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Projective Techniques

Meaning

Projection – It is an unconscious process

where an individual: -

          (i)       attributes his thoughts, ideas, conflicts, emotions or characteristics      to another person or object,

          (ii)      attributes his needs to others, and

          (iii)     draws incorrect inferences from an experience.

 

Definition

          A projective test is a psychological assessment tool that provides an opportunity to an individual to freely express himself in response to vague and unorganized stimuli.

 

Central Theme

          The lesser the clarity in stimuli higher the differential perception.

User disciplines

(i)       Psychology

(ii)      Anthropology

(iii)     Sociology

(iv)     Education

(v)      Psychiatry

 

Introduction

          The projective tests (PT) provide the subject with a stimulus situation upon which an individual can impose his own needs and his particular perceptions and interpretations.

          The central idea of PT is to uncover the deep-seating feelings, hidden desires and conflicts that lie deeper into the human mind. They are generally used for psychopathological perspective. The subject identifies with stimulus and are typically unaware of what they are disclosing.

          It is expected that individual project the inner aspects of his personality through interpretations and creations, thereby involuntarily revealing traits that are below the surface and incapable of human exposure by means of the questionnaire type of personality test.

          For projective tests instructions are general and are kept at minimum to permit variety and flexibility of responses. The responses are neither wrong nor right. They represent participant’s own responses and interpretations.

 

Salient Features/Characteristics of Projective Techniques

(i)       The stimulus is vague, abstract, unstructured and unorganized.

(ii)      Works on the concept of projection.

(iii)     Indirect method that taps both conscious and unconscious traits.

(iv)     Designed to assess the personality in subtle and indirect ways.

(v)      They are relatively less structured and involves dual subjectivity.

(vi)     Good at collecting comprehensive personal information such as how people are likely to think, feel, and act which is difficult through other objective tests.  

Salient Features/Characteristics of Projective Techniques

(i)       The stimulus is vague, abstract, unstructured and unorganized.

(ii)      Works on the concept of projection.

(iii)     Indirect method that taps both conscious and unconscious traits.

(iv)     Designed to assess the personality in subtle and indirect ways.

(v)      They are relatively less structured and involves dual subjectivity.

(vi)     Good at collecting comprehensive personal information such as how people are likely to think, feel, and act which is difficult through other objective tests.

 

Some Widely Used Projective Tests

1.       Rorschach Inkblot Test

2.       Thematic Apperception Test

3.       Word Association Test

4.       Sentence Completion Test

 

Rorschach Inkblot Test

          This test is named after Hermann Rorschach. He focused on the principle that every performance of a person is an expression of his total personality (Freeman, 1965). It is a multidimensional instrument designed to yield information on the structure of the personality. It evaluates three dimensions i.e., conscious intellectual activity, externalized emotions and internalized emotions. Designed to reveal the structure and organization of personality of an individual.

Age category for use – 3 years to adults.

Time for administration – No fixed time (Generally 60 to 90 min)

No. of Cards – 10 cards (Five black and white, Two red and black and Three different colours)

Presentation of cards – Sequence suggested by the author.

Stimuli – Each card is printed with different ambiguous inkblots or shades.

Data collection – The test taker records all responses of the subject verbatim.

Maximum responses to 10 cards – Maximum 23.

Minimum responses required for scoring – 14

 

Scoring

          Coding of responses on the following suggested dimensions is done and scores are tabulated: -

(i)      Response location (whether entire or specific area of card, W for Whole, D for large usual details, d for small usual details, Dd for unusual details and S for white space).

(ii)     Determinants – Characteristics of the inkblot as perceived by the subject that produced responses.

(iii)    Content – Responses are classified into categories (plants, animals, human, landscapes, anatomy, man-made objects, gender).

(iv)    Originals and Popular – Also known as popularity-originality. Responses are rated based on the newness, originality or popularity.

 

Interpretation

          After the tabulation the scores are analyzed in context of existence of relationship among frequencies of various categories. Few examples: -

(i)      Location – This category is used for evaluating intellectual aspect of personality; approach to a problem or preferred mode of apperception.

(ii)     Form – Intact form perception indicates firm control over intellectual

processes and behaviour. 

(iii)    Colour – Responses to colours found in the inkblots represents the subject’s impulsive life and emotional relationships to his environment.

(iv)    Movement – It is the indicator of richness of associative and imaginative life. Higher score indicates that individual is high on these traits.

(v)    Content – The quantity and different types of things expressed in the responses indicates fantasy, symbolic meaning, maturity or otherwise.

(vi)    Original and popular – The number of original and popular responses are the indicators of individual's intelligence level.

(vii)   Interrelationships – Helpful in inferring the personality structure of the client.

 

Thematic Apperception Test

Designed and development – Henry A. Murray and Christiana D. Morgan in 1930s.

