Personality Assessment

Types of assessment
Strengths and weaknesses
Pseudo-personality tests

Types of Assessment
Interviews
- Structured or unstructured
Observations
- Client observed or assessed ​while w/ others

Objective Tests
- Standardized questionnaires (MMPI, 567 ?’s)
- Likert Scale (1 = do not agree to 5 = fully agree)
Sample MMPI ?’s
My stomach frequently bothers me
I sometimes hear things that other people can’t hear

Projective Tests
Ambiguous stimuli
1) Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
- Client creates stories for ambiguous pictures (ex- painting of person could be male or
female)
- The point is to assess how client projects personality onto things
2) Rorschach Inkblot Test
- Client reports on what he/ she sees in set of 10 inkblots
- Kids in psych ward came up w very creative responses that regular kids could not
- More ​perception​, than projective
3) House-Tree-Person Test (HTP)
- Client draws house, tree, person
- Phase 1: crayon, phase 2: pencil
- Therapists asks client up to 60 ?’s per drawing
- Can take 2.5 hours; can tell intelligence + personality

Assessment Methods’ Pros + Cons

Interviews + Observations
Pros:
- good insights
Cons:
- Money/ time intensive
- “Interrater reliability issues” dif observers will interpret your responses dif (ex- A thinks he
is a sociopath, while B does not think so)
 - Observation: you, an observer, will impact ur subject in some way

Objective Tests
Pros:
- Specific, objective results
- Short
Cons:
- “Social desirability bias” subjects may feel uncomfortable so​ deception​ to make them
look better
- False negatives/ positives (ex of pos- having bad day does not mean you are depressed,
but results could show otherwise)
- Culture A v B

Projective Tests
Pros:
- Widely used bc elicit responses from the hesitant (for ex, someone who does not want to
discuss painful childhood)
Cons:
- Takes a lot of time
- Interrater reliability bias

Reliability + Validity Highly Desired

Multiple assessments given to provide more info to complete pic of person (maybe in hiring
process)

Pseudo-Personality Tests
From zodiac/ astrology signs
Loyal
Dependable
Persistent
Patient
Generous
​ VS
Stubborn
Lazy
Possessive
Materialistic
Self-indulging

Barnum effect:​ “a little something for everyone”

- Helped create the circus
- Called Jumbo the elephant as world’s largest elephant… he died, then Barnum stuffed
his body + used his skeleton to double $
Confirmation bias:​ ignore statements that disagree w ur views
Self-serving bias:​ we prefer info that helps maintain pos self-image

Psychological Disorders
Abnormal B + DSM-V
Anxiety disorders
OCD
Depressive + Bipolar Disorders
Schizophrenia
Dissociative Disorders
Personality Disorders
Substance-related Disorders

Abnormal B
Patterns of emotion, thought, + action considered ​pathological ​(diseased or disordered)

4 Aspects of Abnormal B
1) ​Deviance​ (from social/ cultural norms)
- On scale, middle is 95% (common), but outer sections, L + R, are deviant
2) ​Dysfunction
- Interferes w/ normal living
Ex- healthy fear of heights “i think i’ll pass on a hike” dif from unhealthy fear “i won’t walk
up stairs”
3) ​Distress
Ex- are you so focused on wanting to have sex w everyone around you, that you are
physically itchy?
4)​ Danger​ (to self or others)
Ex- cutting yourself

Commonly Used Terms

Neurosis​ (now obsolete term): less severe than psychosis; usually characterized by anxiety
Ex- phobias
Psychosis:​ extreme mental disruption; contact w/ reality defective
Ex- schizophrenia
Insanity:​ ​legal​ ​term ​(not clinical);​ ​inability to discern right from wrong

DSM-V​ (5)
22​ categories of mental disorders

Anxiety Disorders
Overwhelming apprehension or fear plus ANS- arousal (autonomic, involuntary… sympathetic v
parasympathetic NS)
1) ​Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD):​ persistent, uncontrollable, unfocused, excessive fear
- Can’t pinpoint what started the fear
- F > M (maybe not accurate bc men don’t come forward as much)
Related physiological probs- headaches, dizziness, insomnia, heart palpitations

2) ​Panic Disorder:​ sudden, brief, unexplainable panic attacks

- Helpless terror w high physiological (ANS) arousal
● Feelings of abt to have heart attack or die
- Can be w or w/out ​agoraphobia*
● Fear of situations or places from which escape may be difficult or embarrassing,
+ help may not be available, in the event of a panic attack

3) ​Phobia:​ intense, irrational fear + avoidance of specific objects or situations

- Agoraphobia F>M
- Specific phobias (spiders, clowns, heights, etc.) F>M
- Social phobias F = M

