Psychological Tests – A way to reveal the inner “You”

Copyright @ Eskimimi

When you first enter a psychologist’s office, you already have in mind some techniques he or she might use in order to assess your psychological features. Perhaps you know these methods from watching movies (the classic psychotherapist-client scene where the last is shown an inkblot and has to say what he makes out of it), by reading psychology books and articles or maybe from what your friends tell you that happened when they’ve met that „looney shrink” who made them draw a tree while believing the result can bring out important information about one’s personality and behaviours. Also, I will assume (my hypothesis might be proved wrong however) that most of my readers tend to trust more the paper-pen tests, with questions and a variety of answers to choose from, at the end of which a score is provided and you get to see in which category you „fit” according to the theory behind the test.

The aim of my article is to present the most used types of psychological tests, so that when you come across them you will have full confidence that they are valid instruments of psychological assessment, no matter how weird, childish and useless they might seem at first.

First of all, let me tell you more about psychometrics (Not to be mistaken for „psychometry” – the parapsychological phenomenon that involves obtaining information about somebody or an event by extra-sensorial means or „psychrometrics” – the measurement of the heat and water vapor properties of air). Psychometrics is that field of psychology that includes all the theories, techniques and instruments that allow psychological measurements. The main concern of psychometrics is constructing and using questionnaires and tests for psychological assessment.

When we talk about tests, we should keep in mind that they are scientific instruments that provide objective data about an individual, gathered in a relatively short time and regarding a certain matter. In order to be accepted as a scientific tool, the tests have to be valid (to measure what they claim they measure), reliable (to measure something consistently, to be able to obtain similar information when applied again), standardized (same testing conditions for all subjects) and the results obtained must be compared to a significant sample of subjects, a standard must be developed .

There are many ways to classify psychological tests, according to a variety of criteria:

By the way they are applied we find individual and collective tests.

By the material that is being used there are verbal and nonverbal tests.

By the duration , the test can have a determined timing or it can be done into the subject’s own time .

By the content they measure and their goals, we can talk about performance, personality, achievement, skills and intelligence tests.

The difference between achievement and intelligence tests is that IQ tests are measures of intelligence (Examples: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III a.k.a. WAIS-III, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children IV a.k.a. WISC-IV), while achievement regards to the level of development and the way that ability is being used (Examples: Wechsler Individual Achievement Test a.k.a. WIAT, Wide Range Achievement Test 4 a.k.a. WRAT 4).

However, personality tests are used the most. They include two main branches: the objective tests and the projective ones, not meaning that the last provide low-quality data, but rather underline the implication of the subject’s own psychological dynamics.

The objective tests are the widespread personality questionnaires and inventories, consisting of a list of items/questions to which you answer Yes/No, True/False etc. At the end of this kind of testing, a number called score results and considering that number you will belong to a certain personality type, according to the theory supporting the test. Some of the personality questionnaires and inventories are the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), 16 Personality Factors (16PF) and the Big Five Personality Factors. This tests can also be presented as computer software and applied in this manner which might be faster than the classic pen and paper one.

The second category of personality tests (and my favorite) consists of projective tests. These tests track one’s psychological dynamics with its elements and relationships between them. In this kind of tests it is easier to observe the way the unconscious information emerge in the form of projections. By projection we understand one’s “tendency to ascribe to another person feelings, thoughts, or attitudes present in oneself, or to regard external reality as embodying such feelings, thoughts, etc., in some way” (definition provided by www.dictionary.com).

The most known projective test is probably The Rorschach Test a.k.a. The Inkblot Test, developed by the Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach in 1921. The test consists of several inkblots and the subject is asked to provide answers regarding of what they might be. Although this type of testing can be seen at first as non-scientific, it is supported by a complex system of scoring and interpretation, allowing the psychologist or psychiatrist to obtain relevant and accurate data about the person’s personality traits and dynamic of thoughts and attitudes. One of the most used scoring systems for the Rorschach test is the Exner comprehensive system. However, a more complex system for scoring and interpreting Rorschach tests has been developed by The Italian Institute for Psychodiagnostic Study and Research, “Scuola Romana Rorschach”. Also, this institute provides a parallel series of inkblots to be used, by this eliminating the suspicion regarding subjects being trained for the test or the simple exposure to the blots prior to the test, which can also influence the final diagnosis.