Idea of the test – The idea emerged from a question asked by one of Murray's undergraduate students, Cecilia Roberts. She said that when her son was ill, he spent the day making up stories about images in magazines and she asked Murray if pictures could be employed in a clinical setting to explore the underlying dynamics of personality (Wikipedia).

Principle – The interpretation of ambiguous stimulus leads to unintentional revealing of aspects of one’s own personality. The interpretation involves construction of stimulus specific story that demands trance like state generally known as deep absorption. This state temporarily diverts attention from the ‘conscious self’ resulting in situation where an individual becomes unaware of himself where he organizes contents of his own experiences and consequently projects.

Purpose – To reveal the contents of personality such as the drives, needs, sentiments, conflicts, complexes and fantasies.

No. of cards used on one subject – 20

No. of cards used at one session – 10 (one at a time)

Cards usage criteria – Gender and age (Used in various combinations)

Cards Specifications – Some cards can be used with all subjects some are used with only one gender and some are used with age.

Time limit – No time limit (but subject is encouraged to spend at least 5 minutes

on each card).

 

Specific Instructions to subject

(i)       Test of imagination.

(ii)      Make stories in response of cards.

(iii)     There is no right or wrong answers.

(iv)     Tell what he thinks led up to the scene.

(v)      Explain what is happening in the scene.

(vi)     Explain the feelings of the characters in the picture.

(vii)    Tell what the outcome will be.

 

Analysis of stories

The analysis is done into

(i)       The forces emanating from the hero and

(ii)      The forces emanating from the environment.

These are analyzed under six categories: -

(i)      Hero – Character in each picture with whom client identifies.

(ii)     Motives, needs and feelings of the hero (scale of 1 to 5 according to intensity, duration, frequency, and importance).

(iii)    Forces in the hero’s environment (nature and details of the situation and objects explained by the client that are not in the picture).

(iv)    Outcomes (Strengths of hero, hardships, frustration, degree of success and failure, happy or otherwise endings).

(v)     Themas – Interaction of hero’s needs with environmental forces, together with the successful or unsuccessful outcome for the hero is a kind of thema.

(vi)    Interests and sentiments – Choices and direction of appeal (positive or

negative) towards pictures in the cards.

 

Important Note (TAT)

          The conclusion reached through analysis of the stories should be used as an hypothesis to be checked against other sources of information and as starting point for further psychological interview, counseling, or treatment (Freeman, 1965).

 

Word Association test

History – Started by Galton (1879), studied in psychological laboratory. Carl Jung utilized this concept extensively for detecting complexes.

Contents – 100 English words that represent emotional complexes.

 

Instructions

(i)       Respond to each word as quickly as possible.

(ii)      There is no right or wrong answer.

 

Procedure

          The examiner will speak a series of words, one at a time. In response of each word the client needs to reply the first word that comes to his mind.

Action by Examiner 

(i)       Speaking stimulus words

(ii)      Recording of responses.

(iii)     Recording of Reaction time

(iv)     Any unusual speech or behaviour.

Analysis – According to the responses of the client.

 

Sentence Completion test

Originator – Hermann Ebbinghaus is credited with developing the first sentence completion test in 1897.

Testing Material – A series of incomplete sentences.

Salient Feature – Incomplete sentences vary with the type of trait assessed.

More often used SCTs are

(i)       Rhode’s SCT

(ii)      The Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank

Purpose – To explore personality material that is closer to the level of consciousness or awareness. Provides base for counselling and interviews.

 

Few more projective tests

(i)       Children’s Apperception test (Children 3 to 10 years)

(ii)      Symonds Picture Study test (Adolescent boys and girls)

(iii)     The blacky pictures (From age 5 and above)

(iv)     Make-a-picture story (For adolescents and adults)

(v)      Michigan Picture Test (8 to 14 years)

(vi)     Rosenzweig Picture - Frustration Study (Two forms one for 4 to 14 years and other above 14 years)

(vii)    The Szondi Test (Adults)

(viii)   Projective Questionnaire

(ix)     Story telling and Story completion test

(x)      Drawing and painting

(xi)     Four-picture test

(xii)    The Lowenfield Mosaic Test

(xii)    Raven’s Controlled Projection for children (6 to 12 years)

(xiv)    Tomkins-Horn Picture Arrangement Test

(xv)     House-Tree-Person Projective Technique ( 5 years and above)

(xvi)    Holtzman Inkblot Test

 

References:

1.       Freeman, F. S. (1965). Theory and practice of psychological testing. New Delhi: Oxford and IBH Publishing.

2.       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_completion_tests.

