Psychological Testing

Psychological Testing
Scribd 2011
Table of Contents
Psychological Testing................................................................................................................................1
Scribd 2011................................................................................................................................................1
Psychological tests................................................................................................................................8
Psychological assessment......................................................................................................................9
Interpreting scores...............................................................................................................................10
Types of psychological tests................................................................................................................10
IQ/achievement tests.......................................................................................................................10
Public safety employment tests......................................................................................................11
Attitude tests...................................................................................................................................11
Neuropsychological tests................................................................................................................11
Personality tests..............................................................................................................................11
Objective tests (Rating scale or self-report measure)................................................................12
Projective tests (Free response measures)..................................................................................12
Sexological tests.............................................................................................................................13
Direct observation tests...................................................................................................................13
Test security........................................................................................................................................14
External links.......................................................................................................................................14
Intelligence quotient.................................................................................................................................15
History.................................................................................................................................................16
Early history...................................................................................................................................16
The general intelligence factor (g) .................................................................................................17
The War Years ...............................................................................................................................18
Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory ...........................................................................................................19
Modern Theories.............................................................................................................................20
Mental age vs. modern method ..........................................................................................................22
Reliability and validity........................................................................................................................23
Flynn effect..........................................................................................................................................24
IQ and age...........................................................................................................................................25
Genetics and Environment..................................................................................................................26
Heritability......................................................................................................................................26
Shared family environment.............................................................................................................27
Non-shared family environment and environment outside the family...........................................27
Individual genes..............................................................................................................................27
Gene-environment interaction........................................................................................................28
Interventions........................................................................................................................................28
IQ and brain anatomy .........................................................................................................................29
Health and IQ......................................................................................................................................29
Social outcomes ..................................................................................................................................30
Other tests.......................................................................................................................................30
School performance........................................................................................................................31
Job performance..............................................................................................................................31
Income............................................................................................................................................32
IQ and crime...................................................................................................................................33
Other correlations with IQ..............................................................................................................34
Real-life accomplishments .............................................................................................................34
Group differences................................................................................................................................36
Sex..................................................................................................................................................36
Race................................................................................................................................................36
Public policy........................................................................................................................................37
Criticism and views.............................................................................................................................37
Relation between IQ and intelligence.............................................................................................37
Criticism of g..................................................................................................................................38
Test bias..........................................................................................................................................38
Outdated methodology....................................................................................................................39
"Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns"..........................................................................................39
High IQ societies.................................................................................................................................40
Popular culture usage..........................................................................................................................41
Reference charts..................................................................................................................................41
Further reading....................................................................................................................................41
External links.......................................................................................................................................44
StanfordBinet Intelligence Scales..........................................................................................................44
Development ......................................................................................................................................45
Present use ..........................................................................................................................................45
Further reading ...................................................................................................................................46
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale...........................................................................................................46
WAIS...................................................................................................................................................47
WAIS-R...............................................................................................................................................48
WAIS-III.............................................................................................................................................48
Verbal IQ (VIQ).............................................................................................................................48
Performance IQ (PIQ).....................................................................................................................49
WAIS-IV.............................................................................................................................................49
Indices and scales...........................................................................................................................49
Subtests...........................................................................................................................................50
Standardization...............................................................................................................................51
Other test variants and uses.................................................................................................................51
External links.......................................................................................................................................52
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children................................................................................................52
History.................................................................................................................................................53
Test format..........................................................................................................................................53
Psychometric properties......................................................................................................................55
Uses.....................................................................................................................................................56
Translations.........................................................................................................................................58
References...........................................................................................................................................58
External links.......................................................................................................................................59
Personality test.........................................................................................................................................59
Overview.............................................................................................................................................60
Scoring............................................................................................................................................60
Norms.............................................................................................................................................61
Test development............................................................................................................................61
Test evaluation................................................................................................................................61
Criticism and controversy...................................................................................................................62
Biased test taker interpretation.......................................................................................................62
Application to non-clinical samples...............................................................................................62
Personality versus social factors.....................................................................................................62
Respondent faking..........................................................................................................................63
Psychological Research..................................................................................................................63
Additional applications...................................................................................................................64
Dangers of Such Practices..............................................................................................................64
Examples of personality tests..............................................................................................................64
Sample Personality Test Websites......................................................................................................66
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.........................................................................................66
History and development ....................................................................................................................67
MMPI .............................................................................................................................................67
MMPI-2 .........................................................................................................................................68
MMPI-A ........................................................................................................................................68
MMPI-2 RF ...................................................................................................................................69
Current scale composition ..................................................................................................................71
Clinical scales ................................................................................................................................71
Validity scales.................................................................................................................................72
Content scales ................................................................................................................................73
PSY-5 scales ..................................................................................................................................74
Scoring and interpretation ..................................................................................................................75
RC and Clinical Scales ..................................................................................................................76
Addition of the Lees-Haley FBS (Symptom Validity) ..................................................................76
External links.......................................................................................................................................78
16PF Questionnaire..................................................................................................................................78
Outline of Test.....................................................................................................................................80
History and development.....................................................................................................................82
The Original Big Five Traits...............................................................................................................84
Further reading ...................................................................................................................................87
Projective test...........................................................................................................................................87
Theory.................................................................................................................................................88
Common variants................................................................................................................................89
Rorschach.......................................................................................................................................89
Thematic apperception test.............................................................................................................89
Draw-A-Person test........................................................................................................................89
Animal Metaphor Test....................................................................................................................90
Sentence completion test................................................................................................................90
Uses in marketing................................................................................................................................90
Footnotes.............................................................................................................................................90
Thematic Apperception Test....................................................................................................................91
Procedure.............................................................................................................................................91
Scoring Systems..................................................................................................................................92
History.................................................................................................................................................92
Criticisms.............................................................................................................................................93
Contemporary applications of TAT....................................................................................................94
TAT in popular culture........................................................................................................................94
External links.......................................................................................................................................95
Rorschach test..........................................................................................................................................95
History.................................................................................................................................................97
Method.................................................................................................................................................99
Features or categories...................................................................................................................100
Content.....................................................................................................................................100
Location...................................................................................................................................101
Determinants............................................................................................................................101
Exner scoring system....................................................................................................................102

Cultural differences......................................................................................................................104
Neurology.....................................................................................................................................105
The ten inkblots.................................................................................................................................105
Prevalence.........................................................................................................................................109
United States.................................................................................................................................109
Controversy.......................................................................................................................................110
Test materials................................................................................................................................111
Illusory and invisible correlations................................................................................................111
Tester projection...........................................................................................................................113
Validity.........................................................................................................................................113
Reliability.....................................................................................................................................114
Population norms..........................................................................................................................115
Applications..................................................................................................................................116
Protection of test items and ethics................................................................................................116
References.........................................................................................................................................119
External links.....................................................................................................................................120
Holtzman Inkblot Test...........................................................................................................................121
External links.....................................................................................................................................121
Neuropsychological test.........................................................................................................................121
Categories of neuropsychological tests.............................................................................................122
Intelligence...................................................................................................................................122
Memory........................................................................................................................................123
Language.......................................................................................................................................123
Executive Function.......................................................................................................................124
Dementia specific.........................................................................................................................125
Batteries assessing multiple neuropsychological function...........................................................125
External links ....................................................................................................................................125
Bender-Gestalt Test................................................................................................................................126
References.........................................................................................................................................128
Luria-Nebraska neuropsychological battery..........................................................................................128
Trail-making test....................................................................................................................................129
References.........................................................................................................................................130
External links.....................................................................................................................................130
Wechsler Memory Scale........................................................................................................................130
External links.....................................................................................................................................131
Benton Visual Retention Test................................................................................................................131
References.........................................................................................................................................131
Mental status examination......................................................................................................................131
Theoretical foundations.....................................................................................................................132
Application........................................................................................................................................133
Domains.............................................................................................................................................133
Appearance...................................................................................................................................134
Attitude.........................................................................................................................................134
Behavior........................................................................................................................................135
Mood and affect............................................................................................................................135
Speech...........................................................................................................................................137
Thought process............................................................................................................................137
Thought content............................................................................................................................138
Perceptions....................................................................................................................................140
Cognition......................................................................................................................................141
Insight...........................................................................................................................................143
Judgment.......................................................................................................................................143
Cultural considerations......................................................................................................................144
Children.............................................................................................................................................144
References.........................................................................................................................................144
Further reading..................................................................................................................................144
External links.....................................................................................................................................145
Relational Assessment...........................................................................................................................144
Psychological testing
Psychological testing is a field characterized by the use of samples of behavior

in order to assess psychological construct(s), such as cognitive and emotional
functioning, about a given individual. The technical term for the science behind
psychological testing is psychometrics. By samples of behavior, one means
observations of an individual performing tasks that have usually been prescribed
beforehand, which often means scores on a test. These responses are often
compiled into statistical tables that allow the evaluator to compare the behavior
of the individual being tested to the responses of a norm group.
Psychological tests
A psychological test is an instrument designed to measure unobserved
constructs, also known as latent variables. Psychological tests are typically, but
not necessarily, a series of tasks or problems that the respondent has to solve.
Psychological tests can strongly resemble questionnaires, which are also
designed to measure unobserved constructs, but differ in that psychological tests
ask for a respondent's maximum performance whereas a questionnaire asks for
the respondent's typical performance.1 A useful psychological test must be both
valid (i.e., there is evidence to support the specified interpretation of the test
results2) and reliable (i.e., internally consistent or give consistent results over
time, across raters, etc.).
1Mellenbergh, G.J. (2008). Chapter 10: Surveys. In H.J. Adr & G.J. Mellenbergh (Eds.) (with
contributions by D.J. Hand), Advising on Research Methods: A consultant's companion (pp. 183209). Huizen, The Netherlands: Johannes van Kessel Publishing.
2American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National
Council on Measurement in Education. (1999). Standards for educational and psychological
testing. Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
It is important that people who are equal on the measured construct also have an
equal probability of answering the test items correctly.3 For example, an item on
a mathematics test could be "In a soccer match two players get a red card; how
many players are left in the end?"; however, this item also requires knowledge of
soccer to be answered correctly, not just mathematical ability. Group
membership can also influence the chance of correctly answering items
(differential item functioning). Often tests are constructed for a specific
population, and this should be taken into account when administering tests. If a
test is invariant to some group difference (e.g. gender) in one population (e.g.
England) it does not automatically mean that it is also invariant in another
population (e.g. Japan).
Psychological assessment
Psychological assessment is similar to psychological testing but usually involves
a more comprehensive assessment of the individual. Psychological assessment is
a process that involves the integration of information from multiple sources, such
as tests of normal and abnormal personality, tests of ability or intelligence, tests
of interests or attitudes, as well as information from personal interviews.
Collateral information is also collected about personal, occupational, or medical
history, such as from records or from interviews with parents, spouses, teachers,
or previous therapists or physicians. A psychological test is one of the sources of
data used within the process of assessment; usually more than one test is used.
Many psychologists do some level of assessment when providing services to
clients or patients, and may use for example, simple checklists to assess some
traits or symptoms, but psychological assessment is a more complex, detailed, indepth process. Typical types of focus for psychological assessment are to provide
a diagnosis for treatment settings; to assess a particular area of functioning or
disability often for school settings; to help select type of treatment or to assess
treatment outcomes; to help courts decide issues such as child custody or
competency to stand trial; or to help assess job applicants or employees and
provide career development counseling or training.4
3Mellenbergh, G.J. (1989). Item bias and item response theory. International Journal of
Educational Research, 13(2), 127--143.
4Standards for Education and Training in Psychological Assessment: Position of the Society for
Personality Assessment An Official Statement of the Board of Trustees of the Society for
Personality Assessment. Journal of Personality Assessment, 87, 355357.
Interpreting scores
Psychological tests, like many measurements of human characteristics, can be
interpreted in a norm-referenced or criterion-referenced manner. Norms are
statistical representations of a population. A norm-referenced score
interpretation compares an individual's results on the test with the statistical
representation of the population. In practice, rather than testing a population, a
representative sample or group is tested. This provides a group norm or set of
norms. One representation of norms is the Bell curve (also called "normal
curve"). Norms are available for standardized psychological tests, allowing for an
understanding of how an individual's scores compare with the group norms.
Norm referenced scores are typically reported on the standard score (z) scale or
a rescaling of it.
A criterion-referenced interpretation of a test score compares an individual's
performance to some criterion other than performance of other individuals. For
example, the generic school test typically provides a score in reference to a
subject domain; a student might score 80% on a geography test. Criterionreferenced score interpretations are generally more applicable to achievement
tests rather than psychological tests.
Often, test scores can be interpreted in both ways; a score of 80% on a
geography test could place a student at the 84th percentile, or a standard score
of 1.0 or even 2.0.
Types of psychological tests

There are several broad categories of psychological tests:
IQ/achievement tests
IQ tests purport to be measures of intelligence, while achievement tests are
measures of the use and level of development of use of the ability. IQ (or
cognitive) tests and achievement tests are common norm-referenced tests. In
these types of tests, a series of tasks is presented to the person being evaluated,
and the person's responses are graded according to carefully prescribed
guidelines. After the test is completed, the results can be compiled and
compared to the responses of a norm group, usually composed of people at the
same age or grade level as the person being evaluated. IQ tests which contain a
series of tasks typically divide the tasks into verbal (relying on the use of
language) and performance, or non-verbal (relying on eyehand types of tasks, or
use of symbols or objects). Examples of verbal IQ test tasks are vocabulary and
information (answering general knowledge questions). Non-verbal examples are
timed completion of puzzles (object assembly) and identifying images which fit a
pattern (matrix reasoning).
IQ tests (e.g., WAIS-IV, WISC-IV, Cattell Culture Fair III, Woodcock-Johnson

Tests of Cognitive Abilities-III, Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales V) and
academic achievement tests (e.g. WIAT, WRAT, Woodcock-Johnson Tests of
Achievement-III) are designed to be administered to either an individual (by a
trained evaluator) or to a group of people (paper and pencil tests). The
individually-administered tests tend to be more comprehensive, more reliable,
more valid and generally to have better psychometric characteristics than groupadministered tests. However, individually administered tests are more expensive
to administer because of the need for a trained administrator (psychologist,
school psychologist, or psychometrician).
Public safety employment tests

Vocations within the public safety field (i.e., fire service, law enforcement,
corrections, emergency medical services) often require Industrial and
Organizational Psychology tests for initial employment and advancement
throughout the ranks. The National Firefighter Selection Inventory - NFSI, the
National Criminal Justice Officer Selection Inventory - NCJOSI, and the Integrity
Inventory are prominent examples of these tests.
Attitude tests
Attitude test assess an individual's feelings about an event, person, or object.
Attitude scales are used in marketing to determine individual (and group)
preferences for brands, or items. Typically attitude tests use either a Thurston
Scale, or Likert Scale to measure specific items.
Neuropsychological tests
These tests consist of specifically designed tasks used to measure a
psychological function known to be linked to a particular brain structure or
pathway. They are typically used to assess impairment after an injury or illness
known to affect neurocognitive functioning, or when used in research, to
contrast neuropsychological abilities across experimental groups.
Personality tests
Psychological measures of personality are often described as either objective
tests or projective tests. The terms "objective test" and "projective test" have
recently come under criticism in the Journal of Personality Assessment. The more
descriptive "rating scale or self-report measures" and "free response measures"
are suggested, rather than the terms "objective tests" and "projective tests,"
respectively.
Objective tests (Rating scale or self-report measure)