Other projective tests also include the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) developed by H.A. Murray, the Rosenzweig Picture Frustration Study-PF Test, the House-Tree-Person Drawing Test, etc. Projective tests can also have the form of items (sentences or stories) that need to be completed or described. Personality tests, as many psychological tests, do not have right or wrong answers, just answers that reveal a part of you.

According to the goal of the testing, the psychologist or psychiatrists can choose one type of test or a battery of tests that contains of several such instruments. I also need to mention that these tests can only be used by professionals (very few questionnaires can be used by people that are not mental health providers) that need proper training for each test they are using in their practice (along with a license). Although very accurate, psychological assessment cannot be founded solely on the results at a single test. Very few tests, such as the Rorschach Test provide an accurate and relatively complete diagnosis. The other test usually provide a path for the psychotherapist to follow in order to discover the root of the problems.

In conclusion, I hope this short presentation regarding types of psychological tests will help make you feel more comfortable and confident when confronted with a psychological testing situation. And also remember that the so called psychological tests you can find all over the place (Internet, magazines, etc) should be seen as „for fun” and not considered as an accurate psychological assessment.

Article by Lucia Grosaru

Merry Christmas from the Psychology Corner

Extreme Science : Dr. Demikhov and Dr. White

Photo © www.asia.ru

Two-headed dogs, monkey head transplants , standalone living brains and brains transplanted in dog necks. These are the experiments that shocked the world during the 1950’s and 1970’s.

Although the media and the scientific community often referred to the authors of these experiments as “monsters”, “Frankensteins”, “beasts”, “mad scientists” and catalogued their work as “grotesque”, I will still referr to them as Dr. Vladimir Demikhov and Dr.Robert White, due to the respect I have for people that dedicate their lives to science. However, that does not mean I subscribe to their methods.

Russian doctor Vladimir Petrovich Demikhov is known as a transplant pioneer who did his first experiments in the 1930’s and 1950’s. His surgeries included the transplantation of a heart into an animal and lung-heart replacement in an animal, but the thing that intrigued most scientists and average people is the creation of his two-headed dogs. Although the first to do this was the American physiologist Charles Guthrie, the dogs of Dr. Demikhov were the first to possess full cerebral functions. The difference of method implied the amount of time allowed to elapse between decapitation and attachement of the donor head to the recipient body. The operation itself was a succes, but the dogs would all die within a six days time. The doctor and his team proved their success by filming the dogs and showing that the new animal was able to drink milk with both heads attached to the same body. I refuse to post images or videos with the animals “created” by Dr. Demikhov, though they can be found all over the internet. Weak hearts however should never be near them!

Demikhov’s work has been appreciated by the American surgeon Dr. Robert White, that took science to an even more outrageous level in 1962, when he removed a dog’s brain and kept it alive outside the skull. In 1964 the brain of a dog has been transplanted into the neck of another dog, connected to the last’s blood supply and monitored with electrods for activity. Although he managed to keep the standalone brain alive, Dr. White failed to prove consciousness. Like this wasn’t enough, in 2001, Dr. White horrified the scientific world again, by transplanting a full monkey head to the body of another’s.

Video footage shows the transplanted head exhibiting facial movements, being able to receive liquids and react to stimuli, although the rest of the body was paralyzed. It’s not hard to understand that the procedure was absolutely useless, considering the fact that there couldn’t be such thing as a complete head transplant since repairing nerve damage in the severed spinal cord is impossible (at least until now) and the head can’t control the new body. The whole experiment ended with euthanized monkeys.

