation Biases  Culturally Appropriate Measures  Clinical Utility  Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory  Millon Measures  Measures of Normal Personality Functioning  Self-report Checklists of Behaviours and Symptoms  Projective Measures Topics:

 Personality traits: Consistent behaviors, attitudes and emotions across time  Objective personality tests: Tests that are scored the same way each time and not as open to interpretation  Projective personality test: Test taker responds to ambiguous stimuli and assessor determines some interpretation of the data  Clinical utility: Do the tests add important and useful information? Central Concepts in Self-Report and Projectives

 Walter Mischel: 1968 book Personality and Assessment launched debate  Limits to self-knowledge  Situational influences  Are behaviours consistent over time?  Research evidence points to influence of both person and situation The Person-Situation Debate

 Emphasizing the positive: People are often motivated to present themselves in a favourable light (e.g., custody cases, job applications) – “faking good”  Malingering: Trying to look worse than one is (e.g., insanity defence) – “faking bad”  Random responding: Not taking test seriously or cognitively impaired?  Validity scales: Portions of personality tests that are designed to catch these biases Self-Presentation Biases

 Projective tests may get around the self-presentation bias issue because the stimuli are ambiguous  Research evidence is mixed on whether this is the case Self-Presentation Biases

 Tests can be biased in several ways  May not be relevant to all cultural groups  How tests are related may not be equal across groups  Cut-off scores may be different for different groups  Different factors may exist for different groups Culturally Appropriate Measures

 Clinicians should only use measures that are validated with the ethnic group it is being used with (or results interpreted with caution)  Cross-cultural adaptations of tests are often needed Culturally Appropriate Measures

 Assessing cultural and linguistic factors:  Immigration history  Contact with other cultural groups  Acculturative status  Acculturative stress  Socioeconomic status  Language  (see Exhibit 8.1 p. 290) Culturally Appropriate Measures

Must consider: 1. Basic perspective – extent of knowledge 2. Applied perspective – clinical utility?  Do clinicians find the tool useful?  Reliable and valid information?  Does the tool improve upon clinical decision-making and treatment outcome? Clinical Utility

MMPI-2 (for adults) and MMPI-A for adolescents: Most commonly taught and used personality inventory in clinical psychology  First version published in 1943, had 550 items  Used empirical criterion keying: items were chosen that discriminated groups  Second version has 567 and adolescent version 478 items;  Used content approach to test construction: developing items that designed to tap a construct (not by how groups responded) Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

 Cannot Say (?): Total number of unanswered items  Lie Scale (L): A measure of self-presentation that is unrealistically positive  Infrequency Scale (F): A measure of self-presentation that is very unfavourable–malingering or severe psychopathology  Defensiveness Scale (K): Unwillingness to disclose personal information and problems. High K scale scores increase some other scores Some MMPI-2 Validity Scales

 Scale 1 (Hs: Hypochondriasis): Preoccupation with health issues  Scale 2 (D: Depression): Common symptoms of depression  Scale 3 (Hy: Hysteria): Physical symptoms when stressed and minimization of interpersonal problems  Scale 4 (Pd: Psychopathic Deviate): Rebellious attitudes, conflict with authorities and family, and antisocial activities  Scale 5 (Mf: Masculinity-Femininity): Measures gender- stereotyped interests and activities MMPI-2 Clinical Scales

 Scale 6 (Pa: Paranoia): Feelings of being mistreated, and delusions of persecution  Scale 7 (Pt: Psychasthenia): Tendency to worry, rumination, fearing loss of control  Scale 8 (Sc: Schizophrenia): Tendency to experience social alienation, delusions, hallucinations  Scale 9 (Ma: Hypomania): Tendency toward hyperarousal, excessive energy, agitation  Scale 0 (Si: Social Introversion): Introversion, not enjoying social contexts MMPI-2 Clinical Scales

 Norms: Developed with a large random sample selected from a diverse group in terms of ethnicity, SES, geography  Not a large sample of low educated or low-income individuals in norm group  Reliability: Good to mediocre depending on the scale; test-retest validity is very good (>.8)  Validity: Enormous amount of data – interpretation is complicated with many clinical and content scales MMPI-2 Norms, Reliability and Validity

 Focused on DSM diagnostic categories, but otherwise similar in design to the MMPI  MCMI-III 175 item (true false)  MACI (for adolescents) also 175 T/F items  Norms may underrepresent the American and Canadian population  Good reliability including test-retest reliability and internal consistency  Some possible over-pathologizing may exist Millon Measures: MCMI-III and the MACI

Note: used with the general population, so no validity scales California Psychological Inventory (CPI):  434 items similar in structure to the MMPI (shares many similar items); good normative, reliability and validity data NEO-PI-Revised:  Factor analytically derived inventory defines five factors: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism (acronym: ocean). Very good normative, reliability and validity data Measures of Normal Personality Functioning

 Achenbach (Child Behavior Checklist CBCL): Parents report a series of problems in their children (versions for teachers, caregivers)  Symptom Checklist 90-revised (SCL-90-R): Most widely used symptom measure in clinical settings. 90 items – 9 subscales; good reliability, but norms are not adequate and high intercorrelation among items  Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II): 21-item multiple choice on severity of depressive symptoms; scores may decrease with repeated administration Self-report Checklists of Behaviours and Symptoms

 Stimuli are ambiguous with respect to content and meaning  Based on psychoanalytic idea that people project their negative attributes about themselves onto ambiguous external stimuli  However, recent evidence indicates that the responses are about the person’s experiences and personality, not projection per se  Many of these tests lack rigor of testing guidelines Projective Measures

 Developed by Hermann Rorschach – 10 cards; symmetrical inkblots; people report on what they see in the inkblots  John Exner’s Comprehensive Scoring System  Main way to score the inkblots based on a very large normative sample of responses; although people of colour not adequately sampled  Recent norms have better representation – although test is not recommended currently for youth (because of over-pathologizing)  Good reliability; mixed data on validity Rorschach Inkblot Test

 Developed by Murray, 1943  31 cards with pictures on them  Participant tells a story about what they see in the picture  No consistently-used scoring mechanism, although the stories are supposed to yield data on needs, emotions, interpersonal relations, and conflicts within the individual  No clear norms or reliability data, making the TAT a test that is not recommended since its validity cannot be determined Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction or translation of this work beyond that permitted by Access Copyright (The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency) is unlawful. Requests for further information should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. The purchaser may make back-up copies for his or her own use only and not for distribution or resale. The author and the publisher assume no responsibility for errors, omissions, or damages caused by the use of these programs or from the use of the information contained herein. Copyright