Projective test

In psychology, a projective test is a personality test designed to let a person respond to ambiguous stimuli, presumably revealing hidden emotions and internal conflicts projected by the person into the test. This is sometimes contrasted with a so-called "objective test" / "self-report test", which adopt a "structured" approach as responses are analyzed according to a presumed universal standard (for example, a multiple choice exam), and are limited to the content of the test. The responses to projective tests are content analyzed for meaning rather than being based on presuppositions about meaning, as is the case with objective tests. Projective tests have their origins in psychoanalysis, which argues that humans have conscious and unconscious attitudes and motivations that are beyond or hidden from conscious awareness.

Theory

The general theoretical position behind projective tests is that whenever a specific question is asked, the response will be consciously formulated and socially determined. These responses do not reflect the respondent's unconscious or implicit attitudes or motivations. The respondent's deep-seated motivations may not be consciously recognized by the respondent or the respondent may not be able to verbally express them in the form and structure demanded by the questioner. Advocates of projective tests stress that the ambiguity of the stimuli presented within the tests allow subjects to express thoughts that originate on a deeper level than tapped by explicit questions, and provide content that may not be captured by responsive tools that lacks appropriate items. After some decrease in interest in the 1980s and 1990s, newer research suggesting that implicit motivation is best captured in this way has increased the research and use of these tools.

Projective hypothesis

This holds that an individual puts structure on an ambiguous situation in a way that is consistent with their own conscious and unconscious needs. It is an indirect method- testee is talking about something that comes spontaneously from the self without conscious awareness or editing.

Reduces temptation to fake
Does not depend as much on verbal abilities
Taps both conscious and unconscious traits
Focus is clinical perspective - not normative - but has developed norms over the years

Common variants

Rorschach

The best known and most frequently used projective test is the Rorschach inkblot test. This test was originally developed in 1921 to diagnose schizophrenia. Subjects are shown a series of ten irregular but symmetrical inkblots, and asked to explain what they see. The Rorschach was commonly scored using the Comprehensive System (CS), until the development of the newer scoring system, the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS) in 2011. In an influential review, the Rorschach Inkblot Test using the CS method has been labeled as a "problematic instrument" in terms of its psychometric properties.

Thematic apperception test

Another popular projective test is the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) in which an individual views ambiguous scenes of people, and is asked to describe various aspects of the scene; for example, the subject may be asked to describe what led up to this scene, the emotions of the characters, and what might happen afterwards. A clinician will evaluate these descriptions, attempting to discover the conflicts, motivations and attitudes of the respondent. A researcher may use a specific scoring system that establishes consistent criteria of expressed thoughts and described behaviors associated with a specific trait, e.g., the need for Achievement, which has a validated and reliable scoring system. In the answers, the respondent "projects" their unconscious attitudes and motivations into the picture, which is why these are referred to as "projective tests." Although the TAT is a commonly used psychological assessment instrument, its validity as a personality assessment test has been questioned. In contrast, it has high reliability and validity when used in research with larger samples.

Draw-A-Person test

The Draw-A-Person test requires the subject to draw a person. The results are based on a psychodynamic interpretation of the details of the drawing, such as the size, shape and complexity of the facial features, clothing and background of the figure. As with other projective tests, the approach has very little demonstrated validity and there is evidence that therapists may attribute pathology to individuals who are merely poor artists.

Other picture tests include:

Thompson version
CAT (animals) and CAT-H (humans)
Senior AT
Blacky pictures test - dogs
Picture Story Test - adolescents
Education Apperception Test -attitudes towards learning
Michigan Picture Test - children 8–14
TEMAS - Hispanic children
Make-A-Picture-Story (MAPS) - make own pictures from figures, 6 years and older

Graphology

Graphology is the pseudoscientific analysis of the physical characteristics and patterns of handwriting purporting to be able to identify the writer, indicating psychological state at the time of writing, or evaluating personality characteristics.

Graphology has been controversial for more than a century. Although supporters point to the anecdotal evidence of positive testimonials as a reason to use it for personality evaluation, most empirical studies fail to show the validity claimed by its supporters.

The Teste Palográfico (Palographic Test) is a personality test used frequently in Brazil.

Validity

Projective tests are criticized from the perspective of statistical validity and psychometrics. Most of the supporting studies on the validity of projective tests are poor or outdated.

In the case of clinical use, they rely heavily on clinical judgment, lack statistical reliability and statistical validity and many have no standardized criteria to which results may be compared, however this is not always the case. These tests are used frequently, though the scientific evidence is sometimes debated. There have been many empirical studies based on projective tests (including the use of standardized norms and samples), particularly more established tests. The criticism of lack of scientific evidence to support them and their continued popularity has been referred to as the "projective paradox".

Responding to the statistical criticism of his projective test, Leopold Szondi said that his test actually discovers "fate and existential possibilities hidden in the inherited familial unconscious and the personal unconscious, even those hidden because never lived through or because have been rejected. Is any statistical method able to span, understand and integrate mathematically all these possibilities? I deny this categorically."

Other research, however, has established that projective tests measure things that responsive tests do not, though it is theoretically possible to combine the two, e.g., Spangler, 1992. Decades of works by advocates, e.g., David C. McClelland, David Winter, Abigail Stewart, and, more recently, Oliver Schultheiss, have shown clear validity for these tools for certain personality traits, most especially implicit motivation (as contrasted with self-attributed or "explicit" motivation, which are conscious states), and that criticisms of projective tools based on techniques used for responsive tools is simply an inappropriate method of measurement. Moreover, Soley and Smith report that when used with larger Ns in research, as opposed to the clinical assessment of an individual, projective tests can exhibit high validity and reliability.

Situation Variables

Age of examiner
Specific instructions
Subtle reinforcement cues
Setting/privacy

Terminology

In 2006 the terms "objective test" and "projective test" came under criticism in the Journal of Personality Assessment. The more descriptive "rating scale or self-report measures" and "free response measures" are suggested, rather than the terms "objective tests" and "projective tests," respectively. Additionally, there are inherent biases implied in the terminology itself. For example, when individuals use the term "objective" to describe a test, it is assumed that the test possess accuracy and precision. Conversely, when the term "projective" is used to describe a test, it is assumed that these measures are less accurate. Neither of these assumptions are fully accurate, and have led researchers to develop alternative terminology to describe various projective measures. For example, it has been proposed that the Rorschach be labeled as a "behavioral task" due to its ability to provide an in vivo or real life sample of human behavior.

References

Footnotes

Theodor W. Adorno, et al. (1964). The Authoritarian Personality. New York: John Wiley & Sons.