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Sach Sentence Completion Test

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Sach Sentence Completion Test

Uploaded by

ariellapsycho
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© © All Rights Reserved
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SACH’S SENTENCE COMPLETION TEST

General Description of the Test


Dr. Joseph M. Sach and other psychologists of New York Veterans
Administrative Mental Hygiene Service developed a sentence completion test
designed to obtain significant clinical material in four representative areas of
adjustment namely: a) Family b) Sex c) Interpersonal relationship d) Self-
concept.
It has felt that items included in this presents sufficient opportunities for the
subject to express his attitudes so that clinical psychologists may infer his
dominant personality traits/trends. Such information is useful in screening
patient for therapy, which gives clues to content and dynamics of patient’s
attitudes and feelings.
The Family Areas includes 3 sets of attitudes namely: a) towards mother b)
towards father c) towards family unit. It is hoped that even when the subject
becomes evasive or cautious, at least one of the four items in each area will
reveal significant response.
The Sex Area includes attitude towards women and heterosexual relationship,
the eight items in this area allows the subject to express himself with regards
to woman, towards marriage and with respect to sexual relationship.
The Area of Interpersonal Relationship includes attitude towards friends and
acquaintances, colleagues at work or school, superior at work or school, and
people supervised. The sixteen items of this area afford the subject to express
his feelings towards these.
The Area of Self Concept includes fears, guilt feelings, goals and attitude
towards one’s own ability, concept of him as he is, he was, and he hopes to be.

Administration of the Test


Administration is perhaps easier for sentence completion test than for other
projective techniques. It can be given individually or to groups of varying size.
So long as there is room enough for such subject to be comfortable, neither
the surroundings nor the number of persons seem to matter. Usually,
administration is written, although it can be oral administration. “Below are
sixty partly complete sentences. Read each one and finish it by writing the
first thing that comes to your mind. Work as quickly as you can. If you cannot
complete an item, circle the number and return to it later. Please use a #2
pencil.”
The subject writes his sentence completions. Instructions are printed on the
sentence completion blank form and may be repeated aloud by the examiner.
Assuming the subject can read, and write adequately, understanding is no
problem.

Scoring of the Test


A rating sheet has been advised for the SSCT which bring together under
each attitude, the four stimuli item and the subject’s responses to them.
On the basis of your clinical judgment, taking to account such factors as
inappropriate responses, sysphoric references, and manifestations of conflicts,
rate the SSCT responses of the subject in the 15 categories listed below,
according to the following scale:
2 ----- Severely disturbed – Appears to require therapeutic aid in handling
emotional conflict in this area.
1 ----- Mildly disturbed – Has emotional conflicts in this area but appears that he
is able to handle them without therapeutic aid.
0 ----- Normal condition – No significant conflict noted in this area.
X ----- Unknown – Vague, insufficient evidence.

For Example:
Attitude towards father:
1. I feel that my father seldom works.
16. If my father would do better.
31. I wish my father is dead.
46. I feel that my father is no good.
These four responses are considered together and interpretative summary is
made that crystallizes the clinician’s impression of the subject’s attitudes in
this area. In this case, the summary is stated: “Extreme hostility and contempt
with overt death wishes.”

Interpretation of the Test


Interpretation Guide:
1. Attitude towards mother (14, 29, 44, 59)
2 – Completely rejects and depreciate mother when he considers over
demanding.
1 – Sees mother’s fault but accepts and tolerates their differences.
0 – Expresses only positive feelings towards their mother.
2. Attitude towards father (1, 16, 31, 46)
2 – Feels extreme hostility and contempt with overt death wishes.
1 – Admires father but wishes that their relationships were closer.
0 – Expresses complete satisfaction with father’s personality.
3. Attitude towards family unit (12, 27, 42, 57)
2 – Feels rejected by family which always lack solidarity and which has
constantly contented with difficulties.
1 – Aware that family does not recognize him as a mature person, but feels no
difficulty in identifying with them.
0 – Instability of family domicile and had little effect on his favorable feelings
towards them.
4. Attitude towards women (10, 25, 40, 55)
2 – Extremely suspicious, possible homosexual tendency.
1 – High ideals but ambivalent feelings.
0 – Only minor criticisms and superficial.
5. Attitude towards heterosexual relationship (11, 26, 41, 56)
2 – Appears to have given up achieving good sexual adjustment.
1 – Deserves sexual experience, but with reservation.
0 – Indicates satisfaction towards this area.
6. Attitude towards friends and acquaintances (8, 23, 38, 53)
2 – Suspicious and apparently seclusive.
1 – Seems to wait for approval of others before committing himself
emotionally.
0 – Expresses good mutual feelings between friends and self.
7. Attitude towards people supervised (4, 19, 34, 48)
2 – Feels he would be able to control his hostility in supervising others.
1 – Feels capable of doing good supervisory work but has misgivings about
assuming an authoritarian person.
0 – Feels compatible and well accepted by subordinates.
8. Attitude towards supervisors at work/school (6, 21, 36, 51)
2 – Resent and fear authority.
1 – Mild difficulty in accepting authority.
0 – Shows good relationship with authority.
9. Attitude towards colleagues at work/school (13, 28, 43, 58)
2 – Feels rejected by colleague and condemned them.
1 – Has some difficulty with his work and depend on colleagues.
0 – Expresses good mutual feelings.
10.Attitude towards fear (7, 22, 37, 52)
2 – Disturbed by an apparent fear of losing identity or consciousness and
possibility to control his impulse.
1 – Fear of self-assertion which is fairly common and not pervasive.
0 – Expresses lack of overt fear.
11.Attitude towards guilt feelings (15, 30, 45, 60)
2 – Concerned with spiritual feelings and physical sex drive.
1 – Has regret over past and seems mildly disturbed by his failure to control
his trouble.
0 – Does not seem to be aware of guilt feelings.
12.Attitude towards past (9, 24, 39, 54)
2 – Feels rejected and isolated.
1 – Mildly disturbed by the past.
0 – Feels well-adjusted, positive feelings towards the past.
13.Attitude towards own abilities (2, 17, 32, 47)
2 – Feels completely incompetent and helpless.
1 – Feels he has specific ability but tends to fear difficulty.
0 – Confident of his ability to overcome obstacle.
14.Attitude towards future (5, 20, 35, 50)
2 – Pessimistic, no hope in his own resources of happiness and success.
1 – Unsure of himself but generally optimistic.
0 – Seems confident in achieving his goals.
15.Attitude towards goals (3, 18, 33, 49)
2 – Direct expression of hostility, aggression of society, extravagant,
unrealistic, lack of motivation for achievement.
1 – Desire material things for family as well as for self.
0 – Full of patience and optimistic.

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