Psychological Test Evaluation

The purpose of evaluation is to determine what is happening in the individual's psychological life that may be blocking their ability to behave (or feel) in a more appropriate and constructive manner. Testing cannot necessarily pinpoint the precise cause of the disturbance, especially if it is a complex emotional issue, but it will give a number of clues that can help the parent, siblings, family and the professional guide the client in the right direction.

Psychological test administered

Test Definition Date administeredBasic Personality inventory The Basic Personality Inventory (BPI) is an

innovative, multiphasic personality assessment intended for use with clinical and normal populations to identify sources of maladjustment and personal strengths. The BPI can be used with both adolescents and adults, and is completed in half the time of other measures.The BPI measures twelve (12) distinct psychological traits. Scale names were chosen to avoid potentially inaccurate diagnostic labels while emphasizing construct dimensions of psychopathology. The BPI makes use of sophisticated procedures to minimize susceptibility to the social desirability response bias. It is sensitive to the tendency to describe oneself in favorable ("fake-good") and unfavorable ("fake-bad") terms. The easy reading level makes it suitable for a variety of populations.

Dec. 31 2004

Draw a person test Children are asked to draw a man, a woman, and themselves. No further instructions are given and the child is free to make the drawing in whichever way he/she would like. There is no right or wrong type of drawing, although the child must make a drawing of a whole person each time - i.e. head to feet, not just the face. The test has no time limit; however, children rarely take longer than about 10 or 15 minutes to complete all three drawings. Harris's book (1963) provides scoring scales which are used to examine and score the child's drawings. The test is completely non-invasive and non-threatening to children, which is part of its appeal.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. A separate standard

Dec. 28 2004

score is recorded for each drawing, and a total score for all three. The use of a nonverbal, nonthreatening task to evaluate intelligence is intended to eliminate possible sources of bias by reducing variables like primary language, verbal skills, communication disabilities, and sensitivity to working under pressure. However, test results can be influenced by previous drawing experience, a factor that may account for the tendency of middle-class children to score higher on this test than lower-class children, who often have fewer opportunities to draw. To assess the test-taker for emotional problems, the administrator uses the Draw-a-Person: SPED (Screening Procedure for Emotional Disturbance) to score the drawings. This system is composed of two types of criteria. For the first type, eight dimensions of each drawing are evaluated against norms for the child's age group. For the second type, 47 different items are considered for each drawing.The purpose of the test is to assist professionals in inferring children's cognitive developmental levels with little or no influence of other factors such as language barriers or special needs. Any other uses of the test are merely projective and are not endorsed by the first creator.

House-Tree Person The house-tree-person test (HTP)

is a projective personality test, a

type of exam in which the test

taker responds to or provides

ambiguous, abstract, or

unstructured stimuli (often in the

form of pictures or drawings). In

the HTP, the test taker is asked to

draw houses, trees, and persons,

and these drawings provide a

measure of self-perceptions and

attitudes. As with other projective

tests, it has flexible and subjective

administration and interpretation.

The HTP can be given to anyone

Dec. 28 2004

over the age of three. Because it

requires test takers to draw

pictures, it is often used with

children and adolescents. It is also

often used with individuals

suspected of having brain damage

or other neurological impairment.

The test takes an average of 150

minutes to complete; it may take

less time with normally

functioning adults and much more

time with neurologically impaired

individuals.

During the first phase of the test,

test takers are asked to use a

crayon to draw pictures,

respectively, of a house, a tree,

and a person. Each drawing is

done on a separate piece of paper

and the test taker is asked to

draw as accurately as possible.

Upon completion of the drawings,

test takers are asked questions

about the drawings. There are a

total of 60 questions that

examiners can ask. Examiners can

also create their own questions or

ask unscripted follow-up

questions. For example, with

reference to the house, the test

creator wrote questions such as,

"Is it a happy house?" and "What

is the house made of?" Regarding

the tree, questions include, "About

how old is that tree?" and "Is the

tree alive?" Concerning the

person, questions include, "Is that

person happy?" and "How does

that person feel?"

During the second phase of the

test, test takers are asked to draw

the same pictures with a pencil.

The questions that follow this

phase are similar to the ones in

the first phase. Some examiners

give only one of the two phases,

choosing either a crayon, a pencil,

or some other writing instrument.

One variation of test

administration involves asking the

individual to draw two separate

persons, one of each sex. Another

variation is to have test takers put

all the drawings on one page. Raven’s Progressive Matrix Raven's Progressive Matrices (often referred

to simply as Raven's Matrices) are multiple choice intelligence tests of abstract reasoning, originally developed by Dr. John C. Raven in 1936. In each test item, the subject is asked to identify the missing item that completes a pattern. Many patterns are presented in the form of a 4x4, 3x3, or 2x2 matrix, giving the test its name.

Jan. 4 2005

Bender’s Gestalt Visual Motor test The Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test, or

simply the Bender-Gestalt test, is

a psychological test first developed by

Jan. 4 2005

child neuropsychiatrist Lauretta Bender. The

test is used to evaluate "visual-motor maturity",

to screen for developmental disorders, or to

assess neurological function or brain damage.

The original test consists of nine figures, each

on its own 3 × 5 card. The subject is shown

each figure and asked to copy it onto a piece of

blank paper. The test typically takes 7-10

minutes, after which the results are scored

based on accuracy and other characteristics.

Sachs Sentence completion test Sentence completion tests are a class of semi-structured projective techniques. Sentence completion tests typically provide respondents with beginnings of sentences, referred to as “stems,” and respondents then complete the sentences in ways that are meaningful to them. The responses are believed to provide indications of attitudes, beliefs, motivations, or other mental states. There is debate over whether or not sentence completion tests elicit responses from conscious thought rather than unconscious states. This debate would affect whether sentence completion tests can be strictly categorized as projective tests.

A sentence completion test form may be relatively short, such as those used to assess responses to advertisements, or much longer, such as those used to assess personality. A long sentence completion test is the Forer Sentence Completion Test, which has 100 stems. The tests are usually administered in booklet form where respondents complete the stems by writing words on paper.

The structures of sentence completion tests vary according to the length and relative generality and wording of the sentence stems. Structured tests have longer stems that lead respondents to more specific types of responses; less structured tests provide shorter stems, which produce a wider variety of responses.

Jan. 6 2005

Test result and Interpretation

Subject’s intellectual capacity falls within the limited level, which denotes his poor ability to perceive and integrate logical relationships among abstract concepts. Visual-motor coordination is poor with bellow par memory recall.

Psychological and Emotional Functioning

Subject is seen to be an emotionally immature individual who may lack insight and secure feelings. He shows strong desire to abandon unsatisfactory situations and may respond to the demand of the environment with feelings of inferiority and regression. Diminished capacity of abstraction and organization, maybe reflective of ambivalence and faulty perception as well as lack of contact with reality. Signs of castration fears and feelings of helplessness contributed to psychosexual immaturity or low physical vigor. Traumatic experience in his life maybe contributory to inner feelings of conflict.

Interpersonal relationships

Shows withdrawal characteristics and tends to be evasive about the functional mastery of interpersonal relationships. He attempts to b cautious but may have the ability controlling aggressive drive. ________ attitudes and hostile feelings are also present. These may result in conflicting authority figure and difficulty in social interaction

Psychosexual

Sexual identity is directed towards same sex.

Diagnostic Impression

Schizophrenia paranoid tendencies should be addressed. Thinking disorders, perceptual and deviance are manageable. Subject is recommended to undergo progressive therapy and treatment to address inner conflict and disturbances in personality.