Search

The article discusses the use of repertory grid test in marketing research. An experiment was made to test the hypothesis that performance on repertory grid is related to divergent thinking and independent of sex, age and social class. Twenty high-divergent and low-divergent adult thinkers, well matched on sex, age, and social class, were screened from a larger sample. To test their divergent thinking, they were asked to think of as many different uses as possible for five everyday objects. From 196 items, 186 items derived from repertory grids were descriptive. Thus, if evaluative items are likely important, these may be missed if repertory grids are used exclusively. Conjunction with conventional qualitative research methods were best used for repertory grid interviews.

Specific multivariate statistical techniques, such as factor analysis and discriminatory analysis, are finding increasing application in marketing research investigations. Canonical analysis, a less well-known multivariate technique, is an appropriate procedure to use when sets of criterion and predictor variables are to be correlated. This article describes the objective of canonical analysis, its relationship to other multivariate techniques and the major limitations of the method. The procedure is applied to a problem involving the relationship of certain behavioral measures to personality test scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the use of psychological testing in the employee selection process of salespeople. There is strong evidence for believing that certain personality traits represent the basic factors necessary for success or failure in selling. The results achieved by the use of personality tests have been widely debated among psychologists, executives, and students of business. Research gathered from U.S. firms in 1960 indicates that 90% of the firms who utilized the tests experienced a significant decrease in labor turnover.

This article examines the application of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) to characterize consumer personality research. The author notes that the test has been adopted largely for its ability to control for subject tendency to score based on what is socially desirable. The author examines some of the problems raised due to social desirability bias, ipsative scoring and the validity of the EPPS. The author suggests that ipsative personality tests are not suitable for consumer research because of their inability to allow for interindividual comparisons.

Projective techniques offer one means of obtaining some types of hard-to-get data. The present comparison with direct questioning indicates that projective techniques are rapport-builders and are one way to avoid securing socially accepted responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey was conducted on the categories considered relevant by teachers when judging first-year schoolchildren. Six rating scales were derived and applied to 180 English children in a multi-racial urban area, yielding data on perceived differences between ethnic groups and between boys and girls. Changes occurring during the school year were recorded, and the structure of the scales was analysed using 'repertory grid' techniques. Results suggest that the rating technique developed gives reliable and sensitive measures, but that teachers' judgements are highly global; two-thirds of the total variance in them was accounted for by a single Principal Component. Sex differences diminished over the first year, but ethnic ones did not, while ethnic differences in a school for educationally subnormal children were the reverse of those found in normal schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on profile generalizability in the use of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) with psychiatric inpatients. At the Hastings State Hospital in Minnesota, data were available for patients recurrently hospitalized and repeatedly tested with the MMPI. For each of 55 patients four profiles were found that reflected early and late periods in each of two successive stays. For any subsample of 10 subjects, four matrices could be constructed with call elements made up of, alternatively, the first, second, third, or fourth occurring profile.

This article focuses on the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS). EPPS consists of 225 two-option, forced-choice items. Eighteen EPPS items were selected on an a priori basis, so that a variety of traits was represented, several of the statements were repeated in different items, and as many as possible of the traits would be judged to be more desirable in men than in women, or the reverse. Subjects were undergraduates enrolled in introductory a state-supported 2-year college in the suburbs of New York City, New York.

The article attempts to identify correlates of judgmental accuracy in a sample of clinicians. To test the hypothesis that personality attributes are related to judgmental accuracy, 25 clinicians completed the Terman Concept Mastery Test, Strong Vocational Interest Blank, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, and a clinical experience questionnaire and rated two outpatients on 125 items that relate to prognosis, diagnosis and dynamics. Correlational analysis of the data indicated no consistent relationships between clinician attributes and judgmental accuracy scored with both actuarial and therapist criteria.

The article focuses on experimental group training with conservative populations. County extension agents were given intensive, 1-week, experiential group training. Several sources of information supported the expectation that subjects represented a highly conservative population. Pre-post measures on the California Psychological Inventory, the Tennessee Self Concept Scale and two measures constructed specially for the study were obtained. It was found that measures that closely reflected the immediate goals of training showed positive changes. Conversely, measures that reflected personality traits tended to show changes in a less adaptive direction.

This article presents information on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) form. The purposes of this study were to develop a simplified form of the MMPI and to demonstrate its equivalence to the standard form. Such a revision would extend the range of application of the instrument. In order to verify that the rewritten statements were in fact simpler than the standard ones, a readability index was calculated for each statement in both the standard and simplified forms. The index takes into account the number of unfamiliar words in a statement as well as its length.