Objective tests have a restricted response format, such as allowing for true or
false answers or rating using an ordinal scale. Prominent examples of objective
personality tests include the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Millon
Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III,5 Child Behavior Checklist,6 Symptom Checklist
907 and the Beck Depression Inventory.8 Objective personality tests can be
designed for use in business for potential employees, such as the NEO-PI, the
16PF, and the OPQ (Occupational Personality Questionnaire), all of which are
based on the Big Five taxonomy. The Big Five, or Five Factor Model of normal
personality, has gained acceptance since the early 1990s when some influential
meta-analyses (e.g., Barrick & Mount 1991) found consistent relationships
between the Big Five personality factors and important criterion variables.
Another personality test based upon the Five Factor Model is the Five Factor
Personality Inventory Children (FFPI-C.).9 aa
Projective tests (Free response measures)

Projective tests allow for a freer type of response. An example of this would be
the Rorschach test, in which a person states what each of ten ink blots might be.
Projective testing became a growth industry in the first half of the 1900s, with
doubts about the theoretical assumptions behind projective testing arising in the
second half of the 1900s.10 Some projective tests are used less often today
because they are more time consuming to administer and because the reliability
and validity are controversial.
5Millon, T. (1994). Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III. Minneapolis, MN: National Computer
Systems.
6Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2001). Manual for the ASEBA School-Age Forms and
Profiles. Burlington: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families.
ISBN 0-938565-73-7
7Derogatis L. R. (1983). SCL90: Administration, Scoring and Procedures Manual for the Revised
Version. Baltimore: Clinical Psychometric Research.
8Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. (1996). Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory, 2nd
ed. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
9McGhee, RL., Ehrler, D., & Buckhalt, J. (2008). Manual for the Five Factor Personality Inventory
Children. Austin, TX: Pro Ed, Inc.
10Wasserman, John D (2003). "Nonverbal Assessment of Personality and Psychopathology". In
McCallum, R. Steve. Handbook of Nonverbal Assessment. New York: Kluwer Academic / Plenum
Publishers. ISBN 0-306-47715-7. . Retrieved 20 November 2010
As improved sampling and statistical methods developed, much controversy

regarding the utility and validity of projective testing has occurred. The use of
clinical judgement rather than norms and statistics to evaluate people's
characteristics has convinced many that projectives are deficient and unreliable
(results are too dissimilar each time a test is given to the same person).
However, many practitioners continue to rely on projective testing, and some
testing experts (e.g., Cohen, Anastasi) suggest that these measures can be useful
in developing therapeutic rapport. They may also be useful in creating inferences
to follow-up with other methods. The most widely used scoring system for the
Rorschach is the Exner system of scoring.11 Another common projective test is
the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT),12 which is often scored with Westen's
Social Cognition and Object Relations Scales13 and Phebe Cramer's Defense
Mechanisms Manual.14 Both "rating scale" and "free response" measures are
used in contemporary clinical practice, with a trend toward the former.
Other projective tests include the House-Tree-Person Test, the Animal Metaphor
Test, the Robert's Apperception Test, and the Attachment Projective.
Sexological tests
The number of tests specifically meant for the field of sexology is quite limited.
The field of sexology provides different psychological evaluation devices in order
to examine the various aspects of the discomfort, problem or dysfunction,
regardless of whether they are individual or relational ones.
Direct observation tests

Although most psychological tests are "rating scale" or "free response"
measures, psychological assessment may also involve the observation of people
as they complete activities. This type of assessment is usually conducted with
families in a laboratory, home or with children in a classroom. The purpose may
be clinical, such as to establish a pre-intervention baseline of a child's
hyperactive or aggressive classroom behaviors or to observe the nature of a
parent-child interaction in order to understand a relational disorder. Direct
observation procedures are also used in research, for example to study the
relationship between intrapsychic variables and specific target behaviors, or to
explore sequences of behavioral interaction.
11Exner, J. E. & Erdberg, P. (2005) The Rorschach: A comprehensive system: advanced

Interpretation (3rd Edition. Vol 2). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley and Sons.
12Murray, H. A. (1943). Thematic Apperception Test manual. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
13Westen, D. (1991). Social cognition and object relations. Psychological Bulletin, 109(3), 429
455.
14Cramer, P. (2002). Defense Mechanism Manual, revised June 2002. Unpublished manuscript,
Williams College. (Available from Dr. Phebe Cramer.)
The Parent-Child Interaction Assessment-II (PCIA)15 is an example of a direct

observation procedure that is used with school-age children and parents. The
parents and children are video recorded playing at a make-believe zoo. The
Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment (Clark, 1999)16 is used to study parents
and young children and involves a feeding and a puzzle task. The MacArthur
Story Stem Battery (MSSB)17 is used to elicit narratives from children. The
Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System-II (Eyberg, 1981) tracks the
extent to which children follow the commands of parents and vice versa and is
well suited to the study of children with Oppositional Defiant Disorders and their
parents.
Test security
Many psychological tests are generally not available to the public, but rather,
have restrictions both from publishers of the tests and from psychology licensing
boards that prevent the disclosure of the tests themselves and information about
the interpretation of the results.1819 Test publishers consider both copyright and
matters of professional ethics to be involved in protecting the secrecy of their
tests, and they sell tests only to people who have proved their educational and
professional qualifications to the test maker's satisfaction. Purchasers are legally
bound from giving test answers or the tests themselves out to the public unless
permitted under the test maker's standard conditions for administration of the
tests.20
External links
American Psychological Association webpage on testing and assessment
Society for Personality Assessment: Standards for Education and Training in
Psychological Assessment
15Holigrocki, R. J, Kaminski, P. L., & Frieswyk, S. H. (1999). Introduction to the Parent-Child
Interaction Assessment. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 63(3), 413428.
16Clark, R. (1999). The Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment: A Factorial Validity Study.
Educational and Psychological Measurement, 59(5), 821846.
17Bretherton, I., Oppenheim, D., Buchsbaum, H., Emde, R. N., & the MacArthur Narrative
Group. (1990). MacArthur Story-Stem battery. Unpublished manual.
18The Committee on Psychological Tests and Assessment (CPTA), American Psychological
Association (1994). "Statement on the Use of Secure Psychological Tests in the Education of
Graduate and Undergraduate Psychology Students". American Psychological Association. . "It
should be recognized that certain tests used by psychologists and related professionals may
suffer irreparable harm to their validity if their items, scoring keys or protocols, and other
materials are publicly disclosed."
19Kenneth R. Morel (2009-09-24). "Test Security in Medicolegal Cases: Proposed Guidelines for
Attorneys Utilizing Neuropsychology Practice". Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology (Oxford
University Press) 24 (7): 635646. doi:10.1093/arclin/acp062. PMID 19778915. . Retrieved 200911-08.
20Pearson Assessments (2009). "Legal Policies". Psychological Corporation. . Retrieved 2009-1115.
"What is Psychological Testing?"
Intelligence quotient
Intelligence quotient
Diagnostics
An example of one kind of IQ test item, modeled after items in the Raven's
Progressive Matrices test.
ICD-9-CM
94.01
An intelligence quotient, or IQ, is a score derived from one of several different

standardized tests designed to assess intelligence. The term "IQ" comes from the
German Intelligenz-Quotient. When modern IQ tests are constructed the median
score is set to 100 and a standard deviation to 15. Today almost all IQ tests
adhere to the assignment of 15 IQ points to each standard deviation but this has
not been the case historically. Approximately 95% of the population have scores
within two standard deviations of the mean. If one SD is 15 points, then 95% of
the population are within a range of 70 to 130.
IQ scores have been shown to be associated with such factors as morbidity and
mortality, parental social status,21 and, to a substantial degree, parental IQ.
While the heritability of IQ has been investigated for nearly a century,
controversy remains regarding the significance of heritability estimates,2223 and
the mechanisms of inheritance are still a matter of some debate.24
IQ scores are used in many contexts: as predictors of educational achievement or
special needs, by social scientists who study the distribution of IQ scores in
populations and the relationships between IQ score and other variables, and as
predictors of job performance and income.
The average IQ scores for many populations have been rising at an average rate
of three points per decade since the early 20th century, a phenomenon called the
Flynn effect. It is disputed whether these changes in scores reflect real changes
in intellectual abilities.
History
Early history
The first large scale mental test may have been the imperial examination system
in China. Modern mental testing began in France in the nineteenth century. It
contributed to separating mental retardation from mental illness and reducing
the neglect, torture, and ridicule heaped on both groups.25
21Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns (Report of a Task Force established by the Board of
Scientific Affairs of the American Psychological Association - Released August 7, 1995 a
slightly edited version was published in American Psychologist: Neisser, Ulric; Boodoo, Gwyneth;
Bouchard, Thomas J., Jr.; Boykin, A. Wade; Brody, Nathan; Ceci, Stephen J.; Halpern, Diane F.;
Loehlin, John C. et al. (1996). "Intelligence: Knowns and unknowns". American Psychologist 51
(2): 77101. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.51.2.77. .)
22Johnson, Wendy; Turkheimer, Eric; Gottesman, Irving I.; Bouchard Jr., Thomas J. (2009).
"Beyond Heritability: Twin Studies in Behavioral Research". Current Directions in Psychological
Science 18 (4): 217220. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01639.x. PMC 2899491. PMID 20625474.
.
23Turkheimer, Eric (spring 2008). "A Better Way to Use Twins for Developmental Research".
LIFE Newsletter (Max Planck Institute for Human Development): 25. . Retrieved 29 June 2010.
24Devlin, B.; Daniels, Michael; Roeder, Kathryn (1997). "The heritability of IQ". Nature 388
(6641): 46871. doi:10.1038/41319. PMID 9242404. .
25IQ Testing 101, Alan S. Kaufman, 2009, Springer Publishing Company, ISBN 0826106293
ISBN 9780826106292
Englishman Francis Galton coined the terms psychometrics and eugenics, and
developed a method for measuring intelligence based on nonverbal sensorymotor tests. It was initially popular but was abandoned after the discovery that it
had no relationship to outcomes such as college grades.2627French psychologist
Alfred Binet, together with psychologists Victor Henri and Thodore Simon
published the Binet-Simon test in 1905 which focused on verbal abilities. It was
intended to identify mental retardation in school children.28 The score on the
Binet-Simon scale would reveal the child's mental age. For example, a 6 year-old
child who passed all the tasks usually passed by 6 year-oldsbut nothing beyond
would have a mental age that exactly matched his chronological age, 6.0.
(Fancher, 1985). In Binet's view there were limitations with the scale and he
stressed what he saw as the remarkable diversity of intelligence and the
subsequent need to study it using qualitative, as opposed to quantitative,
measures (White, 2000). American psychologist Henry H. Goddard published a
translation of it in 1910. The eugenics movement in the USA seized on it as a
means to give them credibility in diagnosing mental retardation. American
psychologist Lewis Terman at Stanford University revised the Binet-Simon scale
which resulted in the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (1916). It became the
most popular test in the United States for decades.29303132
The general intelligence factor (g)

The psychologist Charles Spearman made the first formal factor analysis of
correlations between the tests in the early 20th century. In 1904, Spearman
found that a single common factor could explain the positive correlations across
intelligence tests. Using this result, he formulated what some consider to be the
first theory of intelligence. His statistical model of intelligence came to be known
as the general intelligence theory. It argued that intelligence is largely a single
global ability. For three quarters of a century, Spearman's g theory was the
dominant theory of intelligence.33
26
27Gillham, Nicholas W. (2001). "Sir Francis Galton and the birth of eugenics". Annual Review of
Genetics 35 (1): 83101. doi:10.1146/annurev.genet.35.102401.090055. PMID 11700278.
28
29
30Terman, Lewis M.; Lyman, Grace; Ordahl, George; Ordahl, Louise; Galbreath, Neva; Talbert,
Wilford (1915). "The Stanford revision of the Binet-Simon scale and some results from its
application to 1000 non-selected children". Journal of Educational Psychology 6 (9): 55162.
doi:10.1037/h0075455.
31Wallin, J. E. W. (1911). "The new clinical psychology and the psycho-clinicist". Journal of
Educational Psychology 2 (3): 12132. doi:10.1037/h0075544.
32Richardson, John T. E. (2003). "Howard Andrew Knox and the origins of performance testing
on Ellis Island, 1912-1916". History of Psychology 6 (2): 14370. doi:10.1037/1093-4510.6.2.143.
PMID 12822554.
33
In any collection of IQ tests, by definition the test that best measures g is the one
that has the highest correlations with all the others. Most of these g-loaded tests
typically involve some form of abstract reasoning. Spearman and others have
regarded g as perhaps genetically determined and the true essence of
intelligence. Some psychometricians regard g as a statistical artifact. The best
accepted measure of g is Raven's Progressive Matrices which is a test of visual
reasoning.34
The War Years

During World War I a way was needed to evaluate and assign recruits. This led
to the rapid development of several mental tests. The testing generated
controversy and much public debate. Nonverbal or "performance" tests were
developed for those who could not speak English or were suspected of
malingering.35 After the war, positive publicity on army psychological testing
helped to make psychology a respected field.36 Subsequently there was an
increase in jobs and funding in psychology.37 Group intelligence tests were
developed and became widely used in schools and industry.38
L.L. Thurstone argued for a model of intelligence that included seven unrelated
factors (verbal comprehension, word fluency, number facility, spatial
visualization, associative memory, perceptual speed, reasoning, and induction).
While not widely used, it influenced later theories.39
David Wechsler produced the first version of his test in 1939. It gradually
became more popular and overtook the Binet in the 1960s. It has been revised
several times, as is common for IQ tests in order to incorporate new research.
One explanation is that psychologists and educators wanted more information
than the single score from the Binet. Wechslers 10+ subtests provided this.
Another is that the Binet focused on verbal abilities while the Wechsler also
included non-verbal abilities. The Binet has also been revised several times and
is now similar to the Wechsler in several aspects and but the Wechsler continues
to be the most popular test in the United States.40
34Neisser U (1997). "Rising Scores on Intelligence Tests". American Scientist 85: 4407. .
35
36Kennedy, Carrie H.; McNeil, Jeffrey A. (2006). "A history of military psychology". In Kennedy,
Carrie H.; Zillmer, Eric. Military Psychology: Clinical and Operational Applications. New York:
Guilford Press. pp. 117. ISBN 1-57230-724-2. .
37Katzell, Raymond A.; Austin, James T. (1992). "From then to now: The development of
industrial-organizational psychology in the United States". Journal of Applied Psychology 77 (6):
80335. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.77.6.803.
38Kevles, D. J. (1968). "Testing the Army's Intelligence: Psychologists and the Military in World
War I". The Journal of American History 55 (3): 56581. doi:10.2307/1891014. JSTOR 1891014.
39
40
Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory
Raymond Cattell (1941) proposed two types of cognitive abilities in a revision of
Spearman's concept of general intelligence. Fluid intelligence (Gf) was
hypothesized as the ability to solve novel problems by using reasoning and
crystallized intelligence (Gc) was hypothesized as a knowledge-based ability that
was very dependent on education and experience. In addition, fluid intelligence
was hypothesized to decline with age while crystallized intelligence was largely
resistant. The theory was almost forgotten but revived by his student John L.
Horn (1966) who later argued that Gf and Gc were only two among several
factors and he eventually identified 9 or 10 broad abilities. The theory continued
to be called Gf-Gc theory.41
John B. Carroll (1993) after a comprehensive re-analysis of earlier data proposed
the Three Stratum Theory, which is a hierarchical model with three levels. At the
bottom is the first stratum which consists of narrow abilities that are highly
specialized (e.g., induction, spelling ability). The second stratum consists of
broad abilities. Carroll identified eight second-stratum abilities. Carroll accepted
Spearman's concept of general intelligence, for the most part, as a
representation of the uppermost third stratum.4243
More recently (1999), a merging of the Gf-Gc theory of Cattell and Horn with
Carroll's Three-Stratum theory has led to the Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory. It has
greatly influenced many of the current IQ tests.44
Many of the broad, recent IQ tests have been greatly influenced by the CattellHorn-Carroll theory. It is argued to reflect much of what is known about
intelligence from research. A hierarchy of factors is used. g is at the top. Under it
there are 10 broad abilities that in turn are subdivided into 70 narrow abilities.
The broad abilities are:45
Fluid Intelligence (Gf): includes the broad ability to reason, form concepts, and
solve problems using unfamiliar information or novel procedures.
Crystallized Intelligence (Gc): includes the breadth and depth of a person's
acquired knowledge, the ability to communicate one's knowledge, and the ability
to reason using previously learned experiences or procedures.
Quantitative Reasoning (Gq): the ability to comprehend quantitative concepts
and relationships and to manipulate numerical symbols.
Reading & Writing Ability (Grw): includes basic reading and writing skills.
41
42Lubinski, D. (2004). "Introduction to the special section on cognitive abilities: 100 years after
Spearman's (1904) '"General Intelligence," Objectively Determined and Measured'". Journal of
Personality & Social Psychology 86 (1): 96111. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.86.1.96.
PMID 14717630.
43Carroll, J.B. (1993). Human cognitive abilities: A survey of factor-analytic studies. New York:
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521387124.
44
45
Short-Term Memory (Gsm): is the ability to apprehend and hold information in

