Chapter 10 Personality Assessment and Behavioral Assessment Multimethod

Chapter 10 Personality Assessment and Behavioral Assessment

Multimethod Assessment • No measure of personality or behavior is perfect • It is best to use multiple methods – Tests – Interviews – Observations – Other sources • Convergent conclusions can be made with more confidence

Evidence-Based Assessment • Assessment based on “what works” empirically • Similar to movement regarding “what works” in therapy, but data is not quite as abundant yet • Typically tied to particular disorders – Ex. SCID and BDI-II for assessing depression

Culturally Competent Assessment • Every culture has its own definitions of “normal” and “abnormal” • Culturally competent clinical psychologists are aware of this, and of the influence of their own cultural perspective • Especially important not to overpathologize – View as abnormal what is culturally normal

Objective Personality Tests • Include unambiguous test items, offer clients a limited range of responses, and are objectively scored • Typically self-report questionnaires • Typically a series of brief statements or questions to which clients respond in a true/false or multiple choice format

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) • Most popular and most psychometrically sound objective personality test – Used worldwide; translated into dozens of languages • Pencil & paper format • 567 self-descriptive sentences • Client marks true or false for each

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) (cont. ) • Original MMPI was published in 1943 – Primary authors were Starke Hathaway and J. C. Mc. Kinley – Empirical criterion keying was used as test construction method • Revised edition, MMPI-2, was published in 1989 – Better norms – Less outdated wording of items

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) (cont. ) • MMPI and MMPI-2 feature 10 clinical scales – – – – – 1—Hypochondriasis 2—Depression 3—Hysteria 4—Psychopathic Deviate 5—Masculinity/femininity 6—Paranoia 7—Psychasthenia 8—Schizophrenia 9—Mania 0—Social Introversion • Also feature supplemental scales and content scales for additional clinical information

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) (cont. ) • MMPI and MMPI-2 also feature validity scales – To measure test-taking attitudes – Can identify clients who “fake good” or “fake bad, ” or clients who respond randomly • MMPI-A (for adolescents, age 14 -18) was published in 1992 – Similar clinical scales, validity scales, and administration • MMPI-2 -RF—most recent edition—briefer, less overlap between clinical scales

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) (cont. ) • Strengths include psychometrics (established reliability and validity) and comprehensiveness • Limitations include length, reading requirement, attention requirement, and emphasis on pathology/abnormality

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) (cont. ) • Therapeutic Assessment – Interesting use of MMPI-2, developed by Stephen Finn and colleagues – MMPI-2 feedback used as a brief therapeutic intervention – What psychologists intend as assessment clients can experience as therapeutic

Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III) • Originally created by Theodore Millon • Like the MMPI-2 in some ways – Comprehensive objective personality test – Self-report, pencil & paper format • Main difference: MCMI-III emphasizes personality disorders – Its clinical scales are based on DSM personality disorders (e. g. , antisocial, borderline, narcissistic, paranoid)

NEO Personality Inventory—Revised (NEO-PI-R) • Originally created by Paul Costa and Robert Mc. Crae • Another objective personality test – Pencil & paper, self-report format • Main distinction: measures “normal” personality traits (not pathologies) – Based on Five Factor model of personality – Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness • Lacks validity scales, and of limited help with clinical diagnosis

California Psychological Inventory. III (CPI-III) • Another objective personality test – Pencil & paper, self-report • Like NEO-PI-R, doesn’t emphasize pathology • Emphasizes positive attributes of personality— strengths, assets, internal resources • Consistent with recent positive psychology movement • Also goes by name CPI-434 (434 items)

Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDIII) • Not a comprehensive test of personality, but a brief, targeted measure of one characteristic (depression symptoms) • 21 items; takes 5 -10 minutes to complete • Pencil & paper, self-report format • Lacks validity scales, and much more limited scope than other tests discussed to this point

Projective Personality Tests • Based on the assumption that clients will “project” their personalities when presented with unstructured, ambiguous stimuli and an unrestricted opportunity to respond • Lack of objectivity in scoring and interpretation – Considered by many to be empirically inferior to objective tests – Usage has declined in recent decades • Advocates claim they are less “fake-able”

Rorschach Inkblot Method • Created in 1921 by Hermann Rorschach • 10 inkblots (5 in color, 5 black & white) are presented • Clients say what they see in each blot (in “response” phase) • Later (in “inquiry” phase), explain what features of the blot caused them to make their responses • Exner’s Comprehensive System is most widely used scoring system

Rorschach Inkblot Method (cont. ) • Scoring emphasizes how the client perceives the blot as well as what the client sees • Scoring variables include: – – – Location (Whole blot, large part, or small detail? ) Determinants (Form, color, or shading of blot? ) Form Quality (Conventional? Distorted? ) Popular (What others see? Idiosyncratic? ) Content (What kinds of objects appear frequently? ) • Reliability and validity are questionable and hotly debated

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) • Published in 1943 by Henry Murray and Christiana Morgan • Like Rorschach in that it involves a series of cards with ambiguous stimuli • Cards feature interpersonal scenes rather than inkblots • Client tells a story to go along with each scene • Often, not formally or empirically scored • Reliability and validity are questionable

Tell-Me-a-Story (TEMAS) • Recent TAT-style apperception test • Greater emphasis on cultural sensitivity (via portrayal of diverse individuals in cards) • Greater emphasis on empirical scoring via normative data

Sentence Completion Tests • The ambiguous stimuli are not inkblots or interpersonal scenes, but beginnings of sentences • Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank (RISB) is most widely used • Simulated examples: – I enjoy________. – It makes me furious________. – My greatest weakness_____. • Not often formally or empirically scored • Reliability and validity are questionable

Behavioral Assessment • Assumes that client behaviors are not signs of underlying issues or problems; instead, those behaviors are the problems • The behavior a client demonstrates is a sample of the problem itself, not a sign of some deeper, underlying problem

Techniques of Behavioral Assessment • Behavioral observation is the most essential technique – Direct, systematic observation of a client’s behavior in the natural environment – Also known as naturalistic observation – Requires operationally defining target behavior and measuring its frequency, duration, or intensity across specified time periods • Often more accurate than asking client to report on their own behaviors

Techniques of Behavioral Assessment (cont. ) • When naturalistic observation is not possible, analogue observation is used – Replicate situation in clinic • Recording of behaviors is crucial – Done by parent, teacher, friend, or client – Enables functionality of behavior to be determined – This functionality is key concept in behavioral assessment

Technology in Behavioral Assessment • Laptop computers or handheld devices can be used to record observed behaviors • Numerous software programs have been created for this purpose • Clients can use similar technological tools for self-monitoring