PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES IN PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT

Submitted by
Ms. Gayatri Harish Kashyap

To
Department of Psychology,
K.B.P. College, Vashi

For
Internal Assessment
in
Psychological Testing, Research Methods and Statistics
(UGPSY501)
TYBA Psychology

August 2019
 DECLARATION

I, Gayatri Harish Kashyap with 196229 studying Course in Psychology at TYBA

The information included in the assignment is borrowed from the resources

Further, I would like to declare that the tasks related to Home Assignments are
done by me alone under the guidance of Ms. Anagha Naik.

Signature:

Student’s Name: Gayatri Harish Kashyap

Date: 10th August 2019

The completion and final outcome of this assignment required constant guidance and assistance
from many people and I’m extremely fortunate to have completed my assignment. All that I have
done is only due to such supervision and assistance and I would I like to thank every one of
them.

I respect and thank our professors Dr. Ezaz Shaikh and Ms.Anagha Naik, for providing me the
opportunity to gain more knowledge through the course ” PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES IN
PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT” and give all their support and assistance which made the
submission of this assignment possible.

I’m thankful and fortunate to get constant encouragement, support and guidance from all the
Teaching Staff of the Department of Psychology. This assignment also could not be completed
without the help and continuous support of my parents. I would also like to thank my friends for
their most valuable effort to help me.

Last but not the least; I would once again like to express my gratitude to my friends, teachers
and my parents for their support and willingness to spend their important time with me.

Gayatri Harish Kashyap

TYBA Psychology
 Projective Techniques in Personality Assessment

Projective method is a technique of personality assessment in which some judgement of the assessee's
personality is made on the basis of performance on a task that involves some sort of structure to
unstructured or incomplete stimuli. Projective Tests are established in the idea of Sigmund Freud’s theory
of unconscious processes. Projective techniques were first sought out as a means for people to
unconsciously project their personality on to obscure or vague stimuli, possibly revealing the patient’s
internal conflicts and hidden emotions. Projective testing has been found to significantly differ from other
objective psychological tests through the range of possible responses making them difficult to standardize
and evaluate.

The most widely used tests according to Lubin, Larsen, and Matarrazzo (1984), who surveyed
psychologists and psychiatrists in many different fields, are the Rorschach Inkblot Test, Thematic
Apperception Test (TAT), Draw a Person Test, and Sentence Completion Methods. Unlike self-report
methods, these are indirect methods of personality assessment; assessees aren't being directly asked to
disclose information about themselves. Rather, their task is to talk about something else (inkblots or
pictures). Inferences are drawn from these responses. Another advantage of projective measures is that
they tap unconscious as well as conscious material. Projective tests represent the most spontaneous
outcomes of human behavior. The test does not depend on the verbal details of the person who is getting
tested. The results are confirmed on the basis of what the person tells spontaneously while conducting the
tests.

Although projective testing has always been popular, it has faced scientific evidence controversy,
referred to as the “projective paradox”, throughout history when reviewing the problems and benefits of
this style of testing. Criticisms of projective tests include the heavy reliance on clinical judgement and
raise questions regarding (a) the reliability of the test results; (b) the validity and method; (c) contextual
influences; (d) range of the tests. Linzey in 1959 gave a classification of Projective tests. According to her,
Projective techniques are mainly divided into five groups that are Associative techniques, Completion
techniques, Constructive techniques, Choice/ordering techniques, Expressive techniques. Inkblots,
pictures, words and sounds are used as stimuli in projective techniques of personality assessment.

There are a number of different types of projective tests. Some of the are:

1. The Rorschach Inkblot Test: This test was one of the first projective tests developed and
continues to be one of the best-known and most widely used. Developed by Swiss psychiatrist
Hermann Rorschach in 1921, the test consists of 10 bilaterally symmetrical inkblots on different
cards. 5 cards are achromatic (black and white), 2 are black white and red and 3 are multicolored.
The responses are recorded verbatim by the tester. Gestures, the tone of voice, and other reactions
are noted. During the test, the subject is provided with each of the ten cards, one by one and is
question like 'what might this be?’ .Test-takers are allowed to hold the cards in any position they
may want, whether it is upside down or sideways. The examiner records all relevant information,
including the test taker’s verbatim responses, nonverbal gestures, the length of time before the
first response to each card, the position of the card and so forth. Then a second administration
referred to as an inquiry is conducted. During the inquiry, the examiner attempts to formulate the
 test taker’s percept (perception of the image). Rorschach protocols are scored according to several
categories including location, determinants, content, popularity and form.

