Structured Personality TestsSome DefinitionsSlide 3Slide 4Strategies to Structured TestsSlide 6Deductive StrategiesSlide 8Empirical StrategiesSlide 10Logical Content TestsSlide 12Criterion-Group TestsThe MMPISlide 15Slide 16Slide 17Slide 18Slide 19Slide 20Slide 21Slide 22Slide 23Slide 24MMPI ScalesScoring the MMPISlide 27Interpreting the MMPIMMPI-2MMPI PsychometricsSlide 31Factor Analytic StrategySlide 33Psy 427Cal State NorthridgeAndrew Ainsworth PhDSome DefinitionsPersonalitythe relatively stable and distinctive patterns of behavior that characterize an individual and his or her reactions to the environment.Personality tests attempt to measure personality traits, states, types, and other aspects of personality (such as self concept).Some DefinitionsPersonality Traitsrelatively enduring dispositionstendencies to act, think, or feel in a certain manner under any given circumstancedistinguish one person from anotherPersonality Statespredominantly emotional reactions that vary from one situation to another.Some DefinitionsPersonality Typesrefer to general descriptions of peoplee.g., avoidant, depressiveSelf-Concept a person’s self-definition; an organized set of assumptions one has about him or herself.Most structured personality tests attempt to assign a personality type based upon measurements of someone’s personality traits.Strategies to Structured TestsIn general, subject is asked to respond to an objective, written statement that is designed to minimize ambiguity.Different from projective tests, where subjects respond to purposely ambiguous stimuli.Two approaches to structured testsDeductiveEmpiricalStrategies to Structured TestsDeductive StrategiesTwo typesLogical-contentUses reason and deductive logic in the development of personality measures.Test designer attempts to logically deduce the type of question that should be asked to measure the hypothetical concept.e.g.,I frequently worry about my weight. T/FI feel bad after I’ve eaten a good meal. T/FRelies heavily on face validity.Deductive StrategiesTwo typesTheoreticalStart with a theoryAsk questions that are consistent with the theory.Assume that every item in a scale is related to a characteristic that you are measuring.Attempt to create homogeneous scalesFrequently use item analyses to confirmEmpirical StrategiesCriterion-group strategystart with a group of people who share a common characteristic (e.g., aggressiveness, depression)select and administer a group of items to everybody in the criterion-group and a control groupchoose those items that distinguish between the criterion and control groups; which items best contrast the groupsEmpirical StrategiesFactor Analytic Strategyuses factor analysis to derive empirically the basic dimensions of personalityasks a large number of questionslooks for correlations among questionsif groups of questions correlate with each other, this is evidence of an underlying latent factorLogical Content TestsWoodworth Personal Data SheetThe first personality inventoryBased on faulty assumption that responses can be taken on face valueProduced a single scoreLogical Content TestsFirst multidimensional scalesBell Adjustment InventoryAssessed adjustment in different areas of life (e.g. home life, social life, emotional functioning)Bernreuter Personality InventoryItems pertaining to six personality traits (e.g. introversion, confidence, sociability)Mooney Problem Checklist (1950)One of few still in useMuch like the WoodworthCriterion-Group TestsMinnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI; originally developed in 1943)More detail to comeCalifornia Psychological Inventory (CPI; originally developed in the late ‘50s; circa ‘56/ ‘57)Originally developed to identify personality traits of normally adjusted individualsUses criterion groups for some of the subscalesCompared (men and women, homosexual men and heterosexual men)Produces personality continuums (e.g. intro-extroverted, conventional vs. unconventional, etc.)The MMPIMMPI: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI, MMPI-2, MMPI-A)MMPI: original MMPI 1943MMPI - 2: first revision in 1989MMPI - A: adolescent formPurpose - to distinguish “normals” from “abnormals”The MMPIMMPI - 2 requires an 8th grade reading leveloriginal MMPI required a 6th grade reading level (!)Reading skills since 1943 have dropped.8th grade 1989 reading level = 6th grade 1943 levelaverage reading difficulty for the MMPI-2 items is approximately 5th grade although90% of the items require less than a 9th grade education.Auditory or interview forms are available.The MMPIOriginal MMPI began with a pool of 1000 questions drawn from case histories, psychological reports, textbooks, and existing tests ofStarke Hathaway - medical psychologistJovian McKinley - neuropsychiatristboth of the University of Minnesota HospitalsNarrowed pool down to 504 items thought to be relatively independent.The MMPIThese 504 questions were administered to 800 patients representing the following psychopathologies:Hypochondriacs: patients who are overly oncerned with bodily symptoms and express conflicts through bodily (somatic) symptoms.Depressives: patients with depressed mood, loss of appetite, anhedonia, suicidalityPsychopathic Deviates: patients who are antisocial and rebellious & exploit others without remorse or anxiety.The MMPIThese 504 questions were administered to 800 patients representing the following psychopathologies:Paranoids: patients who show extreme suspicions and delusionsPsychasthenics: patients plagued by excessive self-doubts, obsessive thoughts, anxiety, and low energySchizophrenics: patients who are disorganized, highly disturbed, out of contact with reality, hallucinating, and have poor relatedness skillsThe MMPIThese 504 questions were administered to 800 patients representing the following psychopathologies:Hypomanics: patients who are in a highenergy, agitated state with poor impulse control, inability to sleep, and poor judgment.In addition, 700 controls - visitors and relatives of patients at the University of Minnesota Hospital - were also administered the same 504 questions.The MMPIAfter an item analysis, items that separated the patients from the non-patients were