immediate awareness and then use it within a few seconds.
Long-Term Storage and Retrieval (Glr): is the ability to store information and
fluently retrieve it later in the process of thinking.
Visual Processing (Gv): is the ability to perceive, analyze, synthesize, and think
with visual patterns, including the ability to store and recall visual
representations.
Auditory Processing (Ga): is the ability to analyze, synthesize, and discriminate
auditory stimuli, including the ability to process and discriminate speech sounds
that may be presented under distorted conditions.
Processing Speed (Gs): is the ability to perform automatic cognitive tasks,
particularly when measured under pressure to maintain focused attention.
Decision/Reaction Time/Speed (Gt): reflect the immediacy with which an
individual can react to stimuli or a task (typically measured in seconds or
fractions of seconds; not to be confused with Gs, which typically is measured in
intervals of 23 minutes). See Mental chronometry.
Modern tests do not necessarily measure of all of these broad abilities. For
example, Gq and Grw may be seen as measures of school achievement and not
IQ.46 Gt may be difficult to measure without special equipment.
g was earlier often subdivided into only Gf and Gc which were thought to
correspond to the Nonverbal or Performance subtests and Verbal subtests in
earlier versions of the popular Wechsler IQ test. More recent research has shown
the situation to be more complex.47
Modern comprehensive IQ tests no longer give a single score. Although they still
give an overall score, they now also give scores for many of these more
restricted abilities, identifying particular strengths and weaknesses of an
individual.48
Modern Theories
J.P. Guilford's Structure of Intellect (1967) model used three dimensions which
when combined yielded a total of 120 types of intelligence. It was popular in the
1970s and early 1980s but faded due to both practical problems and theoretical
criticisms.49
46
47
48
49
Alexander Luria's earlier work on neuropsychological processes lead to the PASS

theory (1997). It argued that only looking at one general factor was inadequate
for researchers and clinicians who worked with learning disabilities, attention
disorders, mental retardation, and interventions for such disabilities. The PASS
model covers four kinds of processes. The (P)lanning processes involve decision
making, problem solving, and performing activities and requires goal setting and
self-monitoring. The (A)ttention/arousal process involves selectively attending to
a particular stimulus, ignoring distractions, and maintaining vigilance.
(S)imultaneous processing involves the integration of stimuli into a group and
requires the observation of relationships. (S)uccessive processing involves the
integration of stimuli into serial order. The planning and attention/arousal
components comes from structures located in the frontal lobe, and the
simultaneous and successive processes come from structures located in the
posterior region of the cortex.505152 It has influenced some recent IQ tests and
been seen as a complement to the Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory described above.53
Well-known modern IQ tests include Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Wechsler
Intelligence Scale for Children, Stanford-Binet, Woodcock-Johnson Tests of
Cognitive Abilities, Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, and Raven's
Progressive Matrices.
Approximately 95% of the population have scores within two standard deviations
(SD) of the mean. If one SD is 15 points, as is common in almost all modern tests,
then 95% of the population are within a range of 70 to 130. Alternatively, twothirds of the population have IQ scores within one SD of the mean, i.e. within the
range 85-115.
50Das, J.P., Kirby, J., & Jarman, R.F. (1975). "Simultaneous and successive synthesis: An
alternative model for cognitive abilities". Psychological Bulletin 82: 87103.
doi:10.1037/h0076163.
51Das, J.P. (2000). "A better look at intelligence". Current Directions in Psychological Science
11: 2833. doi:10.1111/1467-8721.00162.
52Naglieri, J.A., & Das, J.P. (2002). "Planning, attention, simultaneous, and successive cognitive
processes as a model for assessment". School Psychology Review 19: 423442.
53
IQ scales are ordinally scaled.54555657 While one standard deviation is 15 points,

and two SDs are 30 points, and so on, this does not imply that cognitive ability is
linearly related to IQ, such that IQ 50 means half the cognitive ability of IQ 100.
In particular, IQ points are not percentage points.
The correlation between IQ test results and achievement test results is about
0.7.5859
Mental age vs. modern method

The IQs of a large enough
that they conform60 to a
population are calculated so

normal distribution.
The term "IQ" comes

from German
"Intelligenz-Quotient",
coined by the German
psychologist William
Stern in 1912, who
proposed a method of
scoring children's
intelligence tests. He
calculated the IQ score
as the quotient of the
"mental age" (the age
group which scored such
a result on average) of
the test-taker and the
"chronological age" of
the test-taker, multiplied
by 100. Terman used
this system for the first
version of the StanfordBinet Intelligence Scales.61 This method has several problems such as not
54Mussen, Paul Henry (1973). Psychology: An Introduction. Lexington (MA): Heath. p. 363.
ISBN 0-669-61383-7. "The I.Q. is essentially a rank; there are no true "units" of intellectual
ability."
55Truch, Steve (1993). The WISC-III Companion: A Guide to Interpretation and Educational
Intervention. Austin (TX): Pro-Ed. p. 35. ISBN 0890795851. "An IQ score is not an equal-interval
score, as is evident in Table A.4 in the WISC-III manual."
56Bartholomew, David J. (2004). Measuring Intelligence: Facts and Fallacies. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. p. 50. ISBN 9780521544788. Lay summary (27 July 2010). "When
we come to quantities like IQ or g, as we are presently able to measure them, we shall see later
that we have an even lower level of measurementan ordinal level. This means that the numbers
we assign to individuals can only be used to rank themthe number tells us where the individual
comes in the rank order and nothing else."
57Mackintosh, N. J. (1998). IQ and Human Intelligence. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 30
31. ISBN 0-19-852367-X. "In the jargon of psychological measurement theory, IQ is an ordinal
scale, where we are simply rank-ordering people. . . . It is not even appropriate to claim that the
10-point difference between IQ scores of 110 and 100 is the same as the 10-point difference
between IQs of 160 and 150"
58
59Naglieri, J. A.; Bornstein, B. T. (2003). "Intelligence and Achievement: Just how Correlated are
they?". Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment 21 (3): 244260.
doi:10.1177/073428290302100302.
60S.E. Embretson & S.P.Reise: Item response theory for psychologists, 2000. "...for many other
psychological tests, normal distributions are achieved by normalizing procedures. For example,
intelligence tests..." Found on: http://books.google.se/books?
id=rYU7rsi53gQC&pg=PA29&lpg=PA29&dq=%22intelligence+tests
%22+normalize&source=bl&ots=ZAIQEgaa6Q&sig=qamDaZqx7Ix6mMkvIDMnj9M9O0&hl=sv&ei=lEEJTNqSIYWMOPqLuRE&sa=X&oi=book_result&
ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false
61Mackintosh, N. J. (1998). IQ and Human Intelligence. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 15.
working for adults.

Wechsler introduced a different procedure for his test that is now used by almost
all IQ tests. When an IQ test is constructed, a standardization sample
representative of the general population takes the test. The median result is
defined to be equivalent to 100 IQ points. In almost all modern tests, a standard
deviation of the results is defined to equivalent to 15 IQ points. When a subject
takes an IQ test, the result is ranked compared to the results of normalization
sample and the subject is given an IQ score equal to those with the same test
result in the normalization sample. Although the term "IQ" is still in common use,
it is now an inaccurate description, mathematically speaking, since a quotient is
no longer involved.
The values of 100 and 15 were chosen in order to get somewhat similar scores as
in the older type of test. Likely as a part of the rivalry between the Binet and the
Wechsler, the Binet until 2003 chose to have 16 for one SD, causing considerable
confusion. Today almost all tests use 15 for one SD. Modern scores are
sometimes referred to as "deviation IQs," while older method age-specific scores
are referred to as "ratio IQs."6263
Reliability and validity

IQ scores can differ to some degree for the same individual on different
IQ tests (age 1213 years).64
Pupil
KABC-II
WISC-III
WJ-III
Asher
90
95
111
Brianna
125
110
105
Colin
100
93
101
Danica
116
127
118
Elpha
93
105
93
Fritz
106
105
105
Georgi
95
100
90
Hector
112
113
103
Imelda
104
96
97
ISBN 978-0-19-852367-3. Lay summary (9 August 2010).

62
63Pinneau, Samuel R. (1961). Changes in Intelligence Quotient Infancy to Maturity: New Insights
from the Berkeley Growth Study with Implications for the Stanford-Binet Scales and Applications
to Professional Practice. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
64(IQ score table data and pupil pseudonyms adapted from description of KABC-II norming study
cited in Kaufman 2009.Kaufman, Alan S. (2009). IQ Testing 101. New York: Springer Publishing.
pp. 151153. ISBN 978-0-8261-0629-2.
Jose
101
99
86
Keoku
81
78
75
Leo
116
124
102
Psychometricians generally regard IQ tests as having high statistical reliability. A

high reliability implies that while test-takers can have varying scores on differing
occasions when taking the same test and can vary in scores on different IQ tests
taken at the same age, the scores generally agree. A test-taker's score on any
one IQ test is surrounded by an error band that shows, to a specified degree of
confidence, what the test-taker's true score is likely to be. For modern tests, the
standard error of measurement is about 3 points, or in other words, the odds are
about 2 out of 3 that a persons true IQ is in range from 3 points above to 3 points
below the test IQ. Another description is that there is a 95% chance that the true
IQ is in range from 4-5 points above to 4-5 points below the test IQ, depending
on the test in question. Clinical psychologists generally regard them as having
sufficient statistical validity for many clinical purposes.656667
Flynn effect
Since the early 20th century, raw scores on IQ tests have increased in most parts
of the world.686970 When a new version of an IQ test is normed, the standard
scoring is set so that performance at the population median results in a score of
IQ 100. The phenomenon of rising raw score performance means that if testtakers are scored by a constant standard scoring rule, IQ test scores have been
rising at an average rate of around three IQ points per decade. This phenomenon
was named the Flynn effect in the book The Bell Curve after James R. Flynn, the
author who did the most to bring this phenomenon to the attention of
psychologists.7172
65
66Terman, Lewis Madison; Merrill, MaudeA. (1937). Measuring intelligence: A guide to the
administration of the new revised Stanford-Binet tests of intelligence. Riverside textbooks in
education. Boston (MA): Houghton Mifflin. p. 44.
67Anastasi, Anne; Urbina, Susana (1997). Psychological Testing (Seventh ed.). Upper Saddle
River (NJ): Prentice Hall. pp. 326327. ISBN 978-0023030857. Lay summary (28 July 2010).
68Neisser, Ulric, ed (1998). The Rising Curve: Long-Term Gains in IQ and Related Measures.
APA Science Volume Series. Washington (DC): American Psychological Association. ISBN 978-155798-503-3.
69Mackintosh, N. J. (1998). IQ and Human Intelligence. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
70Flynn, James R. (2009). What Is Intelligence: Beyond the Flynn Effect (expanded paperback
ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-74147-7. Lay summary (18 July
2010).
71Flynn, James R. (1984). "The mean IQ of Americans: Massive gains 1932 to 1978.".
Psychological Bulletin 95 (1): 2951. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.95.1.29.
72Flynn, James R. (1987). "Massive IQ gains in 14 nations: What IQ tests really measure.".
Psychological Bulletin 101 (2): 17191. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.101.2.171. .
Researchers have been exploring the issue of whether the Flynn effect is equally
strong on performance of all kinds of IQ test items, whether the effect may have
ended in some developed nations, whether or not there are social subgroup
differences in the effect, and what possible causes of the effect might be.73
Flynn's observation has prompted much new research in psychology and
"demolish some long-cherished beliefs, and raise a number of other interesting
issues along the way."74
IQ and age
IQ can change to some degree over the course of childhood.75 However, in one
longitudinal study, the mean IQ scores of tests at ages 17 and 18 were correlated
at r=.86 with the mean scores of tests at ages 5, 6 and 7 and at r=.96 with the
mean scores of tests at ages 11, 12 and 13.76
IQ scores for children are relative to children of a similar age. That is, a child of
a certain age does not do as well on the tests as an older child or an adult with
the same IQ. But relative to persons of a similar age, or other adults in the case
of adults, they do equally well if the IQ scores are the same.77
For decades, it has been reported in practitioners' handbooks and textbooks on
IQ testing that IQ declines with age after the beginning of adulthood. However,
later researchers pointed out that this phenomenon is related to the Flynn effect
and is in part a cohort effect rather than a true aging effect.
There have been a variety of studies of IQ and aging since the norming of the
first Wechsler Intelligence Scale drew attention to IQ differences in different age
groups of adults. Current consensus is that fluid intelligence generally declines
with age after early adulthood, while crystallized intelligence remains intact.
Both cohort effects (the birth year of the test-takers) and practice effects (testtakers taking the same form of IQ test more than once) must be controlled for to
gain accurate data. It is unclear whether any lifestyle intervention can preserve
fluid intelligence into older ages.78
The peak of capacity for both fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence
occurs at age 26. This is followed by a slow decline.79
73Zhou, Xiaobin; Grgoire, Jacques; Zhu, Jianjin (2010). "The Flynn Effect and the Wechsler
Scales". In Weiss, Lawrence G.; Saklofske, Donald H.; Coalson, Diane et al.. WAIS-IV Clinical Use
and Interpretation: Scientist-Practitioner Perspectives. Practical Resources for the Mental Health
Professional. Alan S. Kaufman (Foreword). Amsterdam: Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-3750358. Lay summary (16 August 2010).
74
75Kaufman, Alan S. (2009). IQ Testing 101. New York: Springer Publishing. pp. 220222.
76Neisser et al. (August 7, 1995). "Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns". Board of Scientific
Affairs of the American Psychological Association. . Retrieved August 6, 2006.
77
78Kaufman, Alan S. (2009). IQ Testing 101. New York: Springer Publishing. Chapter 8.
79McArdle, John J.; Ferrer-Caja, Emilio; Hamagami, Fumiaki; Woodcock, Richard W. (2002).
"Comparative longitudinal structural analyses of the growth and decline of multiple intellectual
Genetics and Environment