This article presents information about a study which analyzed effects of detoxification on psychopathology for alcoholics as measured by the differential personality inventory (DPI). Two groups of consecutively admitted male alcoholics were used in this study. The first was a detoxification group and the second was the group of already detoxified people. Of the 27 personality scales, there was a significant reduction in 19 for the detoxification group. Scales that reflect personality and character disorders, did not change significantly during detoxification. Other results indicate additional reduction in psychopathology after detoxification.

This article presents the summary of the research on the family situation and on the educational situation of children aged between 8 and 12 years old. All the children were tested by means of a personality questionnaire of which the most important scales are those for the achievement motive (P), those for debilitating anxiety (F minus) and for facilitating anxiety (F plus). In the family situation, a group of 40 children, 8 to 10 years old, were observed intensively by two observers; each child was given a number of tasks in the presence of its parents, while the parents had the opportunity to help their child. As for the educational situation, in addition to the group of 40 children already mentioned, data were compiled for about 500 children in the age-group 8 to 17 regarding their behavior at school and the way they experienced their education and their total situation in life. The finding of these researches are summarized with emphasis on the relationship of motivation, behavior and experience on the one hand and of the family and educational situation on the other. The theoretical consequences of the data for the problem of motivational change are also considered.

Forty male medical students were randomly assigned to either an alcohol (1·32 mi/kg) or a placebo group. The 20 subjects in each group were then divided at the median into introvorts and extraverts as determined by scores on the Eysenck Personality Inventory. A cognitive test, Raven's Progressive Matrices, was administered to the alcohol subjects at a blood alcohol level of 0·09 per cent and to the placebo subjects at a comparable time after drinking. Alcohol impaired performance on both Sets I and II of Raven's Progressive Matrices. Introverts and extraverts did not differ in performance on Set I administered on the ascending limb of the blood alcohol curve. A significant interaction was found on Set II (administered on the descending limb): extraverts performed more poorly than introverts in the alcohol group while extraverts performed better than introverts in the placebo group. These data support Eysenck's hypo. thesis that extraverts are more affected by alcohol than introverts. This difference may not become apparent until subjects are on the descending limb of the blood alcohol curve where the depressant-like effects of alcohol are the greatest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effects of colour and base on construing urban planning maps are examined in relation to measures of grid structure and content. Four sets of seven redevelopment plans, differing in colour and/or base, were shown to random samples of 50 local women. Individuals construed the plans in a typical repgrid procedure. Differentiation measures, including percent variance of grid elements and principal components, and construct-type frequencies are compared across map sets by analysis of covariance, using biographical variables as covariates. Some effects of colour on plan construing are demonstrated, though for base the evidence is equivocal. Information available in the grid-structure measures is illustrated further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the study concerning the personality and attitudes of effective hospital corpsmen (HMs) of the U.S. Navy. The study evaluated the Recruit Temperament Survey (RTS) as a classification instrument for identifying effective HMs. The study was conducted to identify personality and attitudinal characteristics which discriminate significantly between HMs and noneffective HMs and between effective HMs and other navy enlisted personnel. It also aims to determine the usefulness of these variables in identifying effective HMs. The study indicated that the effective HM is a well adjusted individual who tends to focus more on health-related problems.

Sixty-two women religious were administered the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire in 1969 and again in 1972. The Pearson product-moment correlations ranged from .18 to .77; the mean correlation was .36. Statistical significance was reached on 14 of 16 factors. In a "t" difference analysis, significant differences were found on 9 of 16 fact or The results indicate that various personality characteristics have shifted in the direction of increased self-awareness, self-sufficiency, and inner resourcefulness. The investigators suggest that these shifts, at least in part, may be due to the growing modernization within religious communities and the resultant increasing flexibility and freedom choke far women religious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance on the Canter Background interference Procedure (BIP) of 40 hyperkinetic boys was compared with that of 38 male control subjects. While the groups did not differ on the Bender-Gestalt Test (with IQ partialled out), the hyperkinetic group showed a significantly greater decrement in performance under Canter-BIP conditions. However, the magnitude of the differences found was too small to yield reliable classification of the individual child. The results indicate the necessity of caution in clinical use of the technique with children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the study that aims to compare the personality in psychomotor epilepsy and explosive and aggressive personality. The diagnostic problem of differentiating the explosive aggressivity provoked by chronic alcoholism from the personality of certain epileptics was illustrated by comparing the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) profile of a sub-group of psychomotor epileptics with bitemporal independent electroencephalograph spike foci, which may present the major epileptogenic correlate of personality disturbances among psychomotor epileptics, with the MMPI profile for a patient with explosive aggressivity caused by chronic alcoholism. The indication of the results concerning the MMPI test was stressed.

