ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY

Assignment on –

Assessment of Personality
Paper –
Psychological Foundations of Education
MEM - 1002

SUBMITTED BY
MD IKRAM ALAM
EN. NO.- GH8543
ROLL NO.- 20MED 037
M.ED (P)

SUBMITTED TO
Dr. Mohd. Shakir
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Education
Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh,
U.P.
202002
Introduction -
Personality assessment refers to the estimation of one’s
personality make up, that is the person’s characteristic behaviour patterns and
salient and stable characteristics. The methods of estimating or measuring or
assessing personality vary according to the theory of personality used to develop
those methods. However, most of the psychological professionals doing
personality assessment do not necessarily tie themselves to one theoretical view
point only, rather they prefer to take an eclectic view of personality. The eclectic
view is a way of choosing the parts of different theories that seem to best fit in a
particular situation, rather than using only one theory to explain a phenomenon.
In fact, looking at behaviour from different perspectives can often bring insights
into a person’s behaviour that would not easily come from taking only one
perspective. Therefore, many of the professional doing personality assessment
use different perspectives and also take on different techniques for its assessment.
Broadly, methods of investigating and assessing personality can be categorised
into following categories -

1. Subjective methods
2. Objective methods
3. Projective methods
4. Psycho-analytical methods

1. The Subjective Methods -

The Subjective Methods are those in which the
individual is permitted to disclose what he knows about himself as an object of
observation. They are based on what the subject himself has to say about his
traits, attitudes, personal experiences, aims, needs and interests. Some of the
important subjective methods are – (I) The autobiography

(II) The case history

(III) The interview

(IV) The questionnaire or the inventory

(I) The autobiography –

The autobiography is a narration by the individual,

given either freely or according to certain subject headings provided by the
examiner, of his experiences throughout life, of his present aims, purposes,
interests and attitudes. The subject has freedom in selecting experiences which
are of significance to him and these reveal his personality. The disadvantage is
that if a subject wants an event out of his life experience which he will conceal.

(II) The case history –

In a case history, psychologists integrate the

information that they obtain from various sources about the individual. This
requires many interviews with individual and other persons who know the
individual. The case-study technique gives information about the individual’s
parents and grand-parents, his home background, his medical history, his
educational career, his friendships, his marital life, his profession and others.
This method is more useful in understanding the personality-patterns of an
individual who is a problem or is maladjusted.

(III) The interview –

The interviewer questions or lets the individual speak

freely so as to get a clear picture of the individual. From what he says, the
interviewer knows about his interests, problems, assets and limitations. The chief
dimension in respect to which the interview may vary is the rigidity or flexibility
with which the interviewer holds to a pre-decided outline or schedule of questions
or topics. Greater skill is needed in free interviews which are not restricted by a
list of definite points or questions. The interviewer evaluates personality traits not
only from the content of answers to questions asked, but also from the dogmatism
with which the news is expressed, by the interest shown, by vocabulary or
incidental references which the subject employs unwittingly in his conversation,
and by observing his hesitations, his fidgeting, his emotionality and the like. The
limitation of the method is that it is subjective and is less valid than one believes
it to be.

(IV) The questionnaire or the inventory –

Questionnaires are a series of

printed or written questions which the individual is supposed to answer.
Ordinarily, the subject is expected to answer each question by checking or
encircling or underlining ‘yes’ or ‘no’ provided against the question. The
investigator counts the number of Yes’s and No’s and thus is in a position to state
whether a certain individual possesses certain traits or not. The questions or
statements provided describe certain traits emotions, attitudes or behaviours in
situations revealing personality. The yeses or noes are counted in certain groups
or sections depending on the traits to be indicated by positive or negative answers.
The limitation of this device is that the subject may not be willing to reveal correct
facts about himself or may not be in conscious possession of these facts. The
method, at its best, reveals that part of personality which is explicit or available
to the subject’s scrutiny.

2. The Objective Methods -

The Objective Methods do not depend on the
subject’s own statements about himself but on his overt behaviour as revealed to
others who serve as observers, examiners or judges. The subject, as far as
possible, is observed or studied in certain life situations where his particular traits,
habits, needs and other characteristics are brought into play and can thus be
observed directly by the examiner. Some of the objective methods are -

(I) Miniature Life Situations

(II) Unobserved Observation

(III) Rating Scales

(I) Miniature Life Situations –

In miniature life situations, artificial situations

resembling real life situations, are created and the subject’s reactions and
behaviour are observed and evaluated. Situations involving honesty, cooperation,
persistence, and team-work can be created and the subject’s behaviour may be
noted and judged accordingly. Reactions to failure and success may also be
evaluated by putting subjects in situations where they fail and get frustrated or
gratified.

(II) Unobserved Observation –

The method of unobserved observation is quite

popular in child development centres of guidance clinics. The individual is asked
to perform some tasks or is left to be himself and his behaviour is observed
through a one-way mirror, screen or other device and he is overheard by a
concealed microphone setup. One modification of this method is prolonged
observation of an individual in the same situation for several days together. Or
the subject is observed by more than one person and the observations are pooled
together. Of course, before observation is started, certain decisions must be
arrived as to what to observe.

(III) Rating Scales -

In rating scales, psychologists rate an individual of the

possession or absence of certain traits on a certain scale. The individual is given
a place on the scale or a score which indicates the degree to which a person
possesses a given behaviour trait. The chief limitation of the rating scale lies in
the fact that our ratters should be well-trained and should have a definite
knowledge of the variables. Often, the ratters commit a mistake in that they assign
estimates that cluster around the average point, if at all, towards the favourable
direction of the scale. The rating scales can be used only by those who know the
persons rated and who have observed them in respect of the trait for which they
are rating them.