 

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Interview Method

 

Introduction

          “Interview is one of the most important technique used in counseling. It is a two-way conversation with a specific purpose. Interview are of different types such as structured, unstructured, semi-structured or intake interview. In counseling all four types of interview are used. The interview is used to collect all information relevant to the problem. The information so collected will help in exact diagnosis of the psychological disorder. The interview remains one of the most used information collection tools in clinical, industrial, counseling agencies, schools and correctional settings.

 

Definition

          Interview is a method for gathering data or information about individual” (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2005). The interview is a conversation with a clearly defined objective. The interview is a type of intentional and directed conversation. It is regulated and directed by interviewer or sometimes called as therapist.

 

Points Psychologists to Remember for Interview

1.       Interview must be focused and directive.

2.       It should be characterized by respect, empathy, active

listening, and continuous attention to shifts in affect and tone.

3.       The tone, format, and direction of the interview is unique to each client.

4.       The interviewer must remain non-judgmental throughout the interview.

5.       Clinical interview is beyond the normal information collecting process rather the interviewee should try to draw a complete picture of the psychological problem of the client.

6.       The client should be asked about the intensity, frequency, and duration of symptoms, and any history of substance abuse or suicidal or homicidal ideation.

7.       The tone of the interview should be one of helpfulness and friendliness so as to minimize the immediate barriers to forthright communication.

 

Characteristics of Interview

1.      Attitude of interviewer and interviewee – Communication and assessment are the domain of interviewer. The interviewer must be genuine because the initial interaction sets the course of future sessions and degree of personal information shared by the interviewee. Interviewee should be capable to communicate, translate the emotions and thoughts into words.

2.      Conducive environment – The responsibility of feeling-at-ease environment rests with the interviewer. The questions that can create embarrassment to the client must be avoided at any cost. The interview must not be inquisitive or probing type rather it should be self-divulging and of volunteer nature where client feels comfortable to be self-exploratory.

3.      Interviewer’s responses – The responses that encourages the client to share more should be exhibited by the interviewer. It happens only when interviewer is a genuine unbiased non-judgmental listener, giving enough room to the client to express freely, being contextual, and ask questions only at appropriate times. Many times it occurs that the views expressed by interviewee are not compatible with the thought process or belief system of the interviewer in that case to interviewer should encourage the client to continue expressing himself.

4.      Measuring understanding – The basis for understanding other’s ideas and expressions is the level of empathy. The higher the empathy in the interviewer better he will be able to understand the point of view of the client.

5.      Recording responses – The responses of the clients must be recorded in some form. For digital recording the client’s consent is must. The recordings are of great help at the later stage.

6.   Interview is different from communication – Interview is a type of communication but it has got its own purpose. It is directed and designed to achieve certain objectives. In this technique the roles of interviewer and interviewee are clearly defined.

 

Purpose of Interview

1.       To gain insight about the interviewee.

2.       To build rapport.

3.       To develop shared understanding with the client.

4.       To collect information specific to the cause.

5.       To communicate and converse in an objective way.

6.       Diagnosis.

7.       To draw a clear picture of interviewee problem.

8.       To develop an information platform for problem Identification and exploration.

9.       Steering the interview process in the intended lines.

10.     Planning and preparation for dealing with client’s distress.

 

Questions that must be included in Clinical Interview

(i)       What does life look like for the client and does it work well?

(ii)      How have his or her symptoms become so salient?

(iii)     What has he or she already tried to alleviate suffering?

(iv)     What has brought the client to seek treatment now?

(v)      Are there significant social supports in his or her life?

(vi)     Are there roadblocks in place that will make treatment difficult?

 

Types of Interview

 

(i)      Structured Interview – Questions to be asked are planned in advance. During the interview only these questions are asked in the set sequence only. This is used when similar information is required from several clients or from the same individual at different point of time or occasion. It is considered more reliable and valid. The major limitation of this method is that it relies exclusively on respondents.

(ii)     Unstructured Interview - The interviewer asks questions depending upon the needs of the client, the order and sequence of questions can be changed, modified etc. The new questions can be added and irrelevant questions can be deleted altogether. Questions can be asked as per the flow of communication. The advantage of this type of interview is flexibility. The unstructured interviews are less reliable and more prone to error than structured interviews.

(iii)    Semi Structured Interview - Semi structured interview contains the features of both the methods. It is used in order to minimize the disadvantages of both methods. Certain questions are always asked, but there is freedom to add more questions depending upon the situation.

(iv)    Intake Interview - The interview that occurs in the first meeting. It is done

to gather information about the problem with which the client has approached the counselor. This interview includes presenting problem, general life situation, history and interpersonal functioning. Some time it is also called as ‘history interview’. It is applied for the provisional diagnosis.