Environmental and genetic factors play a role in determining IQ. Their relative
importance have been the subject of much research and debate.
Heritability
Heritability is defined as the proportion of variance in a trait which is
attributable to genotype within a defined population in a specific environment.
There are a number of points to consider when interpreting heritability.80
Heritability measures the proportion of variation in a trait that can be attributed
to genes, and not the proportion of a trait caused by genes. The value of
heritability can change if the impact of environment (or of genes) in the
population is substantially altered. A high heritability of a trait does not mean
that environmental effects such as learning are not involved. Since heritability
increases during childhood and adolescence, one should be cautious drawing
conclusions regarding the role of genetics and environment from studies where
the participants are not followed until they are adults.
Studies have found the heritability of IQ in twins to be between 0.7 and 0.8 in
adults and 0.45 in childhood in the Western world.818283 It may seem reasonable
to expect that genetic influences on traits like IQ should become less important
as one gains experiences with age. However, the opposite occurs. Heritability
measures in infancy are as low as 0.2, around 0.4 in middle childhood, and as
high as 0.8 in adulthood.84 One proposed explanation is that people with different
genes tend to seek out different environments that reinforce the effects of those
genes.85 There is an ongoing debate, as discussed in the Heritability of IQ article,
regarding if these high heritability estimates are too high due to not adequately
considering factors such as that the environment may be relatively more
important in families with low socio-economic status or the effect of the maternal
(fetal) environment.
abilities over the life span.". Developmental Psychology 38 (1): 11542. doi:10.1037/00121649.38.1.115. PMID 11806695.
80International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 35, Issue 3, June 2006. See reprint of
Leowontin's 1974 article "The analysis of variance and the analysis of causes" and 2006
commentaries: http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/35/3.toc
81
82Plomin, R.; Pedersen, N. L.; Lichtenstein, P.; McClearn, G. E. (1994). "Variability and stability
in cognitive abilities are largely genetic later in life". Behavior Genetics 24 (3): 20715.
doi:10.1007/BF01067188. PMID 7945151.
83Bouchard, T.; Lykken, D.; McGue, M; Segal, N.; Tellegen, A (1990). "Sources of human
psychological differences: the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart". Science 250 (4978):
2238. doi:10.1126/science.2218526. PMID 2218526.
84Bouchard, Thomas J. (2004). "Genetic Influence on Human Psychological Traits. A Survey".
Current Directions in Psychological Science 13 (4): 14851. doi:10.1111/j.09637214.2004.00295.x.
85
Shared family environment

There are aspects of environments that family members have in common (for
example, characteristics of the home). This shared family environment accounts
for 0.250.35 of the variation in IQ in childhood. By late adolescence it is quite
low (zero in some studies). There is a similar effect for several other
psychological traits. These studies have not looked at the effects of extreme
environments such as in abusive families.86878889
Non-shared family environment and environment

outside the family
Although parents treat their children differently, such differential treatment
explains only a small amount of non-shared environmental influence. One
suggestion is that children react differently to the same environment due to
different genes. More likely influences may be the impact of peers and other
experiences outside the family.9091
Individual genes
A number of individual genes have been reported to be associated with IQ.
Examples include CHRM2, microcephalin, and ASPM. However, Deary and
colleagues (2009) argued that there are still almost no replicated evidence.92
About 20,000 genes are thought to have an impact on the development and
functionality of the brain.93
86
87Bouchard Jr, TJ (1998). "Genetic and environmental influences on adult intelligence and
special mental abilities.". Human biology; an international record of research 70 (2): 25779.
PMID 9549239.
88Plomin, R; Asbury, K; Dunn, J (2001). "Why are children in the same family so different?
Nonshared environment a decade later.". Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 46 (3): 22533.
PMID 11320676.
89(Harris 1998)
90
91
92doi: 10.1007/s00439-009-0655-4
This citation will be automatically completed in the next few minutes. You can jump the queue or
expand by hand
93Pietropaolo, S.; Crusio, W. E. (2010). "Genes and cognition". Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews:
Cognitive Science 2 (3): 345352. doi:10.1002/wcs.135.
Gene-environment interaction
Dickens and Flynn (2001) argued that the "heritability" figure includes both a
direct effect of the genotype on IQ and also indirect effects where the genotype
changes the environment, in turn affecting IQ. That is, those with a higher IQ
tend to seek out stimulating environments that further increase IQ. The direct
effect can initially have been very small but feedback loops can create large
differences in IQ. In their model an environmental stimulus can have a very large
effect on IQ, even in adults, but this effect also decays over time unless the
stimulus continues (the model could be adapted to include possible factors, like
nutrition in early childhood, that may cause permanent effects). The Flynn effect
can be explained by a generally more stimulating environment for all people. The
authors suggest that programs aiming to increase IQ would be most likely to
produce long-term IQ gains if they taught children how to replicate outside the
program the kinds of cognitively demanding experiences that produce IQ gains
while they are in the program and motivate them to persist in that replication
long after they have left the program.9495
Interventions
Interventions such as the Head Start Program have not produced lasting gains in
IQ scores, although the more intensive Abecedarian Project have.96 In general,
many interventions, as those described below, have shown short-term effects on
IQ, but long-term follow-up is often missing.
A placebo controlled double-blind experiment found that vegetarians who took
5 grams of creatine per day for six weeks showed a significant improvement on
two separate tests of fluid intelligence, Raven's Progressive Matrices, and the
backward digit span test from the WAIS. The treatment group was able to repeat
longer sequences of numbers from memory and had higher overall IQ scores
than the control group. The researchers concluded that "supplementation with
creatine significantly increased intelligence compared with placebo."97 A
subsequent study found that creatine supplements improved cognitive ability in
the elderly.98 A study on young adults (0.03 g/kg/day for six weeks, e.g., 2 g/day
for 150-pound individual) failed, however, to find any improvements.99
94Dickens, William T.; Flynn, James R. (2001). "Heritability estimates versus large environmental
effects: The IQ paradox resolved.". Psychological Review 108 (2): 34669. doi:10.1037/0033295X.108.2.346. PMID 11381833.
95Dickens, William T.; Flynn, James R. (2002). "The IQ Paradox: Still Resolved". Psychological
Review 109 (4). .
96
97, pp. 214750, doi:10.1098/rspb.2003.2492
98McMorris, Terry; Mielcarz, Gregorsz; Harris, Roger C.; Swain, Jonathan P.; Howard, Alan
(2007). "Creatine Supplementation and Cognitive Performance in Elderly Individuals". Aging,
Neuropsychology, and Cognition 14 (5): 51728. doi:10.1080/13825580600788100.
PMID 17828627.
99Rawson, E; Lieberman, H; Walsh, T; Zuber, S; Harhart, J; Matthews, T (2008). "Creatine
supplementation does not improve cognitive function in young adults". Physiology & Behavior 95
(12): 1304. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2008.05.009. PMID 18579168.
Musical training in childhood has also been found to correlate with higher than
average IQ.100
Recent studies have shown that training in using one's working memory may
increase IQ. A study on young adults published in April 2008 by a team from the
Universities of Michigan and Bern supports the possibility of the transfer of fluid
intelligence from specifically designed working memory training.101102 Further
research will be needed to determine nature, extent and duration of the
proposed transfer. Among other questions, it remains to be seen whether the
results extend to other kinds of fluid intelligence tests than the matrix test used
in the study, and if so, whether, after training, fluid intelligence measures retain
their correlation with educational and occupational achievement or if the value
of fluid intelligence for predicting performance on other tasks changes. It is also
unclear whether the training is durable of extended periods of time.103
IQ and brain anatomy

Several neurophysiological factors have been correlated with intelligence in
humans, including the ratio of brain weight to body weight and the size, shape
and activity level of different parts of the brain. Specific features that may affect
Intelligence Quotient (IQ) include the size and shape of the frontal lobes, the
amount of blood and chemical activity in the frontal lobes, the total amount of
gray matter in the brain, the overall thickness of the cortex and the glucose
metabolic rate.
Health and IQ
Health is important in understanding differences in IQ test scores and other
measures of cognitive ability. Several factors can lead to significant cognitive
impairment, particularly if they occur during pregnancy and childhood when the
brain is growing and the blood-brain barrier is less effective. Such impairment
may sometimes be permanent, sometimes be partially or wholly compensated for
by later growth.
100Glenn Schellenberg, E. (2004). "Music Lessons Enhance IQ". Psychological Science 15 (8):
5114. doi:10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00711.x. PMID 15270994.
101(Klingberg, Forssberg & Westerberg 2002)
102Jaeggi, S. M.; Buschkuehl, M.; Jonides, J.; Perrig, W. J. (2008). "From the Cover: Improving
fluid intelligence with training on working memory". Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences 105 (19): 682933. doi:10.1073/pnas.0801268105. PMC 2383929. PMID 18443283.
103Sternberg, R. J. (2008). "Increasing fluid intelligence is possible after all". Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences 105 (19): 67912. doi:10.1073/pnas.0803396105. PMC 2383939.
PMID 18474863.
Developed nations have implemented several health policies regarding nutrients

and toxins known to influence cognitive function. These include laws requiring
fortification of certain food products and laws establishing safe levels of
pollutants (e.g. lead, mercury, and organochlorides). Improvements in nutrition,
and in public policy in general, have been implicated in worldwide IQ increases.
Cognitive epidemiology is a field of research that examines the associations
between intelligence test scores and health. Researchers in the field argue that
intelligence measured at an early age is an important predictor of later health
and mortality differences.
Social outcomes
Outside of academic research and medicine, IQ testing is often done due to its
ability to predict future job performance, social pathologies, or academic
achievement. Academic research has also examined these associations, as well
as the effect of IQ on other social outcomes, such as income and wealth.
Many of the arguments and criticisms assume that explained variance can be
calculated as the square of the correlation coefficient. This way of calculating
explained variance has been criticized as inappropriate for most social scientific
work.104 Also, as for the heritability figure, the explained variance only refers to
the proportion of variation in an outcome that is explained by a factor, and not
the proportion of an outcome that is explained by a factor.
Other tests
One study found a correlation of 0.82 between g (general intelligence factor) and
SAT scores;105 another has found correlation of 0.81 between g and GCSE
scores.106
Correlations between IQ scores (general cognitive ability) and achievement test
scores are reported to be 0.81 by Deary and colleagues, with the explained
variance ranging "from 58.6% in Mathematics and 48% in English to 18.1% in
Art and Design".107
104Achen, Christopher H. (1990). "What Does Explained Variance Explain?: Reply". Political
Analysis 2 (1): 173184. doi:10.1093/pan/2.1.173.
105Frey, Meredith C.; Detterman, Douglas K. (2004). "Scholastic Assessment org?".
Psychological Science 15 (6): 3738. doi:10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00687.x. PMID 15147489.
106Deary, I; Strand, S; Smith, P; Fernandes, C (2007). "Intelligence and educational
achievement". Intelligence 35 (1): 1321. doi:10.1016/j.intell.2006.02.001.
107
School performance
The American Psychological Association's report "Intelligence: Knowns and
Unknowns" states that wherever it has been studied, children with high scores
on tests of intelligence tend to learn more of what is taught in school than their
lower-scoring peers. The correlation between IQ scores and grades is about .50.
This means that the explained variance is 25%. Achieving good grades depends
on many factors other than IQ, such as "persistence, interest in school, and
willingness to study" (p. 81).108
It has been found that the IQ correlation with school performance depends on
the IQ measurement used. For undergraduate students, the Verbal IQ as
measured by WAIS-R has been found to correlate significantly (0.53) with the
GPA of the last 60 hours. In contrast, Performance IQ correlation with the same
GPA was only 0.22 in the same study.109
Job performance
According to Frank Schmidt and John Hunter, "for hiring employees without
previous experience in the job the most valid predictor of future performance is
general mental ability."110 The validity of IQ as a predictor of job performance is
above zero for all work studied to date, but varies with the type of job and across
different studies, ranging from 0.2 to 0.6.111 The correlations were higher when
the unreliability of measurement methods were controlled for.112 While IQ is
more strongly correlated with reasoning and less so with motor function,113 IQtest scores predict performance ratings in all occupations.114 That said, for highly
qualified activities (research, management) low IQ scores are more likely to be a
barrier to adequate performance, whereas for minimally-skilled activities,
athletic strength (manual strength, speed, stamina, and coordination) are more
likely to influence performance.115 It is largely mediated through the quicker
acquisition of job-relevant knowledge that IQ predicts job performance.
108
109Kamphaus, Randy W. (2005). Clinical assessment of child and adolescent intelligence.
Springer. ISBN 0-387-26299-7.
110Schmidt, Frank L.; Hunter, John E. (1998). "The validity and utility of selection methods in
personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings".
Psychological Bulletin 124 (2): 26274. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.124.2.262.
111Hunter, John E.; Hunter, Ronda F. (1984). "Validity and utility of alternative predictors of job
performance". Psychological Bulletin 96 (1): 7298. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.96.1.72.
112
113Warner, Molly; Ernst, John; Townes, Brenda; Peel, John; Preston, Michael (1987).
"Relationships Between IQ and Neuropsychological Measures in Neuropsychiatric Populations:
Within-Laboratory and Cross-Cultural Replications Using WAIS and WAIS-R". Journal of Clinical
and Experimental Neuropsychology 9 (5): 54562. doi:10.1080/01688638708410768.
PMID 3667899.
114
115
In establishing a causal direction to the link between IQ and work performance,

longitudinal studies by Watkins and others suggest that IQ exerts a causal
influence on future academic achievement, whereas academic achievement does
not substantially influence future IQ scores.116 Treena Eileen Rohde and Lee
Anne Thompson write that general cognitive ability but not specific ability scores
predict academic achievement, with the exception that processing speed and
spatial ability predict performance on the SAT math beyond the effect of general
cognitive ability.117
The US military has minimum enlistment standards at about the IQ 85 level.
There have been two experiments with lowering this to 80 but in both cases
these men could not master soldiering well enough to justify their costs 118
The American Psychological Association's report "Intelligence: Knowns and
Unknowns" states that since the explained variance is 29%, other individual
characteristics such as interpersonal skills, aspects of personality etc. are
probably of equal or greater importance, but at this point there are no equally
reliable instruments to measure them.119
Income
Some researchers claim that "in economic terms it appears that the IQ score
measures something with decreasing marginal value. It is important to have
enough of it, but having lots and lots does not buy you that much."120121
Other studies show that ability and performance for jobs are linearly related,
such that at all IQ levels, an increase in IQ translates into a concomitant increase
in performance.122 Charles Murray, coauthor of The Bell Curve, found that IQ has
a substantial effect on income independently of family background.123
Taking the above two principles together, very high IQ produces very high job
performance, but no greater income than slightly high IQ. Studies also show that
high IQ is related to higher net worth.124
116Watkins, M; Lei, P; Canivez, G (2007). "Psychometric intelligence and achievement: A crosslagged panel analysis". Intelligence 35 (1): 5968. doi:10.1016/j.intell.2006.04.005.
117Rohde, T; Thompson, L (2007). "Predicting academic achievement with cognitive ability".
Intelligence 35 (1): 8392. doi:10.1016/j.intell.2006.05.004.
118Gottfredson, L. S. (2006). Social consequences of group differences in cognitive ability
(Consequencias sociais das diferencas de grupo em habilidade cognitiva). In C. E. FloresMendoza & R. Colom (Eds.), Introducau a psicologia das diferencas individuais (pp. 433-456).
Porto Allegre, Brazil: ArtMed Publishers.
119
120Detterman and Daniel, 1989.
121Earl Hunt (July). "The Role of Intelligence in Modern Society (July-Aug, 1995)". American
Scientist. pp. 4 (Nonlinearities in Intelligence). Archived from the original on May 21, 2006. .
122Coward, W. Mark; Sackett, Paul R. (1990). "Linearity of ability-performance relationships: A
reconfirmation". Journal of Applied Psychology 75 (3): 297300. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.75.3.297.
123Murray, Charles (1998) (PDF). Income Inequality and IQ. AEI Press. ISBN 0-8447-7094-9. .
124Henderson, Mark (April 25, 2007). "Brains dont make you rich IQ study finds". The Times
(London). . Retrieved May 5, 2010.
The American Psychological Association's 1995 report Intelligence: Knowns and

