Incomplete Sentences Blank (ISB)The best
known and most widely used of the sentence
completion techniques, consisting of 40 sentence
stems.
incremental validityThe extent to which a scale
score provides information about a person’s
behavior, personality features, or psychopathology
features that is not provided by other measures.
MMPI-2A measure of psychopathology that was
developed using the empirical criterion keying
approach. The MMPI-2 consists of 567 true–false
items and provides scores on ten clinical scales,
seven validity scales, and several content and
supplementary scales. Interpretation of the MMPI-
2 is usually based on an analysis of the entire profile
rather than on selected scores. Like the MMPI
before it, the MMPI-2 has been used for many
different purposes across multiple settings, and it
remains one of the primary self-report inventories
of personality and psychopathology.
objective personality measuresPersonality
assessment tools in which the examinee responds
to a standard set of questions or statements using a
fixed set of options (e.g., true or false, dimensional
ratings).
projective techniquesPsychological testing
techniques that use people’s responses to ambig-
uous test stimuli to make judgments about their
adjustment–maladjustment. Proponents believe
that examinees“project”themselves onto the
stimuli, thus revealing unconscious aspects of
themselves.
Revised NEO-Personality Inventory (NEO-
PI-R)A self-report measure of the FFM that
consists of 240 statements, each of which is rated
on a 5-point scale. This test yields scores on all five
domains of the FFM (Neuroticism, Extraversion,
Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness)
as well as the six facets corresponding to each
domain.
RorschachA projective technique that interprets
people’s responses to a series of ten inkblots.
sentence completion methodAsimplepro-
jective technique in which people are asked to
complete, in writing, a number of sentence stems
(e.g.,“I often believe...”).
test biasThe situation in which different decisions
or predictions are made for members of two
groups, even when they obtain the same score on
an instrument.
Thematic Apperception TestA projective
technique that purports to reveal patients’per-
sonality characteristics by interpreting the stories
they produce in response to a series of pictures.
validity of cutoff scores (thresholds)The
extent to which a particular cutoff score accurately
classifies people as either possessing or not pos-
sessing the disorder or trait in question.
validity scalesTest scales that attempt to shed
light on the respondent’s test-taking attitudes and
motivations (e.g., to present themselves in an
overly favorable light, to exaggerate their problems
orsymptoms,toengageinrandomresponding).WEB SITES OF INTEREST
To visit any of the following Web sites, go to
http://www.wadsworth.com and click Links.
8-1Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on
Psychological Tests
http://www.apa.org/science/programs/
testing/find-tests.aspx
8-2APA Statement on the Use of Secure Psycho-
logical Tests in the Education of Graduate and
Undergraduate Psychology Students
http://www.apa.org/science/leadership/tests/
test-security.aspxPERSONALITY ASSESSMENT 253