3. Projective methods –
In these methods or techniques, the subject is requested
to behave in an imaginative way i.e., by making up a story, interpreting ink-blots
or constructing some objects out of plastic material and drawing what he wants.
Thus, the subject is encouraged to project or throw his thoughts, emotions, wishes
and other reactions freely in some situations which are provided. These methods
are intended to reveal the underlying traits, moods, attitudes and fantasies that
determine the behaviour of the individual in actual situations.

Some of the important projective techniques are the Rorschach Test, the TAT or
the Thematic Apperception Test, the Sentence Completion Tests, the Tanto
phone, the play techniques, the word-association method or the picture
association method.

(I) The Rorschach Ink Blot Test -

Developed by a Swiss psychologist Herman
Rorschach (1921), consists of 10 inkblots having symmetrical designs. Five of
these cards are in black and white, two with splashes of red and thee in other
colours. The test is usually administrated individually. When the card is shown
or placed before the client, he is asked to tell what he sees in the inkblot or what
it means to him or what this might be. In the second phase, called the enquiry the
examiner ascertains more fully not only what the person sees, but also what and
how he sees it. In the third phase’ called “testing the limits”, the examiner tries to
ascertain whether the subject responds to the colour, shading and other
meaningful aspects of the inkblots, or whether the whole or parts of the blots are
used by the subject in his responses. All these responses are then subjected to a
scoring system, designed either by Beek or by Klapfer and Kelley. Then the
interpretation follows. The scoring categories of the test such as movement and
colour, are interpreted as signifying different functions of the personality
intellectual creativity, outgoing emotionality, practical mindedness and the like.
We need highly trained personnel to administer and interpret Rorschach and it is
a time-consuming test.

(II) The Thematic Apperception Test -

TAT developed by Murray and
Morgan (1935) consists of a series of 20 pictures. The person is asked to tell the
story that each one suggests to him. These pictures are arranged in appropriate
groups for male and female, for adults and children. On each picture, the subject
tells the story by identifying the characters, explaining their relationships to
each other, describing what preceded the situation shown in the picture, and
stating an outcome. The record of story is analysed according to major theories
– the hero, sexual interests, vocational ambitions, family conflicts and social
status etc. The recurrence of a given topic or the theme is to be noted carefully.
These theme projects implicit attitudes, habits of thought, ideals and drives of
the subject, as well as the characteristics of the other characters- father, mother,
brother, sister, husband and wife. The Rorschach Test throws light on the
structures of personality whereas the TAT throws light on the functioning of
personality. This test is quite popular in India.

(III) Children’s Apperception Test (C.A.T.) -

This test was constructed by

Bellack in 1948. It is used to assess the personality of children up to twelve years
of age. Young children are very much interested in listening to stories about
animals and in playing with animals. Before administering the test, Psychologist
establishes rapport with the children so as to win his cooperation. CAT brings to
light the child’s repressed desires.

(IV) The tantoplione is introduced by B.F. Skinner -

Here the subject
is advised to listen while a phonograph reproduces at low intensity various
speech samples in a man’s voice. The subject is asked to say what comes to his
mind as he listens to each speech sample in much the same way that he might
interpret an ink-blot. Thus, it is the auditory Rorschach technique.

(V) Play Techniques -

Play techniques are more applicable to children than to
adults. The subject is allowed or encouraged to construct scenes by using dolls,
toys, blocks and other building materials. This technique has both diagnostic and
therapeutic value and is frequently used in Child guidance clinics.

(VI) Word Association Test -

Another commonly used technique is the
wordassociation method in which the subject is presented with a list of words,
one at a time, with the instruction to respond with the first word that enters his
mind. The examiner notes the time required for giving each response and the
responses themselves. Departures from the average amount of time and the
content of unusual responses help us to identify certain attitudes, anxieties or
sentiments.

(VII) Picture Association Test -

A recent projective technique is the picture-
association method in which pictures of social situations are substituted for words
as the stimulus material. The picture-frustration study of Rosenzweig is a
wellknown technique of this type. It consists of 24 cartoons like drawings
depicting everyday situations of frustration or stress involving his individuals,
one of whom is usually shown as frustrating the other. The subject is asked to
write or say in the blank caption box, above the head of the frustrated individual,
the first association that comes into his mind as appropriate. Then associations
reveal areas of conflict, anxieties and stress in the life of the individual.

(VIII) The Incomplete Sentence Technique -

The incomplete sentence
technique given by Rotter, Stein and many others is a type of paper and pencil
personality inventory which has features of an association test as well as of a
projective technique. The subject is represented with a number of incomplete
sentences which he finishes in any way that he likes. It is said the portions
supplied reveal wishes, anxieties conflicts, healthy or unhealthy attitudes. The
examiner tries to see the total pattern of attitudes and feelings revealed in the
series of responses and uses it as part of the total study of the individual.
4. The Psycho-Analytic Method -

This method was propounded by Sigmund

Freud, the father of the School of Psycho-analysis. Two type of tests, in the
Psycho-analytic method of investigation of Personality are very popular which
are -

(I) Free Association Test

(II) Dream Analysis Method

Both these tests show the peculiarities of the Personality, in its unconscious
aspect. In the dream analysis, the subject describes his dream and without using
the mind, meaning thereby the unrestricted state of the mind associates freely the
dream objects and activities. Because of the absence of the mental element, the
truth of the unconscious mind is expressed by which the psycho analyst discovers
many peculiarities of a character. Its main difficulty lies in the need for a skilled
and experienced psycho-analyst.