Personality theory and personality assessment measures: how helpful to the clinician?

One of the most important role-defining functions of the clinical psychologist is personality assessment. Because of the wide range of personality assessment instruments available, there is a need for the clinician to be aware of their relative strengths and weaknesses. This article discusses the extent to which our present-day tests of personality and theories of personality are helpful in guiding the clinician to meaningful conclusions and predictions. Indirect methods of assessment, such as the Rorschach and TAT, encourage the subject's free and open-ended response to a small number of ambiguous stimuli so as to circumvent the subject's censorship of responses. To varying degrees, indirect methods have suffered from difficulties in establishing acceptable scoring systems and standardized norms. Direct measures, such as the MMPI, limit freedom of expression and assess fewer, but more clearly defined variables. Well-defined and objective scoring and interpretation are considered major advantages of direct over indirect methods. However, direct methods are not without disadvantages. Some important concerns are limitations in subject's self-knowledge, falsification of responses, and the development of response sets.

Methodology of the evaluation of the personality.

The object and the domain of the psychology of personality being less well defined and agreed upon than in other sciences, to discuss successfully the present situation of the methodology of the evaluation of the personality supposes the prior clarification of a certain number of questions. This is done by conceiving of the psychology of personality as of an empirical science and by addressing what seems to be the four major relevant questions: 1) the major issues in the psychology of personality, 2) the major questions of the assessment of the individual personality, 3) the sources and methods of gathering data in this discipline, and 4) the process of clinical judgment.

The Personality Assessment Interview: preliminary report.

This is the first report of the Personality Assessment Interview (PAI), a new clinical and research instrument designed to address the need for a theoretically sound, clinically relevant, comprehensive yet easily administered method for assessing personality organization. By personality organization we mean those structures that stabilize the mental apparatus and become the underlying matrix from which behavioral traits and symptoms develop. Following Otto Kernberg, we define three basic structural constellations: neurotic, borderline and psychotic (Kernberg 1976). The paper describes the interview technique, the hypotheses on which it rests and its aims and structure.

A standardised assessment of personality disorder in mental handicap.

Forty patients with mild or moderate mental handicap were assessed by two psychiatrists using the scale devised by Mann et al, 1981 which describes abnormalities of personality. Analysis by weighted Kappa showed excellent agreement for some items (introversion, hysterical explosive, sociopathic, anankastic and affective). This questionnaire may be useful in the evaluation of personality in the mentally handicapped.

The anonymous letter writer--a psychological profile?

Anonymous letters fall into many categories--threats, obscene messages, racial slurs, extortion demands, guilty conscience statements, stool pigeon letters, robbery or burglary notes, and so forth. These are examined by the document examiner for any information that may lead to the identity of the writer. Such examinations involve unusual aspects of paper or envelopes, watermarks, detection of indented impressions, and so on, and also a comparison with previous anonymous submissions. Several cases will be discussed where, additionally, psychological profiles of the writer were produced by a psychiatrist and a psychologist, based upon the content of the letters.

Assessment of patients for psychotherapy.

Factors in the patient which have been commonly cited by therapists as relevant in assessment for psychotherapy are examined as well as the research done on them. These factors are discussed under four categories: (a) factors related to the illness, (b) personal factors related to the treatment, (c) personal factors not directly associated with the illness and (d) current life circumstances. Research on methods of assessing patient suitability is discussed together with an account of the reasons for the rather disappointing contribution of systematic research.

Method factors associated with assessment of child behavior: fact or artifact?

A sample of 64 phobic children between the ages of 6 and 16, with their general population matched controls, were rated by parents on the Louisville Behavior Check List and Louisville Fear survey and by School Behavior check list. The analysis of ratings by factor analysis revealed three instrument factors while a multiple discriminant analysis elicited a multidimensional phobic trait that crossed observers, situations, and instruments. The results are discussed in terms of the implications for multivariant analysis of behavior change as well as for classification of psychopathological disorders of childhood. The thesis is advanced that instrument factors elicited by factor analysis in psychotherapy change studies are statistical artifacts and that a multiple discriminant analysis is a more appropriate technique for the study of change as well as for classification.

A multiple-choice version of the sentence completion method.

A sentence completion (SC) measure of children's autonomy was adapted to a multiple choice (MC) form. Criteria were proposed which MC should meet in order to be reasonably equivalent to SC. MC should not be obvious to the child; thus, the means and variances of the two tests should be similar, and MC should not show a congregation around the "good" answers, nor should it correlate positively with a measure of social desirability. Both tests should correlate significantly with one another. Any factor structure present in SC, which suggests a differentiation within the concept of autonomy should be duplicated in MC. Most of these criteria were met, and it was concluded that a multiple choice form corresponding to a sentence completion measure, testing clearly defined personality areas, could be a resonable alternative for many purposes.