Both doctors justified their research and experiments by the posibility of discovering a way to help paralyzed humans, especially quadriplegics, where head transplant would be the only solution to guarantee life. Dr. White believes such operations will be possible in the not too distant future and he actually tried to find donors and volunteers for the test’s final act : human head transplant. As a psychologist, I know our brain stocks information (such as memories) related to the experiences we encounter in our existence. These experiences are undoubtedly related to our physical body, so I must ask myself what it would be like for a human being to wake up and have memories that pass as his own, as far as the memory is concearned and yet the facts, the body, won’t sustain them. Assuming the operation would succeed, I can’t think of a worse way of feeling trapped in another body and definitely can’t imagine a psychologically normal life for the patient.

Many desires and plans have been verbalized by Dr. Demikhov and Dr. White, and yet, all they really had on their operation tables at the end were mutilated, paralyzed and dead animals. Is that acceptable if one acts “in the name of science”? I understand the desire to expand human knowledge, but does it need to be done at any expense? According to Darwin, we are the most advanced type of ape, with the highest level of intelligence, but does that mean we are entitled to use the less evolved species for our own intentions? Are we entitled to torture and kill “in the name of science”? Do we need to be that unmerciful selfish ape?

Article by Lucia Grosaru

Psychology : A Skeptical Approach

Photo © DryIcons

The idea of this article came to me last evening while watching a tv show about a forensic investigation. While presenting the case, the voice-over text included this sentence: “It took both science and psychology in order to solve the case.”

And I thought to myself “Isn’t psychology science?”. That’s how I saw it since I first started studying it and I never doubted this point of view. But it seems that after centuries of existence, psychology is still not entirely seen as a science. Past controversies still haunt the field of psychology, and one of them regards to the question : Is psychology an art or a science?

In the past, one would blame psychology for not having a proper object of investigation, for having subjective and not objective methods or lacking quantitative laws. Nowadays, skeptics talk about psychology as a system of beliefs close to religion or as a form of art, fields that are “free of the constraints placed on scientific theories “. They also say we lack evidence and reason.

Now I’ll just have to assume that skeptics won’t be afraid when seeing a bear,or that when they want to use a mathematical formula all they need to do is wish for it and it magically appears on the board, cause you see, a skeptic won’t have to use the brain learning function as we psychologists do. I also assume all people that are skeptical about psychology are able to remember more than 7+/- 2 items in a list of let’s say 127 items after a short presentation of the items, because again, their memory won’t function just like George Miller dared to prove human short-term memory works. A skeptic will feel comfortable if, after a presentation of his work, the crowd will start throwing paper chunks at him, and feel very sad when somebody will congratulate him on his work. A skeptic won’t have moments of weakness, he does not need the support of his family or friends, he was born with love for flowers and also speaking at least two languages. Experience does not shape a skeptic’s behavior, his personality is that which he desires, self-control is something all skeptics are capable of and any of them could be Leonardo da Vinci or Shakespeare at any given moment, because they are all gifted since birth with any talents they could possibly wish for. They don’t require a reason or a need in order to act in a certain way, and lack of breathing, sleep or homeostatic equilibrium won’t stop them from achieving their professional goals, as you and I would be proned to believe, considering Abraham Maslow ‘s hierarchy of needs .

I also remember another tv show, about alien abductions, and a skeptic in such phenomena said that one can protect himself from being abducted, by being a skeptic, cause aliens never abduct skeptics. I can understand how that works related to alien abductions, but being a skeptic about the psychology field will help one avoid being a human?

In the end, I’ll give my own answer to the question “Is psychology a science or an art?”. I firmly believe psychology is a science, one that holds many answers to questions regarding human nature.Also, using psychology in a proper, progressive and positive manner can be classified as art.

Article by Lucia Grosaru

Do Mouse and Keyboard equal Shield and Sword?

Photo © Razvan Tulai

Picture this: a young man, heavy armor on, helmet, a shield in his left hand and a sword in the right one, sitting in front of the castle gates, surrounded by cheering villagers and welcomed by a thankful king that’s going to proclaim the man a hero, for he has saved the entire kingdom from destruction. That is our medieval knight. Now picture this: another young man, jeans on, checkered shirt, sitting in front of his computer, surrounded by pizza cardboard boxes and soda cans, saying “Yeah, man!” while seeing on the monitor the long expected message : “Game Over”. This is our contemporary PC gamer. The two men apparently have nothing in common, but what if we take a closer look?