Unknowns stated that IQ scores accounted for (explained variance) about
quarter of the social status variance and one-sixth of the income variance.
Statistical controls for parental SES eliminate about a quarter of this predictive
power. Psychometric intelligence appears as only one of a great many factors
that influence social outcomes.125
Some studies claim that IQ only accounts for (explained variance) a sixth of the
variation in income because many studies are based on young adults (many of
whom have not yet completed their education). On pg 568 of The g Factor,
Arthur Jensen claims that although the correlation between IQ and income
averages a moderate 0.4 (one sixth or 16% of the variance), the relationship
increases with age, and peaks at middle age when people have reached their
maximum career potential. In the book, A Question of Intelligence, Daniel
Seligman cites an IQ income correlation of 0.5 (25% of the variance).
A 2002 study126 further examined the impact of non-IQ factors on income and
concluded that an individual's location, inherited wealth, race, and schooling are
more important as factors in determining income than IQ.
IQ and crime
Unknowns stated that the correlation between IQ and crime was -0.2. It was
-0.19 between IQ scores and number of juvenile offenses in a large Danish
sample; with social class controlled, the correlation dropped to -0.17. A
correlation of 0.20 means that the explained variance is less than 4%. It is
important to realize that the causal links between psychometric ability and social
outcomes may be indirect. Children with poor scholastic performance may feel
alienated. Consequently, they may be more likely to engage in delinquent
behavior, compared to other children who do well.127
In his book The g Factor (1998), Arthur Jensen cited data which showed that,
regardless of race, people with IQs between 70 and 90 have higher crime rates
than people with IQs below or above this range, with the peak range being
between 80 and 90.
The 2009 Handbook of Crime Correlates stated that reviews have found that
around eight IQ points, or 0.5 SD, separate criminals from the general
population, especially for persistent serious offenders. It has been suggested that
this simply reflects that "only dumb ones get caught" but there is similarly a
negative relation between IQ and self-reported offending. That children with
conduct disorder have lower IQ than their peers "strongly argue" against the
theory.128
125
126Bowles, Samuel; Gintis, Herbert (2002). "The Inheritance of Inequality". Journal of Economic
Perspectives 16 (3): 330. doi:10.1257/089533002760278686.
127
128Handbook of Crime Correlates; Lee Ellis, Kevin M. Beaver, John Wright; 2009; Academic
Press
A study of the relationship between US county-level IQ and US county-level

crime rates found that higher average IQs were associated with lower levels of
property crime, burglary, larceny rate, motor vehicle theft, violent crime,
robbery, and aggravated assault. These results were not "confounded by a
measure of concentrated disadvantage that captures the effects of race, poverty,
and other social disadvantages of the county."129
Other correlations with IQ

In addition, IQ and its correlation to health, violent crime, gross state product,
and government effectiveness are the subject of a 2006 paper in the publication
Intelligence. The paper breaks down IQ averages by U.S. states using the federal
government's National Assessment of Educational Progress math and reading
test scores as a source.130
Unknowns stated that the correlations for most "negative outcome" variables are
typically smaller than 0.20, which means that the explained variance is less than
4%.131
Tambs et al.132 found that occupational status, educational attainment, and IQ
are individually heritable; and further found that "genetic variance influencing
educational attainment ... contributed approximately one-fourth of the genetic
variance for occupational status and nearly half the genetic variance for IQ." In a
sample of U.S. siblings, Rowe et al.133 report that the inequality in education and
income was predominantly due to genes, with shared environmental factors
playing a subordinate role.
There are also other correlations such as those between religiosity and
intelligence and fertility and intelligence.
Real-life accomplishments
Average adult combined IQs associated with real-life accomplishments by various
tests:134135
Neurosurgeons, research scientists, university professors 135+
129Beaver, K. M.; Wright, J. P. (2011). "The association between county-level IQ and county-level
crime rates". Intelligence 39: 2226. doi:10.1016/j.intell.2010.12.002.
130McDaniel, M (2006). "Estimating state IQ: Measurement challenges and preliminary
correlates". Intelligence 34 (6): 60719. doi:10.1016/j.intell.2006.08.007. .
131
132Tambs, Kristian; Sundet, Jon Martin; Magnus, Per; Berg, Kre (1989). "Genetic and
environmental contributions to the covariance between occupational status, educational
attainment, and IQ: A study of twins". Behavior Genetics 19 (2): 20922.
doi:10.1007/BF01065905. PMID 2719624.
133Rowe, D. C., W. J. Vesterdal, and J. L. Rodgers, "The Bell Curve Revisited: How Genes and
Shared Environment Mediate IQ-SES Associations," University of Arizona, 1997
134
135Kaufman, Alan; Lichtenberger, Elizabeth (2002). Assessing adolescent and adult intelligence.
MDs or PhDs 125 (WAIS-R, 1987)

College graduates 112 (KAIT, 2000; K-BIT, 1992), 115 (WAIS-R)
13 years of college 104 (KAIT, K-BIT), 105-110 (WAIS-R)
Clerical and sales workers 100-105
High school graduates, skilled workers (e.g., electricians, cabinetmakers) 100
(KAIT, WAIS-R), 97 (K-BIT)
13 years of high school (completed 911 years of school) 94 (KAIT), 90 (K-BIT),
95 (WAIS-R)
Semi-skilled workers (e.g., truck drivers, factory workers) 90-95
Elementary school graduates (completed eighth grade) 90
Elementary school dropouts (completed 07 years of school) 80-85
Have 50/50 chance of reaching high school 75
Average IQ of various occupational groups:136
Professional and technical 112
Managers and administrators 104
Clerical workers; sales workers; skilled workers, craftsmen, and foremen 101
Semi-skilled workers (operatives, service workers, including private household;
farmers and farm managers) 92
Unskilled workers 87
Type of work that can be accomplished:137
Adults can harvest vegetables, repair furniture 60
Adults can do domestic work, simple carpentry 50
Adults can mow lawns, do simple laundry 40
There is considerable variation within and overlap between these categories.
People with high IQs are found at all levels of education and occupational
categories. The biggest difference occurs for low IQs with only an occasional
college graduate or professional scoring below 90.138
136
137
138
Group differences
Among the most controversial issues related to the study of intelligence is the
observation that intelligence measures such as IQ scores vary between ethnic
and racial groups and sexes. While there is little scholarly debate about the
existence of some of these differences, their causes remain highly controversial
both within academia and in the public sphere.
Sex
Most IQ tests are constructed so that there are no overall score differences
between females and males. Because environmental factors affect brain activity
and behavior, where differences are found, it can be difficult for researchers to
assess whether or not the differences are innate. Areas where differences have
been found include verbal and mathematical ability.
Race
The 1996 Task Force investigation on Intelligence sponsored by the American
Psychological Association concluded that there are significant variations in IQ
across races.139 The problem of determining the causes underlying this variation
relates to the question of the contributions of "nature and nurture" to IQ.
Psychologists such as Alan S. Kaufman140 and Nathan Brody141 and statisticians
such as Bernie Devlin142 argue that there are insufficient data to conclude that
this is because of genetic influences. One of the most notable researchers
arguing for a strong genetic influence on these average score differences is
Arthur Jensen. In contrast, other researchers such as Richard Nisbett argue that
environmental factors can explain all of the average group differences.143
139
140Kaufman, Alan S. (2009). IQ Testing 101. New York: Springer Publishing. p. 173. ISBN 978-08261-0629-2. Lay summary (10 August 2010).
141Brody, Nathan (2005). "To g or Not to gThat Is the Question". In Wilhelm, Oliver & Engle,
Randall W. (Eds.). Handbook of Understanding and Measuring Intelligence. Thousand Oaks (CA):
SAGE Publications.
142Bernie Devlin, Stephen E. Fienberg, Daniel P. Resnick & Kathryn Roeder, ed (1997).
Intelligence, Genes, and Success: Scientists Respond to the Bell Curve. New York (NY): Springer
Verlag. ISBN 0-38798234-5.
143Nisbett, Richard E. (2009). Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count.
New York (NY): W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-06505-3. Lay summary (28 June 2010).
Public policy
In the United States, certain public policies and laws regarding military
service,144 145 education, public benefits,146 capital punishment,147 and
employment incorporate an individual's IQ into their decisions. However, in the
case of Griggs v. Duke Power Co. in 1971, for the purpose of minimizing
employment practices that disparately impacted racial minorities, the U.S.
Supreme Court banned the use of IQ tests in employment, except in very rare
cases.148 Internationally, certain public policies, such as improving nutrition and
prohibiting neurotoxins, have as one of their goals raising, or preventing a
decline in, intelligence.
A diagnosis of mental retardation is in part based on the results of IQ testing.
Borderline intellectual functioning is a categorization where a person has below
average cognitive ability (an IQ of 7185), but the deficit is not as severe as
mental retardation (70 or below).
Criticism and views

Relation between IQ and intelligence
IQ is the most researched approach to intelligence and by far the most widely
used in practical setting. However, although IQ attempts to measure some notion
of intelligence, it may fail to act as an accurate measure of "intelligence" in its
broadest sense. IQ tests only examine particular areas embodied by the broadest
notion of "intelligence", failing to account for certain areas which are also
associated with "intelligence" such as creativity or emotional intelligence.
There are critics who do not dispute the stability of IQ test scores or the fact that
they predict certain forms of achievement rather effectively. They do argue,
however, that to base a concept of intelligence on IQ test scores alone is to
ignore many important aspects of mental ability.149150
144"RAND_TR193.pdf" (PDF). .
145"MR818.ch2.pdf" (PDF). .
146"Social Security Administration". .
147Flynn, James R. (2009). What Is Intelligence: Beyond the Flynn Effect (expanded paperback
ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-74147-7. Lay summary (18 July
2010).
148Nicholas Lemann. The IQ Meritocracy. Time 100 link
149
150The Waning of I.Q. by David Brooks, The New York Times
Criticism of g
Some scientists dispute IQ entirely. In The Mismeasure of Man (1996),
paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould criticized IQ tests and argued that that they
were used for scientific racism. He argued that g was a mathematical artifact
and criticized:
...the abstraction of intelligence as a single entity, its location within the brain, its quantification as one
number for each individual, and the use of these numbers to rank people in a single series of
worthiness, invariably to find that oppressed and disadvantaged groupsraces, classes, or sexesare
innately inferior and deserve their status.(pp. 2425)
Psychologist Peter Schnemann was also a persistent critic of IQ, calling it "the
IQ myth". He argued that g is a flawed theory and that the high heritability
estimates of IQ are based on false assumptions.151152
Psychologist Arthur Jensen has rejected the criticism by Gould and also argued
that even if g was replaced by a model with several intelligences this would
change the situation less than expected. All tests of cognitive ability would
continue to be highly correlated with one another and there would still be a
black-white gap on cognitive tests.153 James R. Flynn, an intelligence researcher
known for his criticisms of racial theories of intelligence, similarly argued that
"Gould's book evades all of [Arthur] Jensen's best arguments for a genetic
component in the black-white IQ gap by positing that they are dependent on the
concept of g as a general intelligence factor. Therefore, Gould believes that if he
can discredit g no more need be said. This is manifestly false. Jensen's
arguments would bite no matter whether blacks suffered from a score deficit on
one or 10 or 100 factors."154
Test bias
The American Psychological Association's report Intelligence: Knowns and
Unknowns stated that in the United States IQ tests as predictors of social
achievement are not biased against African Americans since they predict future
performance, such as school achievement, similarly to the way they predict
future performance for Whites.155
151Psychometrics of Intelligence. K. Kemp-Leonard (ed.) Encyclopedia of Social Measurement, 3,
193-201: [0]
152Schnemann, Peter H. (1997). "On models and muddles of heritability". Genetica 99 (23):
97108. doi:10.1007/BF02259513. PMID 9463078. .
153Jensen Arthur (1982). "The Debunking of Scientific Fossils and Straw Persons".
Contemporary Education Review 1 (2): 121135. .
154Flynn J. R. (1999). "Evidence against Rushton: The Genetic Loading of the Wisc-R Subtests
and the Causes of Between-Group IQ Differences". Personality and Individual Differences 26:
37393.
155
However, IQ tests may well be biased when used in other situations. A 2005
study stated that "differential validity in prediction suggests that the WAIS-R test
may contain cultural influences that reduce the validity of the WAIS-R as a
measure of cognitive ability for Mexican American students,"156 indicating a
weaker positive correlation relative to sampled white students. Other recent
studies have questioned the culture-fairness of IQ tests when used in South
Africa.157158 Standard intelligence tests, such as the Stanford-Binet, are often
inappropriate for children with autism; the alternative of using developmental or
adaptive skills measures are relatively poor measures of intelligence in autistic
children, and may have resulted in incorrect claims that a majority of children
with autism are mentally retarded.159
Outdated methodology
A 2006 article stated that contemporary psychologic research often did not
reflect substantial recent developments in psychometrics and "bears an uncanny
resemblance to the psychometric state of the art as it existed in the 1950s."
However, it also states that an "increasing number of psychometrically informed
research papers that have been appearing in the past decade." 160
"Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns"

In response to the controversy surrounding The Bell Curve, the American
Psychological Association's Board of Scientific Affairs established a task force in
1995 to write a report on the state of intelligence research which could be used
by all sides as a basis for discussion, "Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns". The
full text of the report is available through several websites.161162
156Verney, S. P.; Granholm, E; Marshall, SP; Malcarne, VL; Saccuzzo, DP (2005). "Culture-Fair
Cognitive Ability Assessment: Information Processing and Psychophysiological Approaches".
Assessment 12 (3): 30319. doi:10.1177/1073191105276674. PMID 16123251.
157Shuttleworth-Edwards, Ann; Kemp, Ryan; Rust, Annegret; Muirhead, Joanne; Hartman, Nigel;
Radloff, Sarah (2004). "Cross-cultural Effects on IQ Test Performance: A Review and Preliminary
Normative Indications on WAIS-III Test Performance". Journal of Clinical and Experimental
Neuropsychology 26 (7): 90320. doi:10.1080/13803390490510824. PMID 15742541.
158Cronshaw, Steven F.; Hamilton, Leah K.; Onyura, Betty R.; Winston, Andrew S. (2006). "Case
for Non-Biased Intelligence Testing Against Black Africans Has Not Been Made: A Comment on
Rushton, Skuy, and Bons (2004)". International Journal of Selection and Assessment 14 (3): 278
87. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2389.2006.00346.x.
159Goldberg Edelson, M. (2006). "Are the Majority of Children With Autism Mentally Retarded?:
A Systematic Evaluation of the Data". Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities 21
(2): 6683. doi:10.1177/10883576060210020301.
160Borsboom, Denny (2006). "The attack of the psychometricians". Psychometrika 71 (3): 425
40. doi:10.1007/s11336-006-1447-6. PMC 2779444. PMID 19946599.
161
162Neisser, Ulric; Boodoo, Gwyneth; Bouchard, Thomas J., Jr.; Boykin, A. Wade; Brody, Nathan;
Ceci, Stephen J.; Halpern, Diane F.; Loehlin, John C. et al. (1996). "Intelligence: Knowns and
unknowns". American Psychologist 51 (2): 77101. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.51.2.77. .
In this paper the representatives of the association regret that IQ-related works
are frequently written with a view to their political consequences: "research
findings were often assessed not so much on their merits or their scientific
standing as on their supposed political implications".
The task force concluded that IQ scores do have high predictive validity for
individual differences in school achievement. They confirm the predictive validity
of IQ for adult occupational status, even when variables such as education and
family background have been statistically controlled. They stated that individual
differences in intelligence are substantially influenced by both genetics and
environment.
The report stated that a number of biological factors, including malnutrition,
exposure to toxic substances, and various prenatal and perinatal stressors, result
in lowered psychometric intelligence under at least some conditions. The task
force agrees that large differences do exist between the average IQ scores of
blacks and whites. "The cause of that differential is not known; it is apparently
not due to any simple form of bias in the content or administration of the tests
themselves. The Flynn effect shows that environmental factors can produce
differences of at least this magnitude, but that effect is mysterious in its own
right. Several culturally based explanations of the Black/ White IQ differential
have been proposed; some are plausible, but so far none has been conclusively
supported. There is even less empirical support for a genetic interpretation. In
short, no adequate explanation of the differential between the IQ means of
Blacks and Whites is presently available."
The APA journal that published the statement, American Psychologist,
subsequently published eleven critical responses in January 1997, several of
them arguing that the report failed to examine adequately the evidence for partly
genetic explanations.
High IQ societies
There are social organizations, some international, which limit membership to
people who have scores as high as or higher than the 98th percentile on some IQ
test or equivalent. Mensa International is perhaps the most well known of these.
There are other groups requiring a score above the 98th percentile.
Popular culture usage

