Projective Techniques

Psychological assessment - a process of testing that uses a

combination of techniques to help
arrive at some hypotheses about a
persons behavior, personality,
and capabilities
Purposes of Assessment
1) Screening
-to identify and provide services
-to determine need for further evaluation
2) Diagnosis
3) eligibility
- education, employment
4) intervention planning and program monitoring
4 Pillars of Assessment
1) norm-referenced tests
- standardized on a clearly defined
group (norm group) and scaled so that
each individual score reflects a rank
within the norm group
i.e. intelligence; reading, arithmetic, and spelling abilities; visual-motor skills; gross and fine
motor skills; adaptive behavior
2) interviews
- more open and less structured than formal testing and give those being interviewed an
opportunity to convey information in their own words
i.e. individuals personal and childhood history, recent life experiences, work and school
history, and family
background
3) observations of the test-taker in the
natural setting can provide additional
valuable assessment information
4) informal assessment procedures
e.g. projective tests, career-testing
Psychological Assessment Report
Psychological assessment is
never focused on a single test
score.
Every person has a range of
competencies that can be
evaluated through a number of
methods.
Psychologists seek to take the information
gathered from psychological assessment and
weave it into a comprehensive and complete
picture of the person being tested.
They evaluate the competencies as well as the
limitations of the person and report on them in an
objective but helpful manner.
Recommendations are based on all the

assessment results and from discussion with

peers, family, and others who may shed light on
the persons behavior in different settings.
Objective Test

vs.

Projective Test

responses are analyzed according to a

universal standard

based on psychoanalysis and seeks to expose the

unconscious perceptions of people

measures an individual's
characteristics in a way that is
independent of rater bias or the
examiner's own beliefs

interpretation is sensitive to rater or examiners

beliefs

bank of questions are marked and

compared against exacting scoring
mechanisms that are completely
standardized

designed to let a person respond to ambiguous

stimuli, presumably revealing hidden emotions
and internal conflicts

tend to have more validity than

projective tests

expose certain aspects of the personality of

individuals that are impossible to measure by
means of an objective test and are much more
reliable at uncovering "protected" or
unconscious personality traits or features

Projective Tests
- psychological tests that ask people to respond to a standard set of stimuli that are
vague and ambiguous which presumably evoke a persons feelings, needs, and
personality characteristics
people project their psychological reactions onto the test stimuli
Nature of Projective Tests
unstructured response format - unlimited variety of response options to allow free play
to the individuals thought processes, needs, anxieties, conflicts and fantasies
unstructured tasks brief and general instructions to evoke unconscious material
vague and ambiguous stimulus
no face validity - the test taker is usually not aware of the type of psychological
interpretation that will be made of their responses
Underlying Assumptions of Projective Techniques
1) The Projective Hypothesis: the way in which the individual perceives and interprets
the test material will reflect fundamental aspects of his psychological functioning
2) Global Approach to personality: a composite picture of the whole personality rather
than measuring specific traits or characteristics
3) Reveal covert, latent, or unconscious aspects of personality The more unstructured
the test, less likely it is to evoke defensive reactions
4) Psychodynamic or psychoanalytic influence
Evaluation of Projective Techniques
A. Rapport and Applicability
B. Faking - not as much opportunity for it

C. Examiner and Situational Variables - more subject to the influence

of these
D. Norms - most don't have them; idiographic qualitative or content
analysis instead
E. Reliability
1. Inter-rater-- probably the biggest concern;
most don't have standardized scoring
2. Test-retest-- questionable for some but some
demonstrate it
3. Internal consistency-- less of an issue since
most don't attempt to look at specific personality
characteristics
F. Validity - in general very questionable
Projective techniques represent valuable clinical tools, but have
limited psychometric success in isolation
Projective Method/ Projective Hypothesis
projective method term introduced by Frank to describe a category of tests for
studying personality with unstructured stimuli
projective hypothesis assumption that personal interpretations of ambiguous stimuli
must necessarily reflect the unconscious needs, motives, and conflicts of the examinee
Frank popularized the projective hypothesis
History of Projective Techniques
1879 Galton developed 1st projective technique word association test
it was adapted in testing by Kent & Rosanoff
used in therapy by Carl Jung, et al
Ebbinghaus used sentence completion as measure of intelligence (realized later that it
was more suitable for personality assessment)

1905: Binet invented a precursor to storytelling or thematic apperception techniques

- verbal responses to pictures as a measure of intelligence
1921: Rorschach published his famous inkblot test

projective tests lost some of their popularity during the 1980s and 1990s because of the
overall loss of popularity of the psychoanalytic method and theories
despite this, they are still used quite frequently

Classification of Projective Techniques

1) Association Techniques - association to inkblots or words
- Rorschach Inkblot Test
- Holtzman Inkblot Technique
- word association tests
2) Completion Techniques completion of sentences or stories
Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank
Sachs Sentence Completion Test
Rhode Sentence Completion Test
Rosenzweig Picture Frustration Study
3) Construction Techniques - construction of stories or sequences

The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

variations of the TAT:
Philippine Thematic Apperception Test
by Dr. Alfredo Lagmay
Thompson TAT (African- American figures) TEMAS (Hispanic persons)
The Picture Projective Test (PPT)

Thematic Apperception Tests for Specific Populations

Childrens Apperception Test (3 10 y/o)
Blacky Pictures (5 y/o & older)
Michigan Picture Test-Revised (8 14 y/o)
Adolescent Apperception Cards (12 19 y/o)
Senior Apperception Test
4) Expression Techniques expression with drawing or play
Draw-A-Person Test (DAP)
House-Tree-Person Test (HTP)
Draw-A-Family (DAF)