The knight was a former villager, the youngest son of a shepherd. His family was very poor, so he decided to travel and see where destiny will lead him.

In front of the PC, our gamer witnessed a similar scene. His character, a young poor villager is standing at the beginning of a road, blackness surrounds him and has no idea where to go for sure.

The shepherd’s son was walking on the path in front of him and at some point heard a scream, somebody was calling for help. So he rushed towards the source of the sound and found a young mother and her little boy being the victims of a robbery. Bare-handed, he fights both thieves and gets back the stolen gold coins. He gives the money back to the woman and listens to her story. A story that mentions the two thieves, that work for a mean man, the exact man that would want to see the ruler of the kingdom dead , so that he himself would become king.

The graphics on the monitor show a reality-like landscape, a path and darkness. The gamer decides to click somewhere near his character. The character moves, revealing another part of the landscape. After a few clicks monsters can be seen, running in a certain direction. Gamer decides to follow the strange creatures… Soon, he can clearly see that the monsters are attacking a helpless peasant and he rolls over the mouse cursor on top of the monsters, waits for the arrow to become a sword and clicks over and over and over and over…. and over again, until the monsters are defeated and he gets a text message that explains how the peasant was attacked by a horde of deamons while trying to get back to town. The man in front of the PC also finds out that the demons are in the service of a bigger and more powerful beast that has a weird and frightful name. The beast is a menace for the peasant’s hometown and all neighboring regions.

The villager decides to escort the young mother and her son back to town. Once they arrive to her house, she offers him some gold coins and a meal.

After scrolling the whole text message, the guy in front of the computer clicks the button that says “You’ve received 30 gold pieces” and also clicks one of the the items the monsters dropped, a health potion.

The young man strolled around the town trying to see if anybody had some work for him and everywhere he went he could hear rumours regarding the evil man that wanted to become a king.

Click after click, the gamer finds out the hot spots in town : The tavern, the shops, the inn, etc. He stops and clicks on every character and carefully reads the texts about the fear that embraced the region and its inhabitant and also about the beast and its mischievous plans.

You could see by now that the stories resemble a lot and they will resemble still from this moment on: Both men will decide to help the poor people and defeat evil; They will both have to fight their way to the place where the big “boss” is hidding; In their journeys they’ll have to make decisions… A funny thing is that one of the hardest moments of choice the gamer will face is: “Do you want to be a warrior, a witch or an ogre?”. He needs to quickly decide on which of his character’s skills will he rely from now on. The real knight is left with his true skills only.; All their decisions will have a huge impact on the evolution of the story and will contribute to the final results of the voyage. On their way, the men will gather experience and step by step, inner traits of their personalities will show up. Everything culminates with the final fight, against their biggest enemy, fight which they of course, win. They are awarded many riches and privileges, but above all, they gain the respect and gratitude of the people they have defended and helped.

So, if in medieval times the journey from teenager to man may have involved a shield and a sword, could this items have been replaced in modern times by keyboard and mouse? Is the nowadays man experiencing the very same thrills and satisfaction levels as his medieval colleague? Has the traditional initiation path been changed? Can men feel more men after completing role-playing games? Is this substitute enough to raise the player’s self-esteem level?

Regarding the first questions, I answer “no”. Virtual initiation apologies do not turn boys into men, nor do they make men feel more confident, more appreciated or more valuable in the real life. Just think about teenagers or adults that ended up being socially isolated cause of their passion with computer games. So why have these games become so popular among boys and men (cause yes, most gamers are male)? Why have they switched from bragging with their hunting results to bragging about their latest scores and rankings on their favorite games? Of course, the things presented in this modest blog entry do not apply to all men, but I tend to say they apply to most gamers.

So, until certain answers to the above questions will appear, I think we can still enjoy the sight of modern knights in front of the PC or laptop.

Article by Lucia Grosaru