There is a direct correspondence between the interpretation of homosexuality and the ideas and theories surrounding it. Upon administering the MMPI to a group of female homosexuals and a group of female heterosexuals, the two groups were differentiated on three of the 13 scales. The two groups differed also on 57 of the 566 items. The findings support the idea that differences in personality, although not out of the ‘normal’ ranges (i.e., T scores > 70 or < 30) do occur between female homosexuals and female heterosexuals. The results also indicate that a personality scale to detect homosexuality could be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The much-maligned personality inventory is further maligned in this article by two authors who claim to have some expertise in the area of test development. This claim may or may not be substantiated by the fact that one author received his degree in water-skiing and the other received his degree in ceramics. The authors request that any correspondence regarding comments or criticisms of this article be sent to them in a plain brown wrapper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Preschool Personality Questionnaire (PSPQ) is 1 of a series of questionnaires designed to reveal personality structure at 5 age levels. Both "parcel" and "item" factoring have been utilized for the PSPQ, but this report covers only "parcel" approaches. 2 studies are reported here: first, a cross-check, ability-context experiment with 18 factors determined by a Screen test, 4 of them ability factors as hypothesized; and second, a study called the personality definition intensification experiment, which produced 22 factors of which 9 are distinctly new and the remainder are satisfactory matches for 7 of the original factors and somewhat less satisfactory for 6 of the originals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which investigates the interrelationship of an instructor's personality, classroom behavior, and student evaluation rating. The respondents include 19 undergraduate engineering professors. Results indicated that instructors, who were evaluated highest by their students, scored significantly higher on the dominance factor of a standard personality test. Nevertheless, the general tendency appeared to be that students do not evaluate their instructors on personality alone. Correlations were noted between certain personality traits and various interaction analysis classification categories plus an equation describing an instructor's indirect and direct ratio as a function of personality traits is presented.

Personality similarity and the social desirability of personality descriptions were controlled in several recent studies of attraction. Their contradictory results suggested that further research on variables correlated with similarity was warranted. In the present experiment the popularity or endorsement frequency of the information defining the stimulus persons was controlled. In addition, the generality of past research was investigated by using sentences from personality test items, rather than simply adjectives, to define the stimulus persons. The results supported the interpretation that subjects respond to both similarity and other aspects of these descriptions. American college students report greater attraction to (a) strangers defined by endorsements of popular characteristics and (b) similar others even when the popularity (as in the present study) or when the social desirability of the stimulus person's descriptions (as in previous research) is controlled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Comrey Personality Scales were translated into Portuguese and administered to 689 volunteer students at four universities in Rio de Janeiro. Total scores were obtained for 40 homogeneous item subgroups of four items each. These 40 variables plus two validation scale scores, age, and sex were intercorrelated and factor analyzed by the minimum residual method. Orthogonal analytic rotations were carried out by the Tandem Criteria method. The results were compared with those reported in the Comrey Personality Scales manual for an identical study with subjects from the United States. Exactly eight factors were obtained in both studies, and the correspondence between the factors was very close. It was concluded that the major factors of personality are not specific to a given culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses relationships among Activity Vector Analysis (AVA) and Adjective Check List (ACL) scales as measured on a sample of college students. The subjects(Ss) were 96 undergraduate students in psychology. They were administered, in the same sitting, both the ACL and the AVA. Twenty-one of the ACL scales, using both the indicative and contra-indicative scoring keys, were correlated with the four scales comprising the MA profile. The resulting R matrices were factor analyzed using principal component methods and varimax rotation procedures.

The article discusses an exploration of the equivalence of Murrayan needs as assessed by the adjective check list, the Tat and Edwards personal preference schedule. The first study used a sample of 70 male juvenile delinquents who were given the TAT and whose counselors filled out ACLs describing their behavior while in custody. No significant correlations were obtained between ACL and TAT scales of similar constructs. In the second study, the ACL was correlated with the EPPS in samples of Peace Corps trainees, who took the two instruments at different times during their training. Much greater convergence was found between the ACL and EPPS than had been obtained between the ACL and TAT, but the correlations, while significant, were of rather modest size.

The article cites a study which suggests that teeth or threatening look in the Draw-A-Person Test (DAP) do not permit inference of verbal or physical aggression. Both signs must be present in the drawing before verbal aggression can be inferred, but even the presence of both signs is not enough to connote physical aggression. Such accumulation of signs of related interpretive meaning in a single drawing is apparently necessary before inferences can be made of the actual behavior of the client. Earlier studies suggest that the significance of patterns of signs in the DAP is of more consequence than individual signs.

The article cites a study which attempts to clarify interpretation of the 1-3 code type Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory profiles and at the same time to contrast them with other code type profiles commonly obtained from patients applying for hospital medical admission. The main observation in the present context is the high incidence of psychological symptoms in this 1-3/3-1 group of medical patients. Just as physiological instability and somatic symptoms are found with high frequency in psychiatric patients with these codes, psychological symptoms are found with high frequency in medical patients with the same codes.