Many websites and magazines use the term IQ to refer to technical or popular
knowledge in a variety of subjects not related to intelligence, including sex,163
poker,164 and American football,165 among a wide variety of other topics. These
tests are generally not standardized and do not fit within the normal definition of
intelligence. Modern Intelligence tests are not merely placing a test taker's score
within the norm, as presumably are the thousands of alleged "IQ Tests" found on
the internet, but they are also testing factors (e.g., fluid and crystallized
intelligence, working memory, and the like) that were previously found to
represent pure measures of intelligence using factor analysis. This claim may not
be made for the hundreds of online tests marketing themselves as IQ Tests, a
distinction that may be unfortunately lost upon the public taking them.
Reference charts
IQ reference charts are tables suggested by test publishers to divide intelligence
ranges in various categories.
Further reading
Carroll, J.B. (1993). Human cognitive abilities: A survey of factor-analytical
studies. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-38275-0.
Lahn, Bruce T.; Ebenstein, Lanny (2009). "Let's celebrate human genetic
diversity". Nature 461 (7265): 7268. doi:10.1038/461726a. PMID 19812654.
Coward, W. Mark; Sackett, Paul R. (1990). "Linearity of ability^performance
relationships: A reconfirmation". Journal of Applied Psychology 75 (3): 297300.
doi:10.1037/0021-9010.75.3.297.
Duncan, J.; Seitz, RJ; Kolodny, J; Bor, D; Herzog, H; Ahmed, A; Newell, FN;
Emslie, H (2000). "A Neural Basis for General Intelligence". Science 289 (5478):
45760. doi:10.1126/science.289.5478.457. PMID 10903207.
Duncan, John; Burgess, Paul; Emslie, Hazel (1995). "Fluid intelligence after
frontal lobe lesions". Neuropsychologia 33 (3): 2618. doi:10.1016/00283932(94)00124-8. PMID 7791994.
Flynn, James R. (1999). "Searching for justice: The discovery of IQ gains over
time". American Psychologist 54 (1): 520. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.54.1.5.
163"Planned Parenthood Sex IQ". Archived from the original on 2008-07-06. . Retrieved 2008-0810.
164"NL Holdem Poker IQ Test". . Retrieved 2008-08-10.
165"American Football IQ". . Retrieved 2008-08-10.
Frey, Meredith C.; Detterman, Douglas K. (2004). "Scholastic Assessment org?".

Psychological Science 15 (6): 3738. doi:10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00687.x.
PMID 15147489.
Gale, C. R; Deary, I. J; Schoon, I.; Batty, G D.; Batty, G D. (2006). "IQ in
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External links
Human Intelligence: biographical profiles, current controversies, resources for
teachers
Classics in the History of Psychology
StanfordBinet Intelligence Scales

StanfordBinet Intelligence Scales
Diagnostics
ICD-9-CM
94.01
MeSH
D013195
The development of the StanfordBinet Intelligence Scales initiated the

modern field of intelligence testing, originating in France, then revised in the
U.S. The StanfordBinet test started with the French psychologist Alfred Binet,
whom the French government commissioned with developing a method of
identifying intellectually deficient children for their placement in specialeducation programs. As Binet indicated, case studies might be more detailed and
helpful, but the time required to test many people would be excessive. In 1916,
at Stanford University, the psychologist Lewis Terman released a revised
examination which became known as the "StanfordBinet test".
Development
Later, Alfred Binet and physician Theodore Simon collaborated in studying
mental retardation in French school children. Theodore Simon was a student of
Binet's.166 Between 1905 and 1908, their research at a boys school, in Grangeaux-Belles, led to their developing the BinetSimon tests; assessing attention,
memory, and verbal skill. The test consisted of 30 items ranging from the ability
to touch one's nose or ear, when asked, to the ability to draw designs from
memory and to define abstract concepts,167 and varying in difficulty. Binet
proposed that a child's intellectual ability increases with age. In 1912, William
Stern created the concept of mental age (MA): an individual's level of mental
development relative to others.168 Binet placed a confidence interval around the
scores returned from his tests, both because he thought intelligence was
somewhat plastic, and because of inherent margin of error in psychometric
tests.169
In 1916, the Stanford psychologist Lewis Terman released the "Stanford Revision
of the BinetSimon Scale", the "StanfordBinet", for short. Helped by graduate
students and validation experiments, he removed some BinetSimon test items
and added new ones. Soon, the test was so popular that Robert Yerkes, the
president of the American Psychological Association, decided to use it in
developing the Army Alpha and the Army Beta tests to classify recruits. Thus, a
high-scoring recruit might earn an A-grade (high officer material), whereas a
low-scoring recruit with an E-grade would be rejected for military service.170
Present use
Since the inception of the StanfordBinet, it has been revised several times.
Currently, the test is in its fifth edition, which is called the StanfordBinet 5.
According to the publisher's website, "The SB5 was normed on a stratified
random sample of 4,800 individuals that matches the 2000 U. S. Census." By
administering the StanfordBinet test to large numbers of individuals selected at
random from different parts of the United States, it has been found that the
scores approximate a normal distribution.
166Santrock, John W. (2008) "A Topical Approach to Life-Span Development", (4th Ed.) Concept
of Intelligence (283284), New York: McGrawHill.
167
168
169Fancher, Raymond E. (1985) "The Intelligence Men: Makers of the IQ Controversy", New
York (NY): W. W. Norton.
170
Further reading
Binet, Alfred; Simon, Th. (1916). The development of intelligence in children:
The BinetSimon Scale. Publications of the Training School at Vineland New
Jersey Department of Research No. 11. E. S. Kite (Trans.). Baltimore: Williams &
Wilkins. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
Brown, A. L.; French, L. A. (1979). "The Zone of Potential Development:
Implications for Intelligence Testing in the Year 2000". Intelligence 3 (3): 255
273.
Fancher, Raymond E. (1985). The Intelligence Men: Makers of the IQ
Controversy. New York (NY): W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0393955255.
Freides, D. (1972). "Review of StanfordBinet Intelligence Scale, Third
Revision". In Oscar Buros. Seventh Mental Measurements Yearbook. Highland
Park (NJ): Gryphon Press. pp. 772773.
Gould, Stephen Jay (1981). The Mismeasure of Man. New York (NY): W. W.
Norton. ISBN 978-0393314250. Lay summary (10 July 2010).
McNemar, Quinn (1942). The revision of the StanfordBinet Scale. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
Pinneau, Samuel R. (1961). Changes in Intelligence Quotient Infancy to
Maturity: New Insights from the Berkeley Growth Study with Implications for
the StanfordBinet Scales and Applications to Professional Practice. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
Terman, Lewis Madison; Merrill, Maude A. (1937). Measuring intelligence: A
guide to the administration of the new revised StanfordBinet tests of
intelligence. Riverside textbooks in education. Boston (MA): Houghton Mifflin.
Terman, Lewis Madison; Merrill, Maude A. (1960). StanfordBinet Intelligence
Scale: Manual for the Third Revision Form LM with Revised IQ Tables by
Samuel R. Pinneau. Boston (MA): Houghton Mifflin.
Richardson, Nancy (1992). "StanfordBinet IV, of Course!: Time Marches On!
(originally published as Which StanfordBinet for the Brightest?)". Roeper
Review 15 (1): 3234.
Waddell, Deborah D. (1980). "The StanfordBinet: An Evaluation of the
Technical Data Available since the 1972 Restandardization". Journal of School
Psychology 18 (3): 203209. doi:10.1016/0022-4405(80)90060-6. Retrieved 29
June 2010.
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
Diagnostics
ICD-9-CM
94.01
MeSH
D014888
The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) intelligence quotient (IQ) tests
are the primary clinical instruments used to measure adult and adolescent
intelligence.171 The original WAIS (Form I) was published in February 1955 by
David Wechsler, as a revision of the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale.172 The
fourth edition of the test (WAIS-IV) was released in 2008 by Pearson.
The Wechsler-Bellevue tests were innovative in the 1930s because they gathered
tasks created for nonclinical purposes for administration as a "clinical test
battery".173 Because the Wechsler tests included non-verbal items (known as
performance scales) as well as verbal items for all test-takers, and because the
1960 form of Lewis Terman's Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales was less
carefully developed than previous versions, Form I of the WAIS surpassed the
Stanford-Binet tests in popularity by the 1960s.174
Wechsler defined intelligence as "... the global capacity of a person to act
purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment."175
WAIS
The WAIS was initially created as a revision of the Wechsler-Bellevue
Intelligence Scale (WBIS), which was a battery of tests published by Wechsler in
1939. The WBIS was composed of subtests that could be found in various other
intelligence tests of the time, such as Robert Yerkes' army testing program and
the Binet-Simon scale. The WAIS was first released in February 1955 by David
Wechsler.
171Kaufman, Alan S.; Lichtenberger, Elizabeth (2006). Assessing Adolescent and Adult
Intelligence (3rd ed.). Hoboken (NJ): Wiley. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-471-73553-3. Lay summary (22
August 2010).
August 2010).
August 2010).
174
175Wechsler, David (1939). The Measurement of Adult Intelligence. Baltimore (MD): Williams &
Witkins. p. 229.
WAIS-R
The WAIS-R, a revised form of the WAIS, was released in 1981 and consisted of
six verbal and five performance subtests. The verbal tests were: Information,
Comprehension, Arithmetic, Digit Span, Similarities, and Vocabulary. The
Performance subtests were: Picture Arrangement, Picture Completion, Block
Design, Object Assembly, and Digit Symbol. A verbal IQ, performance IQ and full
scale IQ were obtained.176
This revised edition did not provide new validity data, but used the data from the
original WAIS; however new norms were provided, carefully stratified.177
WAIS-III
The WAIS-III, a
the WAIS and the WAISIt provided scores for
IQ, and Full Scale IQ,
secondary indices
Working Memory,
and Processing Speed).
subsequent revision of
R, was released in 1997.
Verbal IQ, Performance
along with four
(Verbal Comprehension,
Perceptual Organization,
Verbal IQ (VIQ)
Included seven tests and provided two subindexes; verbal comprehension and
working memory.
The Verbal comprehension index included the following tests:
Information
Similarities
Vocabulary
The Working memory index included:
Arithmetic
Digit Span
Letter-Number Sequencing and Comprehension are not included in these
indices, but are used as substitutions for spoiled subtests within the WMI and
VCI, respectively
176"Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale--Revised". . Retrieved 2009-03-31.
177
Performance IQ (PIQ)
Included six tests and it also provided two subindexes; perceptual organization
and processing speed.
The Perceptual organization index included:
Block Design
Matrix Reasoning
Picture Completion
The Processing speed index included:
Digit Symbol-Coding
Symbol Search
Two tests; Picture Arrangement and Object Assembly were not included in the
indexes. Object Assembly is not included in the PIQ.
WAIS-IV
The current version of the test, the WAIS-IV, which was released in 2008, is
composed of 10 core subtests and five supplemental subtests, with the 10 core
subtests comprising the Full Scale IQ. With the new WAIS-IV, the
verbal/performance subscales from previous versions were removed and
replaced by the index scores. The General Ability Index (GAI) was included,
which consists of the Similarities, Vocabulary and Information subtests from the
Verbal Comprehension Index and the Block Design, Matrix Reasoning and Visual
Puzzles subtests from the Perceptual Reasoning Index. The GAI is clinically
useful because it can be used as a measure of cognitive abilities that are less
vulnerable to impairment.
Indices and scales

There are four index scores representing major components of intelligence:
Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI)
Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI)
Working Memory Index (WMI)
Processing Speed Index (PSI)
Two broad scores are also generated, which can be used to summarize general
intellectual abilities:
Full Scale IQ (FSIQ), based on the total combined performance of the VCI, PRI,
WMI, and PSI
General Ability Index (GAI), based only on the six subtests that comprise the
VCI and PRI
Subtests
The Verbal Comprehension Index includes four tests:
Similarities: Abstract verbal reasoning (e.g., "In what way are an apple and a
pear alike?")
Vocabulary: The degree to which one has learned, been able to comprehend and
verbally express vocabulary (e.g., "What is a guitar?")
Information : Degree of general information acquired from culture (e.g., "Who is
the president of Russia?")
Comprehension [Supplemental]: Ability to deal with abstract social conventions,
rules and expressions (e.g., "What does Kill 2 birds with 1 stone metaphorically
mean?")
The Perceptual Reasoning Index comprises five tests
Block Design: Spatial perception, visual abstract processing & problem solving
Matrix Reasoning: Nonverbal abstract problem solving, inductive reasoning,
spatial reasoning
Visual Puzzles: non-verbal reasoning
Picture Completion [Supplemental]: Ability to quickly perceive visual details
Figure Weights [Supplemental]: quantitative and analogical reasoning
The Working Memory Index is obtained from three tests
Digit span: attention, concentration, mental control (e.g., Repeat the numbers
1-2-3 in reverse sequence)
Arithmetic: Concentration while manipulating mental mathematical problems
(e.g., "How many 45-cent stamps can you buy for a dollar?")
Letter-Number Sequencing [Supplemental]: attention and working memory
(e.g., Repeat the sequence Q-1-B-3-J-2, but place the numbers in numerical order
and then the letters in alphabetical order)
The Processing Speed Index includes three tests

Symbol Search: Visual perception, speed
Coding: Visual-motor coordination, motor and mental speed
Cancellation [Supplemental]: visual-perceptual speed
Standardization
The WAIS-IV was standardized on a sample of 2,200 people in the United States
ranging in age from 16 to 90. An extension of the standardization has been
conducted with 688 Canadians in the same age range. The median Full Scale IQ
is centered at 100, with a standard deviation of 15.178 In a normal distribution,
the IQ range of one standard deviation above and below the mean (i.e., between
85 and 115) is where approximately 68% of all adults would fall.
Other test variants and uses

The WAIS-IV measure is appropriate for use with individuals aged 1690 years.
For individuals under 16 years, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
(WISC, 6-16 years) and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence
(WPPSI, 27 years, 3 months) are used.
A short, four-subtest version of the WAIS-III battery has been released, allowing
clinicians to form a validated estimate of verbal, performance and full scale IQ in
a shorter amount of time. The Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI)
uses vocabulary, similarities, block design and matrix reasoning subtests similar
to those of the WAIS to provide an estimate of full scale IQ in approximately 30
minutes.
Intelligence tests may also be utilized in populations with psychiatric illness or
brain injury, in order to assess level of cognitive functioning, though some regard
this use as controversial. Some neuropsychologists use the technique on people
suffering brain damage as it leads to links with which part of the brain has been
affected, or use specific subtests in order to get an idea of the extent of the brain
damage. For example, digit span may be used to get a sense of attentional
difficulties. Others employ the WAIS-R NI (Wechsler Adult Intelligence ScaleRevised as a Neuropsychological Instrument), another measure published by
Harcourt. Each subtest score is tallied and calculated with respect to non-normal
or brain-damaged norms. As the WAIS is developed for the average, non-injured
individual, separate norms were developed for appropriate comparison among
similar functioning individuals.
178"Distribution of IQ Scores". MSN Encarta. . Retrieved 2007-07-08.
External links
Axelrod, BN; Ryan, JJ (2000). "Prorating Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III
summary scores". Journal of Clinical Psychology 56 (6): 80711. doi:10.1002/
(SICI)1097-4679(200006)56:6<807::AID-JCLP9>3.0.CO;2-N. PMID 10877468.
PubMed
Ryan, JJ; Schnakenberg-Ott, SD (2003). "Scoring reliability on the Wechsler
Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III)". Assessment 10 (2): 1519.
doi:10.1177/1073191103010002006. PMID 12801187. PubMed
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
Diagnostics
WISC-III, Dutch edition

ICD-9-CM
94.01
The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), developed by Dr.

