1 / 44

Chapter 8

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

nevan
Download Presentation

Chapter 8

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Chapter 8 Personality Assessment

  2. Objective Testing • Objective Personality Measures • Fixed set of responses • True/false • Yes/No • Dimensional scaling

  3. Assessment Procedures

  4. Objective Testing • Advantages • Economical • Large group testing • Computer scoring & interpretation • Single dimension or trait can be targeted • Straightforward • Objective & reliable

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. Objective Testing • Content validation • Issues • Assumption of interpretation • Patient accuracy • Honesty • “Expert” definitions

  8. 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

  9. Objective Testing • Factor analysis • Intercorrelations among items • Exploratory • Reduce to the basic dimensions • Confirmatory • Test hypothesized structure • Empirical emphasis

  10. Objective Testing • Construct validity • Combination of approaches • Specific scales for specific concepts • Valid when scale matches target • Feedback modifies theories and measures

  11. Objective Testing

  12. Objective Testing • MMPI & MMPI-2 • Self-report inventory • Purpose • Originally to identify psychiatric diagnoses • Categorical organization • Also used to infer personality traits • Computerized

  13. Simulated MMPI Items

  14. Objective Testing • MMPI & MMPI-2 • Validity • Issues • Test taking attitudes • Response sets • Response bias

  15. 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)

  16. Objective Testing • MMPI & MMPI-2 • Screening capabilities • Severity • Hypothesis generation • Issues of test length • Personality traits • Atheoretical test • Not developed with constructs in mind

  17. Objective Testing • MMPI & MMPI-2 • Reliability and Validity • Difficulties in evaluating • Poor internal consistency • Incremental validity • Cutoff scores

  18. 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

  19. 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

  20. Objective Testing

  21. Objective Testing • Revised NEO-Personality (NEO-PI-R) • Rational-empirical test • Reverse scoring • Strong reliability & stability • Relevant to psychological disorders

  22. Objective Testing • Revised NEO-Personality • Limitations • Lack of validity scales • Need for more demonstration of clinical relevance • Treatment planning • Psychometric criticisms

  23. 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

  24. Projective Testing • Characteristics • Examinee imposes own structure • Unstructured stimulus • Indirect methodology • Freedom of response • Many variables to rate

  25. Projective Testing • Standardization • Benefits • Facilitation of communication • Established norms • Issues • Misleading descriptions • Too many variables

  26. Projective Testing • Reliability • Test retest • Split half issues • Validity • Must be specific in what is predicted

  27. Projective Testing • Rorschach inkblots • Multiple variation in scoring • 10 cards • Administration • Card is shown, responses offered & noted • Evaluation and rating of answers

  28. Rorschach Inkblot

  29. Projective Testing • Rorschach • Scoring • Location • Content • Determinants • Popular/original answers • Exner’s Comprehensive system of scoring • Research based approach • Psychometric data

  30. Example: Rorschach Scoring

  31. 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

  32. 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

  33. 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

  34. Example: TAT Scoring

  35. 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

  36. Projective Testing • Sentence completion • Rotter Sentence Blank • 7 point scale • Varied for youth • Objective scoring, free response • Cognitive & behavioral assessment, in some sense

  37. 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

  38. 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

  39. 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

  40. Use & Abuse of Testing • Discrimination • Knowingly or unknowingly • Influence of civil rights movement • Can be built into test items themselves • Phrasing and constructions

  41. 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

  42. 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

  43. 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

  44. 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

More Related