Behavior

Assessment
 Development of Personality Testing

• Initial attempts to measure personality

first emerged at the turn of the 20th
century.
- Theory-driven, not empirically derived,
pyschometric properties (e.g., reliability,
validity) were not established
• World War I ushered along the evolution of
personality tests
- importance of predicting adjustment of
new recruits to the military based on
single dimensions of personality and
behavior
• Within two decades following WWI, tests
evolved to measure multiple dimensions of
personality
Whether personality is
measured or assessed?
Personality Assessment
Defined

– The measurement of traits,

types, and states
– In order to assess values,
interests, attitudes, world
views, acculturation,
personal identity, cognitive
and/or behavioral styles.
Personality Assessment:
Some Basic Questions

n Who is being assessed?

n What is being assessed?
n Where is the assessment conducted?
n How is the assessment conducted?
Test Procedures

n Structured Interviews
n Case History Evaluations
n Paper and Pencil Questionnaires
n Computer-Administered Test Batteries
n Behavioral Observation
n Measuring Physiological Response
 Subjective methods of
assessing personality

n Autobiography
Case history
Interview
Observation
Rating scale
Assessment Methods
n Objective Methods
– Highly structured
– Limited number of responses to test
items
– Prescribed scoring procedures
n Projective Methods
– Individual provides structure to
unstructured stimuli (i. e. ink blots,
pictures, words, etc.)
– Examiner makes an assessment
based on inferences taken from the
test taker’s subjective responses
Personality Assessment
n Projective measures give the subject an abstract or
unstructured stimulus
– Inkblot or incomplete sentence
– Requires subject to interpret the stimulus and respond
n Objective tests are standardized questionnaires
requiring written responses
– Usually self-report (16PF, MMPI-II)
– Task is to answer some specified number of questions about
yourself
Objective Personality
Measures

• Objective measures utilize highly

structured response formats
• Consist of unambiguous stimulus
items
- Forced choice (e.g., true/false)
- Likert scale ratings
• Result in a quantitative score that
can be compared with normative
score data
Sample Questionnaire
Projective technique
The Rorschach Inkblot Test

n The Rorschach Inkblot Test is the

most commonly used projective test
– In a 1971 survey of test usage, it was
used in 91% of 251 clinical settings
survey
– It is one of the most widely used tests
that exists
– It is widely cited in research
 What is the Rorschach?
n The stimuli were generated by dropping ink onto a
card and folding it
– They are not, however, random: the ten cards in
the current test were hand-selected out of
thousands that Rorschach generated

n Ten blots – 5 black/white, 2 red/gray (II & III) and 3

color (VIII – X)

n Thought to tap into the deep layers of personality and

bring out what is not conscious to the test taker

n The following are the inkblots

Rorschach Ink Blots
Pictures as Projective Stimuli
n Story is attached to a specific Picture
n Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
– Vague scenes (30 picture cards and one blank)
– Imagine and describe the events that lead up to a
scene, what is taking place and the outcome
– The stories, the clinician’s observations of the
examinee, and their extra-test behavior are
evaluated
– Interpretation based on Murray’s theory of
personality (need, press and thema)
– Questionable in terms of reliability
Words as Projective Stimuli
n Word association or sentence completion
– Examinee is asked to respond to a specific word or
phrase
– Time taken to respond, congruence between
responses, and information obtained in the inquiry
may be considered
– Statistics relating to popularity, reaction time,
content, and test taker’s response may be used
– Sentence completion has high face validity but
may be subject to faking
– Idiosyncratic responses may interfere with
reliability estimates
Sample Word

“Mother”
Production of Figure
Drawings
n Figure Drawing Test
– Examinee is asked to draw a person or a
scene
– The drawing is discussed to determine
the examinee’s interpretation and intent
– Position of drawing on the background,
size of figures, relationship between
figure(s), and style may be considered
– Questionable validity and reliability
Draw a person test
Picture Completion Sample
Projective Methods in
Perspective
n Assumptions
– Stimulus materials thought to elicit significant
responses
– Interpretation yields information about underlying
traits, or states
n Situational variables
– Environmental, interpersonal, and intrapersonal
variables can effect responses
n Psychometric Considerations
– Subject to uncontrolled variations in test protocol
– Test re-test or split half reliability estimates may
be inappropriate
Behavioral Assessment Methods
n Objective observation of a subject’s behaviour is a
technique that falls in the category of behavioral
assessment
Behavioral observations are widely made in interviews and in
a variety of workaday settings. Employers, supervisors, and
teachers—either formally or informally—make use of
behavioral observations in making decisions about people for
whom they have responsibility
n Focus on behavior as opposed to underlying traits, or states
– Target behaviors are considered to be measurable events
– Observations are made of one person at a time
– Behavior as a specific response to the environment
– Behavior is measured directly or indirectly
 Sources of Inaccuracy in Personality
Testing
n Personality assessment largely depends on
self-report

n Response sets may affect personality results

 Social Desirability
Some test takers choose socially acceptable
answers or present themselves in a favourable
light
 Faking
Faking -- some test takers may respond in a
particular way to cause a desired outcome

– may “fake good” (e.g., in employment settings) to

create a favourable impression

– may “fake bad” (e.g., in clinical or forensic settings)

as a cry for help or to appear mentally disturbed

– may use some subtle questions that are difficult to

fake because they aren’t clearly face valid
Behavioral Observation and
Rating Scales
n Subject’s behavior is observed and recorded
– Well defined target behaviors
n Attachment behavior in infants
– Specific measures
n Frequency
n Duration
n Intensity
– Rating scales
n Direct, or indirect behaviors
n Broad, or narrow focus
When to Use what?

n Each design has strengths and weakness;

strength of one is weakness of another
n Which design a researcher uses depends
on the research question and the goal of
research
n Taken together, three designs provide
complementary methods for exploring
personality. ECLECTIC Approach
Issues in Behavioral
Assessment
n Validity of construct being measured
– Definition of the target behavior
– Behavioral changes across time and situation
n Reliability
– Definition of the target behavior
– Behavioral changes across time and situation
– Inter-rater reliability (contrast effect)
– Classical test theory versus generalizability
theory
– Reactivity
THANK YOU