David Wechsler, is an individually administered intelligence test for children
between the ages of 6 and 16 inclusive that can be completed without reading or
writing. The WISC takes 65-80 minutes to administer and generates an IQ score
which represents a childs general cognitive ability.
History
The original WISC (Wechsler, 1949) was an adaption of several of the subtests
which made up the WechslerBellevue Intelligence Scale (Wechsler, 1939) but
also featured several subtests designed specifically for it. The subtests were
organized into Verbal and Performance scales, and provided scores for Verbal IQ
(VIQ), Performance IQ (PIQ), and Full Scale IQ (FSIQ). A revised edition was
published in 1974 as the WISC-R (Wechsler, 1974), featuring the same subtests
however the age range was changed from 5-15 to 6-16. The third edition was
published in 1991 (WISC-III; Wechsler, 1991) and brought with it a new subtest
as a measure of processing speed. In addition to the traditional VIQ, PIQ, and
FSIQ scores, four new index scores were introduced to represent more narrow
domains of cognitive function: the Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI), the
Perceptual Organization Index (POI), the Freedom from Distractibility Index
(FDI), and the Processing Speed Index (PSI).
The current version, the WISC-IV, was produced in 2003 followed by the UK
version in 2004. Each successive version has re-normed the test to compensate
for the Flynn effect. Ensuring not only that the norms do not become outdated
which is suggested to result in inflated scores on intelligence measures, but that
they are representative of the current population (Flynn, 1984, 1987, 1999;
Matarazzo, 1972). Additional updates and refinements include changes to the
questions to make them less biased against minorities and females, and updated
materials to make them more useful in the administration of the test.
Test format
The WISC is one of a family of Wechsler intelligence scales. Subjects 16 and over
are tested with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), and children ages
three to seven years, three months are tested with the Wechsler Preschool and
Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI). There is some overlap between tests, with
children aged 7 being able to complete the WPPSI or the WISC-IV, and children
aged 16 being able to complete the WISC-IV or the WAIS. Different floor and
ceiling effects can be achieved using the different tests, allowing for a greater
understanding of the childs abilities or deficits. This means that a 16 year old
child who has mental retardation may be tested using the WISC-IV so that the
clinician may see the floor of their knowledge (the lowest level).
The WISC-IV is divided into fifteen subtests, ten of which formed part of the
previous WISC III. The five new subtests include three core tests: Picture
Concepts, Letter-Number Sequencing, Matrix Reasoning and two supplemental
tests: Cancellation and Word Reasoning. The supplemental subtests are used to
accommodate children in certain rare cases, or to make up for spoiled results
which may occur from interruptions or other circumstances. Testers are allowed
no more than two substitutions in any FSIQ test, or no more than one per index.
A total of five composite scores can be derived with the WISCIV. The WISC-IV
generates a Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) which represents overall cognitive ability, the
four other composite scores are Verbal Comprehension index (VCI), Perceptual
Reasoning Index (PRI), Processing Speed Index (PSI) and Working Memory Index
(WMI).
Each of the ten core subtests is given equal weighting towards full scale IQ.
There are three subtests for both VCI and PRI, thus they are given 30%
weighting each; in addition, PSI and WMI are given weighting for their two
subtests each. The WISC-IV also produces seven process scores on three
subtests: block design, cancellation and digit span. These scores are intended to
provide more detailed information on cognitive abilities that contribute to
performance on the subtest. These scores do not contribute to the composite
scores.
The VCI's subtests are as follows:
Vocabulary - examinee is asked to define a provided word.
Similarities - asking how two words are alike/similar.
Comprehension - questions about social situations or common concepts.
Information (supplemental) - general knowledge questions.
Word reasoning (supplemental)- a task involving clues that lead to a specific
word, each clue adds more information about the object/word/concept.
The Verbal Comprehension Index is an overall measure of verbal concept
formation (the child's ability to verbally reason) and is influenced by knowledge
learned from the environment.
The PRI's subtests are as follows:
Block Design - children put together red-and-white blocks in a pattern
according to a displayed model. This is timed, and some of the more difficult
puzzles award bonuses for speed.
Picture Concepts - children are provided with a series of pictures presented in
rows (either two or three rows) and asked to determine which pictures go
together, one from each row.
Matrix Reasoning - children are shown an array of pictures with one missing
square, and select the picture that fits the array from five options.
Picture Completion (supplemental) - children are shown artwork of common
objects with a missing part, and asked to identify the missing part by pointing
and/or naming.
The WMI's (formerly known as Freedom from Distractibility Index) subtests are
as follows:
Digit Span - children are orally given sequences of numbers and asked to repeat
them, either as heard or in reverse order.
Letter-Number Sequencing - children are provided a series of numbers and
letters and asked to provide them back to the examiner in a predetermined
order.
Arithmetic (supplemental) - orally administered arithmetic questions. Timed.
The PSI's subtests are as follows:
Coding - children under 8 mark rows of shapes with different lines according to
a code, children over 8 transcribe a digit-symbol code. The task is time-limited
with bonuses for speed.
Symbol Search - children are given rows of symbols and target symbols, and
asked to mark whether or not the target symbols appear in each row.
Cancellation (supplemental)- children scan random and structured
arrangements of pictures and marks specific target pictures within a limited
amount of time.
Psychometric properties
The WISCIV US standardization sample consisted of 2,200 children between the
ages of 6 and 16 years 11 months and the UK sample consisted of 780 children.
Both standardizations included special group samples including the following:
children identified as gifted, children with mild or moderate mental retardation,
children with learning disorders (reading, reading/writing, math,
reading/writing/math), children with ADHD, children with expressive and mixed
receptive-expressive language disorders children with autistic disorder, children
with Aspergers syndrome, children with open or closed head injury, and children
with motor impairment.
WISCIV is also validated with measures of achievement, memory, adaptive
behaviour, emotional intelligence, and giftedness. Equivalency studies were also
conducted within the Wechsler family of tests enabling comparisons between
various Wechsler scores over the lifespan. A number of concurrent studies were
conducted to examine the scales reliability and validity. Evidence of the
convergent and discriminant validity of the WISCIV is provided by correlational
studies with the following instruments: WISCIII, WPPSIIII, WAISIII, WASI,
WIATII, CMS, GRS, BarOn EQ, and the ABASII. Evidence of construct validity
was provided through a series of exploratory and confirmatory factor-analytic
studies and mean comparisons using matched samples of clinical and nonclinical
children.
Uses
The WISC is used not only as an intelligence test, but as a clinical tool. Many
practitioners use it to diagnose attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
and learning disabilities, for example. This is usually done through a process
called pattern analysis, in which the various subtests' scores are compared to
one another (ipsative scoring) and clusters of unusually low scores in relation to
the others are searched for. David Wechsler himself suggested this in 1958.179
However, the research does not show this to be a very effective way to diagnose
ADHD or learning disabilities.180 The vast majority of ADHD children do not
display certain subscores substantially below others, and many children who
display such patterns do not have ADHD. Other patterns for children with
learning disabilities show a similar lack of usefulness of the WISC as a diagnostic
tool.181
When diagnosing children, best practice suggests that a multi-test battery (i.e.,
multi-factored evaluation) should be used as learning problems, attention, and
emotional difficulties can have similar symptoms, co-occur, or reciprocally
influence each other. For example, children with learning difficulties can become
emotionally distraught and thus have concentration difficulties, begin to exhibit
behavior problems, or both. Children with ADD or ADHD may show learning
difficulties because of their attentional problems or also have learning disorder
or mental retardation (or have nothing else). In short, while diagnosis of any
childhood or adult difficulty should never be made based on IQ alone (or
interview, physician examination, parent report, other test etc. for that matter)
the cognitive ability test can help rule out, in conjunction with other tests and
sources of information, other explanations for problems, uncover co-morbid
problems, and be a rich source of information when properly analyzed and care
is taken to avoid relying simply on the single summary IQ score (Sattler, 2008).
179Kaplan, Robert M.; Saccuzzo, Dennis P. (2009). Psychological Testing: Principles,

Applications, and Issues (Seventh ed.). Belmont (CA): Wadsworth. p. 262 (citing Wechsler (1958)
The Measurement and Appraisal of Adult Intelligence). ISBN 978-0-495-09555-2. Lay summary (9
November 2010).
180Watkins, M.W., Kush, J., & Glutting, J.J. (1997). Discriminant and predictive validity of the
WISC-III ACID profile among children with learning disabilities. Psychology in the Schools, 34(4),
309-319
181Ward, S.B., Ward, T. J., Hatt, C.V., Young, D.L, & Mollner, N.R. (1995). The incidence and
utility of the ACID, ACIDS, and SCAD profiles in a referred population. Psychology in the Schools,
32(4), 267-276
The empirical consensus is that the WISC is best used as a tool to evaluate
intelligence and not to diagnose ADHD or learning disabled children. It can be
used to show discrepancies between a child's intelligence and his/her
performance at school (and it is this discrepancy that School Psychologists look
for when using this test). In a clinical setting, learning disabilities are generally
diagnosed through a comparison of intelligence scores and scores on an
achievement test, such as the Woodcock Johnson III or Wechsler Individual
Achievement Test II. If a child's achievement is below what would be expected
given their level of intellectual functioning (as derived from an IQ test such as
the WISC-IV), then a learning disability may be present.
Subsequently, the WISC can be used as part of an assessment battery to identify
intellectual giftedness, learning difficulties, and cognitive strengths and
weaknesses. When combined with other measures such as the Adaptive
Behaviour Assessment SystemII (ABASII; Harrison & Oakland, 2003) and the
Childrens Memory Scale (CMS; Cohen, 1997) its clinical utility can be
enhanced. Combinations such as these provide information on cognitive and
adaptive functioning, both of which are required for the proper diagnosis of
learning difficulties and learning and memory functioning resulting in a richer
picture of a childs cognitive functioning.
The WISCIV has also been co normed with the Wechsler Individual Achievement
Test-II UK (WIATII UK; The Psychological Corporation, 2005), a measure of
academic achievement. This linkage provides information on both cognitive
ability and academic achievement in children. Tests of intellectual functioning
are used extensively in school settings to evaluate specific cognitive deficits that
may contribute to low academic achievement, and to predict future academic
achievement. Using the WISCIV in such a manner provides information for
educational intervention purposes, such as interventions that address learning
difficulties and cognitive deficits.
The WISC-IV can also be used to assess a child's cognitive development, with
respect to the child's chronological age. Using such comparisons with other
sources of data, the WISC can contribute information concerning a child's
developmental and psychological well-being. Very high or very low scores may
suggest contributing factors for adjustment difficulties in social contexts that
present problems in accepting such developmental diversity (or that cannot
accommodate more than a certain level of high cognitive functioning.)
Translations
WISC has been translated or adapted to many languages, and norms have been
established for a number of countries, including Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil),
Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Croatian, French (France and Canada), German
(Germany, Austria and Switzerland), English (United States, Canada, United
Kingdom, Australia), Welsh, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese (Hong Kong), Korean
(South Korea), Greek, Romanian, Slovenian and Italian. Separate norms are
established with each translation. (Norway uses the Swedish norms). India uses
the Malin's Intelligence Scale for Children (MISIC), an adaptation of WISC.182
References
Cohen, M. (1997). Childrens memory scale. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological
Corporation.
Flynn, J. R. (1984). The mean IQ of Americans: Massive gains 1932 to 1978.
Psychological Bulletin, 95(1), 2951.
Flynn, J. R. (1987). Massive IQ gains in 14 nations: What IQ tests really
measure. Psychological Bulletin, 101(2), 171191.
Flynn, J. R. (1999). Searching for justice: The discovery of IQ gains over time.
American Psychologist, 54(1), 520.
Harrison, P. L., & Oakland, T. (2003). Adaptive behaviour assessment system
second edition). San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
Kaplan, R.M. & Saccuzzo, D.P. (2005). Psychological Testing: Principles,
applications, and issues. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth
Matarazzo, J. D. (1972). Wechslers measurement and appraisal of adult
intelligence (5th ed.). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.
The Psychological Corporation. (2001). Wechsler individual achievement test
second edition. San Antonio, TX: Author.
Ward, S.B., Ward, T. J., Hatt, C.V., Young, D.L, & Mollner, N.R. (1995). The
incidence and utility of the ACID, ACIDS, and SCAD profiles in a referred
population. Psychology in the Schools, 32(4), 267-276
Watkins, M.W., Kush, J., & Glutting, J.J. (1997). Discriminant and predictive
validity of the WISC-III ACID profile among children with learning disabilities.
Psychology in the Schools, 34(4), 309-319
Wechsler, D. (1939). Wechsler-Bellevue intelligence scale. New York: The
Psychological Corporation.
Wechsler, D. (1949). Wechsler intelligence scale for children. New York: The
Psychological Corporation.
182"Psychological Testing Unit". antarnadfoundation.org. . Retrieved 7 September 2010.
Wechsler, D. (1991). The Wechsler intelligence scale for childrenthird edition.

