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Assessment 4Joel Sampson
Bethune Cookman University Assessment 4
1. Define some of the uses for clinical assessment
Some of the uses for clinical assessment are to help clients gain greater insight, to assist in treatment planning, and to assist in court decisions.
2. Distinguish between objective and projective testing and compare and contrast how each can be used in clinical assessment.
Objective personality test assesses various aspects of personality. A projective test is designed to let a person respond to stimuli that reveal hidden emotions.
3. Describe the main purpose and the kinds of scales that are used in test interpretation, and the population for which it is geared.
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory …show more content…
The four opposing personality dichotomies are as follows: extroverted vs. introverted, sensing vs. intuiting, thinking vs. felling, and judging vs. perceiving.
16 Personality Factors [16PF] – Its main purpose is to assess general personality characteristics [non-clinical] based on Cattell’s work. This test provides the results in three sections: 16 primary factors [personality traits along a bipolar continuum], 5 global factors [extraversion, anxiety, though-mindedness, independence, and self-control] and 3 validity scales [impression management, infrequency, and acquiescence].
NEO Personality Inventory-Revised [NEO PI-R] – Its main purpose is to assess non-clinical personality dimensions using the Big Five personality traits. The Big Five personality traits are: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Each of the five factors contains an additional six facets or subscales.
Coopersmith’s Self Esteem Inventory [SEI] – Its main purpose is to assess level of self-esteem. This test is used to assess how children aged 8 through 15 regard themselves in relation to four areas: general self, self in relation to peers, self in relation to parents, and self in relation to
Personality is a pattern of behaviour, thinking or emotion that is typical for an individual and fairly consistent across various situations. Psychologists tend to think of personality in terms of stable characteristics that are either biologically determined or acquired on a strong biological foundation, making it slow if not impossible to change. Personality tests measure such traits. Objective tests use a set of standardised rating scales, while projective tests require free responses to given stimuli.
In an objective personality test, the participant uses a set of scales or words for self-description. The details vary depending on the test, but there are usually statements describing behaviours, feelings and thoughts with which the test-taker has to agree or disagree. These raw results are coded, scored and then compared to statistically constructed norms. The results indicate how the person compares to others on a particular characteristic.
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Examples
Popular objective personality tests include the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, or MMPI; Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory, or MCMI-II; Myers-Briggs Type Indicator; 16PF Questionnaire; Newcastle Personality Assessor, or NPA, and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire.
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Standardisation: Objective Advantage
One of the main advantages that objective tests have over projective tests is standardisation. This means they are fairly easy and thus cheap to administer. The scoring doesn't depend on who is doing the scoring, so there is no bias in results. The basic interpretation of objective tests doesn't require a trained psychologist. Sometimes even a computer can do that. The most popular objective personality tests have been extensively tested and have well-established norms, so it's possible to interpret people's scores statistically in comparison to the general population. Many of the objective tests have good grounding in psychological theory.
- One of the main advantages that objective tests have over projective tests is standardisation.
- The most popular objective personality tests have been extensively tested and have well-established norms, so it's possible to interpret people's scores statistically in comparison to the general population.
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Validity and Reliability: Objective Advantage
Most importantly, objective personality tests are fairly reliable and have overall higher validity than projective tests. A reliable test measures consistently. If a test is reliable, the same person should obtain the same or very similar scores on different days. A valid test measures what it is supposed to measure. The scores of a test with a high validity correlate with behaviour and allow for its prediction. A valid test of extroversion would produce scores that have positive associations with social behaviour. Although the correlations with behaviour are fairly low, even for the objective tests, they are better than for the projective tests.
- Most importantly, objective personality tests are fairly reliable and have overall higher validity than projective tests.
- A valid test of extroversion would produce scores that have positive associations with social behaviour.
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Limitations of the Concept of Personality: Objective Disadvantage
The main disadvantages of objective personality tests have to do with the concept of personality. Some psychologists, including Walter Mischel, point out that behaviour is largely situation dependent and that even the best personality tests don't predict behaviour or real-life outcomes very well.
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Lack of Subtlety: Objective Disadvantage
Many objective tests have been created to screen for mental disorders, MMPI being the most significant example, but companies use them now to asses people for work purposes. In clinical diagnosis, however, objective tests are a very rough tool that doesn't allow for subtle differentiations. They tell the clinician nothing about the individual experiences and inner workings of the patient's mind. Many clinicians like projective tests as they are less restrictive and more subtle, especially when interpreted individually and not "scored" in the manner of objective tests.
- Many objective tests have been created to screen for mental disorders, MMPI being the most significant example, but companies use them now to asses people for work purposes.
- Many clinicians like projective tests as they are less restrictive and more subtle, especially when interpreted individually and not "scored" in the manner of objective tests.
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Lack of Individual Context: Objective Disadvantage
Objective tests, ostensibly, don't rely on the content of the question but on statistical association. In principle, it doesn't really matter whether somebody really is "almost never late for his appointments"; what matters is that, generally, people who say "yes" to this statement are more likely to behave in a certain way. This particular association, however, might not exist at all for that particular person.
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Easy to Fake: Objective Disadvantage
Objective tests are easier to fake then projective tests. Although many incorporate questions that check for lying and a tendency to give socially acceptable answers, most of them are easy to spot, especially for intelligent and motivated people, for example, in a job-recruitment context.
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Comparison
Objective tests are acceptable tools for personality assessment, especially for scientific purposes. They are economical to use and provide standardised scores that allow researchers to compare groups of people effectively. As research instruments, they have good reliability and better validity than projective tests. They also might provide some indication of the strengths and weaknesses of particular individuals, but they should be treated as a supporting tool only. Projective tests work best as subtle, qualitative instruments of clinical diagnosis that every clinician interprets according to his experience. A projective test is an enabling technique first and foremost, rather than a test in a quantitative, statistical sense.