2. The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): It was developed by psychologist Henry A. Murray
and artist and lay psychoanalyst Christina D. Morgan during the 1930s. TAT involves showing
respondents ambiguous pictures of people and asking them to come up with an explanation for
what is happening in the scene. The purpose of the test is to learn more about the respondents'
thoughts, concerns, and motives based on the stories they create to explain the vague and often
provocative scenes depicted in the pictures. The test consists of 31 cards, 30 with pictures and a
blank card. Subjects are then asked to interpret the pictures from real life by creating a story
describing the situation of the person in the cards. The blank card is provided with the goal to ask
subjects to create their own scene and story. In this process the subject subconsciously reveals his
or her personality. A number of systems for interpreting TAT data exists. Many interpretive
systems incorporate Henry Murray’s concepts of need, press and thema.

3. Word Association Test: In this the assesse verbalizes the first word that comes to mind in
response to a stimulus word. Word Association Test may be defines as a semi structured,
individually administered, projective technique of personality assessment that involves the
presentation of a list of stimulus words, to each of which the assesse responds verbally or in
writing with whatever comes immediately to mind first upon first exposure to the stimulus word.
 Responses on this test are evaluated with respect to variables such as popularity, reaction time,
content, and test retest responses.

4. Sentence Completion Tests: In general, sentence completion refers to a task in which the assesse
is asked to finish an incomplete sentence or phrase. A sentence completion test is a semi
structured projective technique of personality assessment that involves the presentation of a list of
words that begin a sentence and the assesse’s task is to respond by finishing each sentence with
whatever word or words come to mind. This method is based on the idea that it will reveal more
about thoughts, fantasies, and emotional conflicts than testing with direct questions. One of the
most popular of these tests is the RISB, or Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank. A sentence
completion test may be useful and straightforward way to obtain information from an honest and
verbally expressive test taker about diverse topics. The test may tap interests, educational
aspirations, future goals, fears, conflicts, needs etc. The test has high face validity but it comes
with a certain degree of transparency about the objective of the test.

5. Figure Drawing Tests: In thee test the assesse produces a drawing that is analyzed on the basis
of its content and related variables.
a. The Draw-A-Person Test: Typically used with children, the subject is asked to draw a picture
of a man, a woman, and themselves. The test interpreter might look at factors such as the size
of particular parts of the body or features, the level of detail given to the figure, as well as the
overall shape of the drawing. To evaluate intelligence, the test administrator uses the Draw-a-
Person: QSS (Quantitative Scoring System). This system analyzes fourteen different aspects
of the drawings, such as specific body parts and clothing, for various criteria, including
presence or absence, detail, and proportion. In all, there are 64 scoring items for each
drawing. Like other projective tests, the Draw-A-Person test has been criticized for its lack
of validity. While a test interpreter might suggest that certain aspects of the drawing are
indicative of particular psychological tendencies, many might argue that it simply means that
the subject has poor drawing skills.
b. The House-Tree-Person Test: In this type of projective test, assesse is asked to draw a house,
a tree, and a person. Once the drawing is complete, they're asked a series of questions about
the images they've drawn. The test was originally designed by John Buck and included a
series of 60 questions to ask the respondent, although test administrators may also come up
with their own questions or follow-up queries to further explore the subject's responses. For
example, the test administrator might ask of the house drawing: "Who lives here?," "Who
visits the person who lives here?," and "Is the occupant happy?". Every sketch can symbolize
many ideas: the level of satisfaction with the house at present, degree of rigidity of the
subject's personality, contact with reality, fears or obsessions, intra-personal balance, the
person's subconscious picture of his/her development, etc. Emotional strengths or attributes
like self-esteem and confidence can be reflected from how dark or light the lines in the
drawing are. Flexibility or rigidity of a personality and the strength of ego can easily be
deciphered from the details of the drawing.