Projective Personality Tests Projective Test Have no clearly

Projective Personality Tests

Projective Test • Have no clearly defined answers • Use an open-ended format • Present ambiguous stimuli and ask test taker to interpret what they see - The interpretation is thought to reveal information about their personality

• Two most common projective personality tests are the – Rorschach Inkblot Test – Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Rorschach Inkblot Test • Created by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach in 1921 • Uses 10 official inkblots – 5 black and white – 2 black and red and white – 3 multicolored

Rorschach Inkblot • Person is shown card with inkblot and asked what they think it could be • Responses to cards are interpreted according to the following factors: – Location responding to whole card or part of card? – Determinants responding to particular shaping, coloring, textures – Content the precise object that the test-taker is seeing – Form is the answer based on the actual shape of the blot, or are they seeing a different form entirely?

Thematic Apperception Test • Created in the 1930’s by Harvard psychologist Henry Murray • Involves a picture interpretation technique • Test takers are shown ambiguous pictures and asked to create a story for the picture

TAT • Subject’s story may include: – What has led up to the event shown – What is happening at the moment – What the characters are feeling and thinking – What the outcome of the story was

TAT • Each story is carefully analyzed to uncover the test takers unconscious mind, including any – Repressed aspects of personality – Motives and needs for achievement – Power and intimacy – Problem solving abilities