3 Principles Of Projective Technique
PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES
A projective
test, is a personality test designed to let a person respond to ambiguous stimuli, presumably revealing hidden emotions and internal conflicts.
This is different from an "objective test" in which responses are analyzed according to a universal standard (for example, a multiple choice exam).
The
responses to projective tests are content analyzed for meaning rather than being based on presuppositions about meaning, as is the case with objective tests. Projective tests in general rely heavily on clinical judgement, lack reliability and validity and many have no standardized criteria to compare results to, but are still used frequently.
Their
popularity despite lack of scientific evidence supporting their results is referred to as the "projective paradox".
Projective tests have their origins in psychoanalytic psychology, which argues that humans have conscious and unconscious attitudes and motivations that are beyond or hidden from conscious awareness. THEORY
The
general theoretical position behind projective tests is that whenever a specific question is asked, the response will be consciously-formulated and socially determined. These responses do not reflect the respondent's unconscious or implicit attitudes or motivations.
The
respondent's deep-seated motivations may not be consciously recognized by the respondent or the respondent may not be able to verbally express them in the form demanded by the questioner.
Advocates of projective tests stress that the ambiguity of the stimuli presented within the tests allow subjects to express thoughts that originate on a deeper level than tapped by explicit questions.
Projective
tests lost some of their popularity during the 1980s and 1990s in part because because of the overall loss of popularity of the psychoanalytic method and theories. Despite this, they are still used quite frequently.
I. Nature of Projective Techniques:
Unstructured
Response
A projective
test, is a personality test designed to let a person respond to ambiguous stimuli, presumably revealing hidden emotions and internal conflicts.
This is different from an "objective test" in which responses are analyzed according to a universal standard (for example, a multiple choice exam).
The
responses to projective tests are content analyzed for meaning rather than being based on presuppositions about meaning, as is the case with objective tests. Projective tests in general rely heavily on clinical judgement, lack reliability and validity and many have no standardized criteria to compare results to, but are still used frequently.
Their
popularity despite lack of scientific evidence supporting their results is referred to as the "projective paradox".
Projective tests have their origins in psychoanalytic psychology, which argues that humans have conscious and unconscious attitudes and motivations that are beyond or hidden from conscious awareness. THEORY
The
general theoretical position behind projective tests is that whenever a specific question is asked, the response will be consciously-formulated and socially determined. These responses do not reflect the respondent's unconscious or implicit attitudes or motivations.
The
respondent's deep-seated motivations may not be consciously recognized by the respondent or the respondent may not be able to verbally express them in the form demanded by the questioner.
Advocates of projective tests stress that the ambiguity of the stimuli presented within the tests allow subjects to express thoughts that originate on a deeper level than tapped by explicit questions.
Projective
tests lost some of their popularity during the 1980s and 1990s in part because because of the overall loss of popularity of the psychoanalytic method and theories. Despite this, they are still used quite frequently.
I. Nature of Projective Techniques:
Unstructured
Response