 

Indicators of High Anxiety Level

(i)       Color of face

(ii)      Erratic body movements

(iii)     Varying eye contact

(iv)     Dryness of the mouth

(v)      Pitch of the voice

 

References:

1.       http://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/50991/1/Unit-2.pdf

2.       https://hbr.org/1964/01/strategies-of-effective-interviewing

3.       http://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/23936/1/Unit-3.pdf

4.       https://connect.springerpub.com/content/book/978-0-8261-9916-4/chapter/ch01.

 

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Case History

Introduction

          “A record of information relating to a person’s psychological or medical condition. Used as an aid to diagnosis and treatment, a case history usually contains test results, interviews, professional evaluations, and sociological, occupational, and educational data. Also called patient history” (APA). It is a type of structured interview designed to elicit the in-depth client’s details. The case history draws a sketch of current status as well as the underlying causes that led to the development of psychological disorder.

 

Basics of Case History

1.      Personal information gathering stage

2.      Referral stage – The following information is collected.

          (i)       Referred by whom,

          (ii)      The symptoms experienced

          (iii)     Details about how these symptoms started, and           progressed

          (iv)     Duration of symptoms

          (v)      Faced any difficulty in developmental years,

          (vi)     Details of schooling and the education

3.      Medical history – Information about the

medical history, if any, is gathered.

4.      Orientation stage – Information about the person’s interest and attitude towards life, political affiliations and religious belief system are gathered.

5.      Mental Status Examination stage – In this client’s appearance, behaviour, talking style, mood, thoughts and perception are observed to asses MSE.

 

Case History Taking

1.      Identification data – Initially the details

about demographic information such as name, age, gender, residential address, education, occupation, marital status are taken in detail.

2.      Problem explained by

                    (a)      Client

                    (b)      Informant (Person who accompanied client)

                    (c)      Others (family members, friends or colleagues)

          (i)       Duration of the problem

          (ii)      Intensity of the problem

3.      Personal History

          (i)       Birth and Development

          (ii)      School history

          (iii)     Medical history

          (iii)     Social history

          (iv)     Emotional development 

          (v)      Premorbid personality

          (vi)     Occupation history

          (vii)    Physical relations history

 

4.      Social history

          (i)       Family constellation

          (ii)      Socio-economic status

          (iii)     Relationship with parents

          (iv)     Interpersonal relationships

Mental Status Examination (MSE)

          This is done after the completion of history taking. The MSE is used to obtain information about the client’s level of functioning and self-presentation. More often conducted during the initial interview, the MSE can be helpful for organising objective (observations of clients) and subjective (data provided by clients) information to use in diagnosis and treatment. Then he reaches a tentative diagnosis on the basis of the information that is provided by the client and the informant.

          (i)      Behaviour: The behaviour of the client, if it is age appropriate or       not. How does the client behave with the examiner? What is his attitude        towards the examiner? These are all the points that are included under this heading.

          (ii)     Thoughts: The thoughts are significant in two important ways. One   is assessment of these will tell us more about the personality of the person.        Second and very important is that it will also tell us if the person has any       disorder of thoughts.

          (iii)    Speech: This is related to the quality of speech of the client. The    volume tone and other things are good parameters of the speech quality.

          (iv)    Perception: These are related to all the five senses of the person.        Questions regarding this tell us if the person has any illusion or    hallucination. This will tell us about the intensity of the problem the client          is facing.

Higher Mental Processes

Intelligence: This is the key factor. It helps the client to understand his own problem. If the person is aware about his surroundings and what is his general level of knowledge is the indication intelligence. If there is any indication of low sub normality then a particular test may be administered to assess the intelligence.

          (i)      Memory: This is also important aspect of intelligence. But this is at      the same time an indication of the brain functioning. Disturbance of this         is an indication.

         (ii)     Attention: This is one more indication of the brain functioning of       the person. Disturbances of attention may be an indication of some          problem at brain level functioning.

          (iii)    Concentration: As mentioned above attention and concentration        are related to each other. If the attention can be sustained it is called as concentration.

          (iv)    Insight: This means the person understands of his state. Whether      he has any understanding of his illness or not.

 

Psychological Examination

          The information about the psychological test that has been used administered for the assessment needs to be mentioned. This is helpful in quick understanding of the results.

(i)      Diagnosis: This is the final understanding about the client. With the help of the case history and the Mental Status Examination the client is diagnosed.

(ii)     Prognosis: This gives clear understanding about the chances of recovery. Considering pro-and-cons decides the probability of recovery of problem.

 

Purpose

(i)       Exact diagnosis

(ii)      Design and development of intervention

(iii)     Planning of therapy

(iv)     Administration of intervention

 

References:

1.       http://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/50991/1/Unit-2.pdf

2.       पांडेय, जगदानंद. (1956). असामान्य मनोविज्ञान. पटना: ग्रंथमाला प्रकाशन           कार्यालय।

3.       https://dictionary.apa.org/case-history.

 

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