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Objective Personality Testing
Objective Personality Tests
Material Covered
4 major approaches to test construction Examples of test based on first three test
construction procedures Use of personality tests in modern clinical
practice
Characteristics Objective Personality Tests
Standard set of questions Fixed response options
Objective Personality Tests: Advantages Individual or groups (economical) Administration is simple/objective Scoring is simple/objective Interpretation of results requires less
interpretative skill than projective tests Apparent increased objectivity and reliability
Objective Personality Tests: Disadvantages
Items limited to behavior Single overall score Transparent meaning of items Forced choice approach
Test Construction Approaches
Logical or content validation Empirical Criterion Keying (MMPI) Factor Analysis (NEO Personality Inventory) Construct Validity (Combines all of the above)
Approaches to Test Construction: Content Validation
Defining all aspects of the construct Consulting experts about the constructs Having expert judges assess each potential
item Perform psychometric analyses of items
Content Validation: An Example
Goal: Construct a test designed to measure attitudes toward school
Answer true or false I enjoy getting up in the morning for school I like my teacher(s) I enjoy seeing my friends at school I enjoy the subjects I learn about at school
Content Validation: Advantages and DisadvantagesAdvantages
Face validity with test takers
Disadvantages
Easy to fake good or bad
Content Validation: The Mooney Problem Checklist
Assesses emotional functioning in the following areas:
Home and family Interpersonal relationships Courtship and marriage Morals an religion School/occupation Economic security social skills and recreation Health and physical development
Approaches to Test Construction: Empirical Keying
Create test items to measure on or more traits
Administer test items to a “criterion” and “control” group
Select items that distinguish between these two groups
Content of the item is not considered important
Empirical Keying: Minnesota Multiphasic Inventory (MMPI)
Developed in 1930’s Starke Hathaway Ph.D. & J. Charnley
McKinley, MD. Needed test to identify diagnosis Developed an item pool Identified a group of patients and nonpatients Resulting scale of 550 items
(true/false/cannot say)
MMPI Clinical ScalesScale # Scale Name Meaning of High Score
1 Hypochochodriasis Concern about health
2 Depression Depression
3 Hysteria Somatic complaints
Denial of psych. prob.
4 Psychopathic Deviate Antisocial behavior
5 Mas.-Fem Nonstandard gender interests
6 Paranoia Suspiciousness
7 Psychasthenia Anxiety
8 Schizophrenia Disturbed thought
9 Hypomania Manic mood
10 Social Introversion Shy, social inept
MMPI: Validity Scales
? (Cannot say) Unanswered items
L (Lie) Faking good
F (Infrequency) Faking bad
K (Defensiveness) Defensiveness in admitting to problems
Interpreting MMPI
Validity Scales Single scales Profile analysis
MMPI: Shortcomings
Unrepresentative normative sample Language of items was outdated (including
sexist language) Inadequately addressed difficulties such as
suicide or drug use
MMPI: Revision
Assembled team of MMPI experts Rewrote some items Added new items Administered new item pool (n=704) to a
standardization sample (representative) Retained 567 items from the item pool
MMPI-2 Clinical Scales
Anxiety Fears Obsessiveness Depression Health Concerns Bizarre Thoughts Anger Cynicism
Antisocial Practices Type A Low Self-Esteem Social Discomfort Family Problems Work Interference Negative Treatment
Indicators
Approaches to Test Construction: Factor Analysis (Internal Consistency)
Correlational technique used to determine whether a group of items are correlated with one another
Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) Based on five factor model of personality
(Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness)
Name derived from initials of the first three traits
Assesses all five traits Emphasizes assessment of normal
personality style rather than psychopathology Parallel forms
Approaches to Test Construction: Construct Validity Combines aspects of content validity,
empirical criterion keying and factor analytic approaches in developing assessment devises (Clark and Watson, 1995)
The Place of Personality Assessment in Contemporary Clinical Psychology
Or
Why do we use these tests?
Psychological Assessment: Purpose (Textbook Response)
Classification (diagnosis) Description Prediction
Classification
Results from psychological testing assists in making a diagnosis
Critics of psych testing- tests are not reliable or valid diagnostic instruments
Defenders: test information is used in conjunction with other clinical data
Description
Dependent Depressed Client
Narcissistic DepressedClient
Testing provides a time efficient means of developing a broader understanding of the patient.
Prediction
Test findings can be used to make predictions about behavior
Whether client will benefit from psychotherapy
What type of psychotherapy would be best Suicidal risk Risk for violence
The Place of Personality Assessment in Contemporary Clinical Psychology
Or
Why do we use these tests?
Psychological Assessment: Purpose: Typical Referral Question
Please evaluate for organic brain damage (patient has history of polysubstance abuse) and evaluate for psychotic thinking
Tests Administered
Evidence of Organic Damage
Weschlser Memory Scale Trail Making Test Rey-Osterrieth Complex
Figure Test Benton Test of Visual
Memory
Evidence of Psychotic Thought
MMPI Rorachach Beck Depression
Inventory
Interpretation of Results
Normal performance on tests of memory, concentration and attention
Personality testing suggested the primary etiological role of emotional turmoil.
Presence of both acute distress and chronic characterological problems.
Acute distress: severe depression and a risk for suicide
Reality testing in the normal range Significant ego regression when faced with affective
arousal was noted.
Projective and Objective Personality Tests: Incremental Validity
Degree to which assessment increases prediction based on base rates (prevalence) or other sources
Incremental Validity: Current Findings
Tentative support for the incremental validity of the MMPI-2 scales in prediction of personality disorder, aggression, and differentiation between depressed patients and substance abuse patients
NEO-PI-R: personality disorder, maternal responsiveness to infants and violence
Rorschach: thought disorder but not other scores
TAT: not adequately investigated
Objective Tests: Summary
Material Covered
4 major approaches to test construction Examples of test based on first three test
construction procedures Use of personality tests in modern clinical
practice