The article cites a study which reports on Minnesota percepto-diagnostic test (MPD), age norms and IQ adjustments. This article deals exclusively with the presentation of developmental norms. New revised norms for using the MPD with normal and limited-IQ populations have been developed. The norms were revised in three phases on a sample of 4,000 patients ranging in age from 5 to 20 years. The first phase consisted of adjusting MPD scores for the effects of IQ. The second phase involved establishing deviation scores that allow comparison of MPD performance by patients with different CA's.

The article cites a study which used Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) profiles to analyze the decisions of clinical psychologists about hospitalized patients, Moreover, the same method of computing relative weights is applied to the validity coefficients of the predictor variables alone, as well as using more complex formula which includes the beta weights derived from the multiple regression analysis. In this study, these two similar methods yielded surprisingly contradictory conclusions about the complexity of the clinical judgment process.

The article discusses the effect of eliminating offensive items on the reliability and validity of the MMPI. The most recent encounter in this running battle has resulted in various hearings before Congressional committees and a full issue of the "American Psychologist" devoted to this topic. Government agencies, school districts, and some employers have curtailed their use of various instruments, and laws are pending in Congress which would severely limit the use of psychological testing. But, many of the offensive items are not on standard MMPI scales.

The article determines MMPI differences among alcoholics considered to be relatively well adjusted and those less well adjusted in their marriage. There exist very few studies of the relationship between marital adjustment and alcoholism. None were found focusing specifically upon marital discord, utilizing the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality inventory (MMPI) as an indication of maladjustment. While it is well known that alcoholism is associated with poor marital adjustment, there have been very few studies of this other than case studies.

The article discusses Koppitz's Bender-Gestalt scores in relation to organic and emotional problems in children. Koppitz constructed a much needed developmental scoring system for the Bender-Gestalt Test and standardized it on 1100 normal school children, age five to ten years. The scoring system was also applied to groups of children with brain injury and emotional problems. Since both the brain-injured and emotionally disturbed groups had more errors in their Bender reproductions than their normal controls, the question arises as to whether the scoring system can differentiate impairment due to organicity from that associated with emotional disturbance. One attempt to deal with this problem has been the construction of special scales consisting of signs which supposedly differentiate the brain-injured from the emotionally disturbed patient.

The article presents a study in which four group leaders of a one semester Group Dynamics course rated a total of 44 female student nurses after each of 12 to 14 group sessions with a 94-item adjective check list. The students were then divided into various groupings dependent on their MMPI scores and their observed behaviors compared. Marked differences were found when the students' Welsh A and Rt scales were conjointly divided to form four quadrants. Similarly, three groups selected by common configural scale scores showed quite different kinds of observed behavior that were, in general, consistent with conventional clinical interpretation.

The article presents a study in which subjects were administered the Holtzman Inkblot Test, on a group basis, which was scored for barrier. A large number of homonyms were also given as the stimuli in a word association task. After sex was controlled, the homonyms which were perceived with different meanings by the high and low barrier subjects were identified. Homonyms which were discriminative of sex differences were also identified. The same procedure was carried out on a second independent sample of subjects with only the words which were discriminative in both samples retained in the final homonym lists. This procedure resulted in three homonym lists, barrier in males, barrier in females and one which was discriminative of masculinity femininity differences.

The article presents information on a library of statements to be used with the MMPI profile. Most of these statements were compiled from research data from various sources. The library was developed primarily for group testing at the VA Hospital in Salt Lake City. The library may be considered as a list of suggestions for the examiner, or as a list of reminders so he will not overlook or forget possible interpretations from the profile. Considerable effort has been expended in trying to set up the library so that duplicate statements do not occur for individual cases. Certain statements recur one or more times in the library, but the profile points on which they are based are, for the most part, mutually exclusive.

The article presents a study related to a proposed age-related effect on the MMPI. MMPI data for 95 aged normals reported by researcher W.M. Swenson were analyzed and compared to MMPI data on a sample of 34 older and a sample of 22 younger psychiatric patients. Each group was compared both with itself and with each other on a Neurotic and on a Psychotic Index. The results indicated an age-related effect occurs in abnormal as well as normal subjects. Aged adults appear to respond in a more neurotic fashion than younger adults.

This article discusses Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) F scales as an indicator of severity of psychopathology. The MMPI was administered routinely to 347 consecutive admissions to a 32 bed psychiatric hospital operated by a University Medical School Department of Psychiatry. The data were not analyzed until all 347 patients had been discharged. The hospital is an acute, intensive treatment center, with a major commitment to the training of psychiatric residents, medical students, clinical psychology students, and student nurses. The mean F score of this sample was 10.63, SD 7.56; the mean age of this sample was 29.48, SD 11.51; mean days in hospital was 52.10, SD 66.19.