Projective Personality Assessment Timothy C. Thomason Northern Arizona University

Projective tests are standardized methods to elicit the same unconscious material that are revealed in distorted, symbolic form in dreams, hypnotic states, drug-induced states, slips of the tongue, free verbal associations, etc. The unconscious is revealed in the patient’s response to ambiguous stimuli.

Responses to projective test items can reveal – Motivations – Attitudes – Defense mechanisms – Characteristic ways of responding The more unstructured the stimulus, the more likely it is the response will reveal important features of the personality.

The Projective Hypothesis When we look at ambiguous stimuli, what we see is to some extent a function or our own idiosyncratic personality dynamics. We project our selves (our needs, interests, desires, motives, etc.) onto what we see. Who we are affects how we see the world.

There is no “correct” way to respond to the ambiguous stimuli in projective tests. But the patient’s responses can be compared to those of a large sample of “normal” people. In scoring projective tests, common responses are considered normal, and uncommon responses are considered potentially pathological.

An understanding of the patient will aid in the interpretation of the patient’s responses. For example, people in some professions respond in certain ways. Physicians and nurses tend to see more flesh and bones in Rorschach blots than other people. Since this is common among this group, it would not be considered abnormal or pathological.

Origin of Projective Assessment Throughout history, people have looked at random or ambiguous stimuli and imagined seeing meaningful forms. Example: clouds Example: stars (constellations)

Galton Sir Francis Galton introduced the word association procedure around He was walking on Pall Mall (a street in Westminster, London) and realized that our associations to words reveal something about us. Galton was Charles Darwin’s cousin. Galton’s work influenced Freud. C. G. Jung adapted Galton’s word association into a psychodiagnostic test in the 1930s.

Most projective techniques were based on psychodynamic theory. Projective techniques were meant to reveal the inner dynamics and complexity of the personality.

1883Galton’s Word Association procedure 1905 Jung’s Word Association Test 1910 Kent-Rosanoff Free Association Test 1921 Rorschach’s Test 1937 Adler’s Early Recollections technique 1937 Stern’s Cloud Picture Test 1930s Thematic Apperception Test 1949 Draw A Person Test

Jung Jung used the Word Association Test to detect mental complexes and neurotic conflicts. Used a list of 100 words. Timed the latency of response time. Prolonged reaction time suggests a complex. A complex is unconscious, painful psychic content

Rorschach Hermann Rorschach ( ) was a Swiss psychiatrist and the son of an art teacher. A popular game of that time called Blotto used inkblots as stimuli for creating poems or playing charades. Rorschach showed the Blotto inkblots to his patients and noticed that many schizophrenic patients saw similar things in the blots.

Rorschach, cont. Rorschach created new inkblots and refined them over many years, using them to assist with diagnosing patients. His 1921 book had ten inkblots. Scoring systems were developed later. Verbal responses to the inkblots were found to reveal unconscious thought processes.

Rorschach, cont. Instructions: “What might this be?” Interpretation of responses: Eg. a speck seen as a fly: obsessiveness Eg. a dog looking in a mirror: narcissism Eg. white space is a face: creativity; rebellion The Rorschach test has been called a “Psychological X-ray.

Critique of the Rorschach There is some evidence that it can assist in diagnosing thought disorders, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. Eg. Patient says “I see a giraffe’s head exploding inside a flying saucer landing inside my head.” Rorschach interpretations tend to over- pathologize. Lack of empirical support for validity.

Picture Story Techniques Thematic Apperception Test The patient is asked to make up a story that describes the event seen in the card, what led up to it, how the story ends, and the characters’ feelings and thoughts. The test elicits the patient’s unconscious fantasies.

Draw A Person Test The assumption is that a person’s approach to drawing reflects the person’s approach to life situations. When a person is asked to draw a picture of a person, their drawing reveals aspects of their own personality.

Drawings are thought to reveal – Depression; withdrawal; timidity – Impulsiveness – Aggression and hostility – High vs. low achievement – Insecurity – Anxiety

Interpreting Human Figure Drawings Size Unusually large: expansive; grandiose Unusually small: inferiority; inhibition; shyness Location Central: normal, reasonable, secure person High on page: high level of aspiration; optimism Low on page: insecurity; low self-esteem

Pencil pressure – Heavy: tension, forcefulness – Light: hesitant, timid, insecure, inhibited Organization – Extremely symmetrical: obsessive-compulsive – Lacking symmetry: insecurity; unbalanced Erasures – Excessive: uncertainty; indecisiveness; restless – Localized: conflict about what the area represents

Detail – Absent: depressive; withdrawing – Excessive: rigidity; emotional; anxious; o-c – Bizarre: psychosis Distortions and omissions – Distortions: confusion; psychosis – Omissions: conflict; denial Color

Benefits of Projective Tests Provide a different kind of data compared to other personality tests. There are many reports of strong, unique, and potentially useful results.

Problems with Projective Tests They have poor inter-rater reliability. There is little evidence of validity (that they reveal the patient’s unconscious material). They require extensive training and experience. Results vary depending on contextual variables (eg., race and sex of the examiner; the mood of the examiner; what the subject thinks the test is measuring).

Problems, cont. Norms may be inadequate. They are time consuming, both to take and to score and interpret.

Resources Analytical Psychology, C. G. Jung, Psychological Evaluation of Children’s Human Figure Drawings, E. Koppitz, Personality Assessment, B. Wolman, What’s Wrong with the Rorschach?, J. Wood, M. Nezworski, S. Lilienfeld, & H. Garb, 2003.