Possible Explanations
Psychological:​ maladaptive learning
- That dog looks scary, i’m gonna avoid it… then everything goes ok, so you continue to
avoid dogs
Biological:​ genes, evolution, biochem (NT’s)
- Poisonous snakes, fires, needles, etc. makes sense bc could decrease ur survival
Sociocultural:​ environmental stressors (ex- 13 in US v 4 in China) + ambiguous stressors

Obsessive-Compulsive + Related Disorders

OCD:​ intrusive, repetitive, fearful thoughts ​(obsessions)​ +/ or urges to perform these B’s
(compulsion)
- Washing hands obsessively + checking to make sure ur toaster is not gonna burn the
house down, for ex are most common
- Symmetry, counting, doing B a certain # of times
- M=F

Depressive + Bipolar Disorders

Extreme disturbances in emotional state

Major Depression:​ long-lasting depressed mood that interferes w ability to function, feel
pleasure, or maintain interest in life
- Weeks, months, years
Mania:​ excessive, unreasonable state of overexcitement + impulsive B
- Exact opposite of depression… won’t sleep + will max out credit cards or take a trip to
Vegas
- Only last a few days, maybe a week or so
Bipolar Disorder:​ switches bw mania + depression
- Depressant state usually 3x longer than mania

Schizophrenia (Sz)
Group of disorders involving disturbances in thought, emotion, B, perception, language
- Spectrum disorder
- Translates to “split mind”

~ 1%, 1 in 100 (M + F)
Usu. late teens to mid-30’s
NOT multiple personalities
Ex- guy beat up + says it’s fine, he hurt ​my body… not me

Recent Methods of Classification

Positive Symptoms:
Additions​ to/ exaggerations of normal thought processes + B’s
- Delusions (belief not supported by reality)
- Hallucinations (including extra voices)

Negative Symptoms:
Loss/​ absence of normal thought processes + B’s
- Blunted affect (ex- no longer laugh at funny jokes in your fave movie)
- Social withdrawal (ex- not saying much or avoiding eye contact, no speech)

Areas of Disturbance
Perception
- Hallucinations
Language
- Word salad: ​sentences don’t make sense
Ex- Spiders my mom is a notification true since not like wedding cake.
- Neologisms:​ creating new words
Thought
- Delusions
Ex- dentist put fake tooth into their mouth to track them but it’s so secretive no
machine or person can see it
- Lack of contact w/ reality
Emotion (affect)
- Blunted (too little emotion)
Ex- friend dies, + you say that sucks
- Inappropriate (too much)
Ex- friend dies + you
B
- Social w/drawal
 - Unusual actions
- Catalepsy:​ holding uncomfortable + strange stance for hours
- Waxy flexibility:​ don’t move, but will stay in a position if you move him into it; can pose
them like a giant doll or action figure for hours

Dissociative Disorders
Amnesia, fugue, or multiple personalities resulting from a splitting apart of experience from
memory or consciousness
- Mind tries to cope w/ trauma
1) Stems from a need to ​escape anxiety
2) ​Environment ​is primary cause/ trigger

Dissociative Amnesia
- Motivated loss of memory (protection)
- Selective, convenient, reversible
- Short duration (days, max 2 weeks) F>M
Brain still processes the trauma, but subconsciously so not at forefront of brain

Dissociative Fugue
- Massive amnesia for roles, relationships, chunks of personal history
- Weeks, months
- M>F
- Often travels to new place + assumes new ID
Wake up one morning, and have no memory of old life… you think ur a completely dif person so
you begin to live new life

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

Multiple personalities
- Each personality has unique set of memories, B’s, social relationships
- Og personality usually unaware “lost time”
- Can switch quickly among personalities
● Switches often triggered by stress, ​suggestion ​(hypnosis)
- F>M
- A controversial diagnosis bc some argue hypnosis creates personalities, not just
uncovers them

Personality Disorders
Maladaptive personality traits that significantly impair social + occupational functioning
- Rarely causes personal distress
- Low motivation to change

Antisocial Personality Disorder

Profound disregard for (+ violation of) the rights of others; lack of empathy
 - Scam artists, ruthless/ corrupt businesspeople; serial killers
- Egocentrism:​ lack of conscience, impulsivity, superficial charm
- Bio + environmental influences
Psychopaths + sociopaths

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Pathological self-absorption
“IT’S ALL ABT ME!!”
- Unrealistic senses of self-importance, uniqueness, entitlement
- Profound lack of empathy
- Intense need for admiration + approval
- Arrogance, envy toward others
- Biological + environmental influences

Borderline Personality Disorder

Impulsivity + instability in mood, relationships, + self-image
- Og “on the borderline” bw neurosis + Sz
- Pattern of broken relationships; impulsive + self-destructive (risky sex, cutting, etc)
- See self + others in black/ white terms
- Bio + environmental influences

Comorbidity:​ multiple health issues at once (ex- depression + alcohol addiction)