PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT, the measurement of personality and behavior. There are three general types.

Some assessment of personality involves Observer Ratings. This occurs in

1. NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION, and 2. SITUATIONAL TESTING

Problems with Observer ratings include:

A. Observer Bias, and B. Less than perfect inter-observer agreement.

These problems are fewer with the third type of Personality Assessment, which involves Self Report.

3. PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS, of which there are 2 subtypes

A.OBJECTIVE TESTS, which have

1) Straightforward stimuli and 2) Limited responses (Yes-No, or True-False)

B.PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES, which have

1) Ambiguous stimuli (like ink blots) and 2) Unlimited responses.

The usefulness of any test is dependent on:

1. RELIABILITY--Is the test a consistent measuring device? Primary measures of reliability include:

A. Internal Consistency, B. Inter-Rater Reliability, and C. Stability Across Time (test-retest reliability).

We will be primarily concerned with Test-Retest Reliability in class.

And 2. VALIDITY--How well does the test correlate with other psychological variables the test claims to measure? For example, how well do SAT or ACT scores predict success in college? This type of validity is known as Criterion Validity, which will be emphasized in our class. Other types of validity mentioned in the book include: Construct Validity, Convergent Validity, and Face Validity.

Imagine that this test is administered to the same group of people twice, with 6 weeks of time elapsing between test times. Good test-retest reliability would mean that someone’s 2nd score would be reasonable close to their first score. That is, the test would correlate highly with itself over time and 2 different administrations. Poor test-retest reliability would mean that a test would not be able to predict itself over time.

The level of reliability sets an upper limit on the level of validity a test may have. For example, if the test-retest reliability of the SAT is r=.6, the validity correlation of the SAT predicting college G.P.A. will never be greater than r=.6

2 methods of test construction:A. RATIONAL (Theoretical) and B. EMPIRICAL, a good example of which is the MMPI-Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, which has the following scales.

VALIDITY SCALES

L-Lie-Fake Good

F-Frequency, Fake Bad

K-Correction Factor--Defensiveness

CLINICAL SCALES

Hs-Hypochondriasis

D -Depression

Hy-Hysteria

Pd-Psychopathic deviate-Antisocial Personality

Mf-Masculinity/Femininity

Pa-Paranoid

Pt-Psychasthenia (Anxiety)

Sc-Schizophrenia

Ma-Hypomania

Si-Social Introversion

Please examine P. 49 in your text book to see how these MMPI scales are interpreted.

The RORSCHACH is a good example of a projective technique. There are 10 inkblots. There are many ways to score the Rorschach, 3 primary scores and their interpretations are:

F = Form

F + = Good Form, F - = Poor Form

F is interpreted as degree of “Reality contact”

C = Color

High frequency color = More emotionality

Low frequency color = Less emotionality

M = Movement

High frequency movement = Internal orientation Low frequency movement = External orientation.

The Thematic Apperception Test --TAT--is another example of a projective technique.