San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
Wechsler, D. (2004). The Wechsler intelligence scale for childrenfourth
edition. London: Pearson Assessment.
Wechsler, D. (1974). Manual for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
Revised. New York: Psychological Corporation.
Wechsler, D. (1949). The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. New York:
Psychological Corp.
External links
WISC-IV at Fairleigh Dickinson University site
David Wechsler Biography [1]
Personality test
Personality test
Diagnostics
The four temperaments as illustrated by Johann Kaspar Lavater

MeSH
D010556
A personality test aims to describe aspects of a person's character that remain

stable throughout that person's lifetime, the individual's character pattern of
behavior, thoughts, and feelings. An early model of personality was posited by
Greek philosopher/physician Hippocrates. The 20th century heralded a new
interest in defining and identifying separate personality types, in close
correlation with the emergence of the field of psychology. As such, several
distinct tests emerged; some attempt to identify specific characteristics, while
others attempt to identify personality as a whole.
Overview
There are many different types of personality tests. Common personality tests
consist of a large number of items, in which respondents must rate the
applicability of each item to themselves. Projective tests, such as the TAT and Ink
Blots are another form of personality test which attempt to assess personality .
Scoring
Personality tests can be scored using a dimensional (normative) or a typological
(ipsative) approach. Dimensional approaches such as the Big 5 describe
personality as a set of continuous dimensions on which individuals differ.
Typological approaches such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (r) describe
opposing categories of functioning where individuals differ. Normative responses
for each category can be graphed as bell curves (normal curves), implying that
some aspects of personality are better than others Ipsative test responses offer
two equally "good" responses between which an individual must choose. Such
responses (e.g., on the MBTI) would result in bi-modal graphs for each category,
rather than bell curves.
Personality tests such as the Strength Deployment Inventory (r), which assesses
motivation, or purpose, of behavior, rather than the behavior itself, combine a
dimensional and typological approach as described here. Three continuums of
motivation are combined to yield 7 distinct types.
Many, but by no means all, psychological researchers believe that the
dimensional approach is more accurate, although as judged by the popularity of
the Myers-Briggs tool, typological approaches have substantial appeal as a selfdevelopment tool.
Personality tests, especially 5-Factor (Big Five personality traits), such as the
NEO PIR, are extremely powerful. For a current bibliography see the NEO PIR
Bibliography (Costa and McCrae, PAR, 2003). Just one article "The five-factor
model of personality in the workplace" (Neubert) shows how the personality
factors predict job satisfaction and performance.
Emotive tests could in theory become prey to unreliable results due to people
striving to pick the answer they feel the best fitting of an ideal character and
therefore not their true response. In practice, however, most people do not
significantly distort. There may be several reasons for this, not the least of which
is knowing what is "ideal." What is the ideal response set for an aircraft
salesperson? Unless one knows how to sell aircraft it is unlikely they could
dissemble appropriately.
Norms
The meaning of personality test scores are difficult to interpret in a direct sense.
For this reason substantial effort is made by producers of personality tests to
produce norms to provide a comparative basis for interpreting a respondent's
test scores. Common formats for these norms include percentile ranks, z scores,
sten scores, and other forms of standardised scores.
Test development
A substantial amount of research and thinking has gone into the topic of
personality test development. Development of personality tests tends to be an
iterative process whereby a test is progressively refined. Test development can
proceed on theoretical or statistical grounds. Theoretical strategies can involve
taking psychological or other theory to define the content domain and then
developing test items that should in principle measure the domain of interest.
This can then be accompanied by assessment by experts of the developed items
to the defined construct. Statistical strategies are varied. Common strategies
involve the use of exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis to
verify that items that are proposed to group together into factors actually do
group together empirically. Reliability analysis and Item Response Theory are
additional complimentary approaches.
Test evaluation
There are several criteria for evaluating a personality test. Fundamentally, a
personality test is expected to demonstrate reliability and validity.
Criticism and controversy
Biased test taker interpretation

One problem of a personality test is that the users of the test could only find it
accurate because of the subjective validation involved. This is where the person
only acknowledges the information that applies to him/her.
Application to non-clinical samples

Critics have raised issues about the ethics of administering personality tests,
especially for non-clinical uses. By the 1960s, tests like the MMPI were being
given by companies to employees and applicants as often as to psychiatric
patients. Sociologist William H. Whyte was among those who saw the tests as
helping to create and perpetuate the oppressive groupthink of "The Organization
Man" mid-20th century corporate capitalistic mentality.
This is still relevant to today's job market, where use of Unicru personality tests
has become unpopular enough to create a demand for software applications to
automate the process of filling them out.183
Personality versus social factors

In the 60s and 70s some psychologists dismissed the whole idea of personality,
considering much behaviour to be content specific. This idea was supported by
the fact that personality often does not predict behaviour in specific contexts.
However, more extensive research has shown than when behaviour is
aggregated across contexts, that personality can be a modest to good predictor
of behaviour. Almost all psychologists now acknowledge that both social and
individual difference factors (i.e., personality) influence behaviour. The debate is
currently more around the relative importance of each of these factors and how
these factors interact.
Respondent faking
One problem with self-report measures of personality is that respondents are
often able to distort their responses. This is particularly problematic in
employment contexts and other contexts where important decisions are being
made and there is an incentive to present oneself in a favourable manner. Work
in experimental settings (e.g., Viswesvaran & Ones, 1999; Martin, Bowen &
Hunt, 2002) has clearly shown that when student samples have been asked to
deliberately fake on a personality test, they clearly demonstrated that they are
capable of doing so.
183"pBot 1.1 is here! They want to hire a robot? Give 'em a robot!". .
Several strategies have been adopted for reducing respondent faking. One
strategy involves providing a warning on the test that methods exist for
detecting faking and that detection will result in negative consequences for the
respondent (e.g., not being considered for the job). Forced choice item formats
(ipsative testing) have been adopted which require respondents to choose
between alternatives of equal social desirability. Social desirability and lie scales
are often included which detect certain patterns of responses, although these are
often confounded by true variability in social desirability. More recently, Item
Response Theory approaches have been adopted with some success in
identifying item response profiles that flag fakers. Other researchers are looking
at the timing of responses on electronically administered tests to assess faking.
While people can fake in practice they seldom do so to any significant level. To
successfully fake means knowing what the ideal answer would be. Even with
something as simple as assertiveness people who are unassertive and try to
appear assertive often endorse the wrong items. This is because unassertive
people confuse assertion with aggression, anger, oppositional behavior, etc.
Psychological Research
Personality testing is frequently used in psychological research to test various
theories of personality.
Research published by David Dunning of Cornell University, Chip Heath of
Stanford University and Jerry M. Suls of the University of Iowa reveals that
observers who are not involved in any type of relationship with an individual are
better judges of the individual's relationships and abilities. These workers have
studied a large body of investigations into self-evaluation, indicating that
individuals may have flawed views about themselves and their social
relationships, sometimes leading to decisions that can impact negatively on other
persons' lives and/or their own.
Additional applications
A study by American Management Association reveals that 39 percent of
companies surveyed use personality testing as part of their hiring process.
However, ipsative personality tests are often misused in recruitment and
selection, where they are mistakenly treated as if they were normative
measures.184 More people are using personality testing to evaluate their business
partners, their dates and their spouses. Salespeople are using personality testing
to better understand the needs of their customers and to gain a competitive edge
in the closing of deals. College students have started to use personality testing to
evaluate their roommates. Lawyers are beginning to use personality testing for
criminal behavior analysis, litigation profiling, witness examination and jury
selection.
184Blinkhorn, S., Johnson, C., & Wood, R. (1988). Spuriouser and spuriouser:The use of ipsative
personality tests.Journal of Occupational. Psychology, 61, 153-162.
Dangers of Such Practices

It is easy for personality test participants to become complacent about their own
personal uniqueness and instead become dependent on the description
associated with them. This can be potentially dangerous with persons who are
already suffering from a form of identity disorder or may be a catalyst to
instigate particular behaviors in a person who was previously believed to be of
sound mental health. The severity of the damage that individuals can sustain to
their personal identity was made clear during the case Wilson v
Johnson&Johnson in which the plaintiff (Wilson) sued his former employer
(Johnson&Johnson) for irreparable damages that resulted from the over
abundance of personality tests being administered in the workplace. Wilson
argued that repeated questioning and scrutiny of his personality was a cause of
strain and eventually breakdown. In this historic case, Wilson was awarded $4.7
million after jurors agreed that excessive testing caused strain and led to
unnecessary scrutiny resulting in personal grief. Similar cases have been tried
since and won, but none with such magnitude as this first monumental case that
won mental health rights for employees.
Examples of personality tests

The first modern personality test was the Woodworth Personal data sheet,
which was first used in 1919. It was designed to help the United States Army
screen out recruits who might be susceptible to shell shock.
The Rorschach inkblot test was introduced in 1921 as a way to determine
personality by the interpretation of abstract inkblots.
The Thematic Apperception Test was commissioned by the Office of Strategic
Services (O.S.S.) in the 1930s to identify personalities that might be susceptible
to being turned by enemy intelligence.
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory was published in 1942 as a
way to aid in assessing psychopathology in a clinical setting.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a 16-type indicator based on Carl Jung's
Psychological Types, developed during World War II by Isabel Myers and
Katherine Briggs.
Keirsey Temperament Sorter developed by David Keirsey is influenced by Isabel
Myers sixteen types and Ernst Kretschmer's four types.
The 16PF Questionnaire (16PF) was developed by Raymond Cattell and his
colleagues in the 1940s and 1950s in a search to try to discover the basic traits
of human personality using scientific methodology. The test was first published
in 1949, and is now in its 5th edition, published in 1994. It is used in a wide
variety of settings for individual and marital counseling, career counseling and
employee development, in educational settings, and for basic research.
The Five Factor Personality Inventory - Children (FFPI-C) was developed to

measure personality traits in children based upon the Five Factor Model (Big
Five personality traits).185
The EQSQ Test developed by Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Sally Wheelwright,
and their team at the University of Cambridge, England, centers on the
Empathizing-systemizing theory of the male versus the female brain types. [2]
The Personal Style Indicator (PSI) classifies four aspects of innate behavior by
testing a person's preferences in word associations.
The Strength Deployment Inventory, developed by Elias Porter, Ph.D. in 1971
and is based on his theory of Relationship Awareness. Porter was the first known
psychometrician to use colors (Red, Green and Blue) as shortcuts to
communicate the results of a personality test.186
The ProScan Survey is an instrument designed by Professional DynaMetric
Programs, Inc. (PDP) to measure the major aspects of self-perception, including
an individuals basic behavior, reaction to environment, and predictable
behavior. It was originally developed beginning in 1976 by Dr. Samuel R.
Houston, Dr. Dudley Solomon, and Bruce M. Hubby.187
The Newcastle Personality Assessor (NPA), created by Daniel Nettle, is a short
questionnaire designed to quantify personality on five dimensions: Extraversion,
Neuroticism, Conscientious, Agreeableness, and Openness.188
The DISC assessment is based on the research of William Moulton Marston and
later work by John Grier, and identifies four personality types: Dominance;
Influence; Steadiness and Conscientiousness. It is used widely in Fortune 500
companies, for-profit and non-profit organizations.
Other personality tests include the NEO PI-R, Fort Profile, Millon Clinical
Multiaxial Inventory, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, Swedish Universities
Scales of Personality, and Enneagram of Personality.
Sample Personality Test Websites

Brainfall.com - Find your character
PersonalityQuizNet
PsychCentral
3-in-1 Quiz: Personality, Delay of Gratification, and Emotional Intelligence
185McGhee, R.L., Ehrler, D. & Buckhalt, J. (2008). Manual for the Five Factor Personality
Inventory - Children Austin, TX (PRO ED, INC).
186Porter, Elias H. (1971) Strength Deployment Inventory, Pacific Palisades, CA: Personal
Strengths Assessment Service.
187Houston, S.R. and Solomon, D., Personal Dynamics Profiles Occupational Survey, Research
Monograph, 3, 4, and 5, 1978-1983.
188Nettle, Daniel (2009-03-07). "A test of character". The Guardian (London). .
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality

Inventory
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
Diagnostics
ICD-9-CM
94.02
MeSH
D008950
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is one of the most

frequently used personality tests in mental health. The test is used by trained
professionals to assist in identifying personality structure and psychopathology.
History and development

The original authors of the MMPI were Starke R. Hathaway, PhD, and J. C.
McKinley, MD. The MMPI is copyrighted by the University of Minnesota. The
standardized answer sheets can be hand scored with templates that fit over the
answer sheets, but most tests are computer scored. Computer scoring programs
for the current standardized version, the MMPI-2, are licensed by the University
of Minnesota Press to Pearson Assessments and other companies located in
different countries. The computer scoring programs offer a range of scoring
profile choices including the extended score report, which includes data on the
newest and most psychometrically advanced scalesthe Restructured Clinical
Scales (RC scales).189 The extended score report also provides scores on the more
traditionally used Clinical Scales as well as Content, Supplementary, and other
subscales of potential interest to clinicians. Use of the MMPI is tightly controlled
for ethical and financial reasons. The clinician using the MMPI has to pay for
materials and for scoring and report services, as well as a charge to install the
computerized program.
189Tellegen, A., Ben-Porath, Y.S., McNulty, J.L., Arbisi, P.A., Graham, J.R., & Kaemmer, B.
(2003). The MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical Scales: Development, validation, and interpretation.
Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
MMPI
The original MMPI was developed in 1939 (Groth Marnat, Handbook of
Psychological Assessment, 2009) using an empirical keying approach, which
means that the clinical scales were derived by selecting items that were
endorsed by patients known to have been diagnosed with certain
pathologies.190191192193194 The difference between this approach and other test
development strategies used around that time was that it was atheoretical (not
based on any particular theory) and thus the initial test was not aligned with the
prevailing psychodynamic theories of that time. The atheoretical approach to
MMPI development ostensibly enabled the test to capture aspects of human
psychopathology that were recognizable and meaningful despite changes in
clinical theories. However, because the MMPI scales were created based on a
group with known psychopathologies, the scales themselves are not atheoretical
by way of using the participants' clinical diagnoses to determine the scales'
contents.
MMPI-2
The first major revision of the MMPI was the MMPI-2, which was standardized
on a new national sample of adults in the United States and released in 1989.195
It is appropriate for use with adults 18 and over. Subsequent revisions of certain
test elements have been published, and a wide variety of subscales was also
introduced over many years to help clinicians interpret the results of the original
clinical scales, which had been found to contain a general factor that made
interpretation of scores on the clinical scales difficult. The current MMPI-2 has
567 items, all true-or-false format, and usually takes between 1 and 2 hours to
complete depending on reading level. There is an infrequently used abbreviated
form of the test that consists of the MMPI-2's first 370 items.196 The shorter
version has been mainly used in circumstances that have not allowed the full
version to be completed (e.g., illness or time pressure), but the scores available
on the shorter version are not as extensive as those available in the 567-item
version...
190Hathaway, S. R., & McKinley, J. C. (1940). A multiphasic personality schedule(Minnesota): I.
Construction of the schedule. Journal of Psychology, 10, 249-254.
191Hathaway, S. R., & McKinley, J. C. (1942). A multiphasic personality schedule (Minnesota):
III. The measurement of symptomatic depression. Journal of Psychology, 14, 73-84.
192McKinley, J. C, & Hathaway, S. R. (1940). A multiphasic personality schedule (Minnesota): II.
A differential study of hypochondriasis. Journal of Psychology, 10,255-268.
193McKinley, J. C, & Hathaway, S. R. (1942). A multiphasic personality schedule (Minnesota): IV.
Psychasthenia. Journal of Applied Psychology, 26, 614-624.
194McKinley, J. C, & Hathaway, S. R. (1944). A multiphasic personality schedule (Minnesota): V.
Hysteria, Hypomania, and Psychopathic Deviate. Journal of Applied Psychology, 28, 153-174.
195Butcher, J. N., Dahlstrom, W. G., Graham, J. R., Tellegen, A, & Kaemmer, B. (1989).The
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2): Manual for administration and scoring.
196Butcher, J. N., Hostetler, K. (1990). Abbreviating MMPI Item Administration. What Can Be
Learned From the MMPI for the MMPI2?. Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting
and Clinical Psychology, March 1990 Vol. 2, No. 1, 12-21
MMPI-A
A version of the test designed for adolescents, the MMPI-A, was released in
1992.197 The MMPI-A has 478 items, with a short form of 350 items.
197Butcher, J.N., Williams, C.L., Graham, J.R., Archer, R.P., Tellegen, A., Ben-Porath, Y.S., &
Kaemmer, B. (1992). Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent Version(MMPI-A):
Manual for administration, scoring and interpretation. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota
Press.
MMPI-2 RF
A new and psychometrically improved version of the MMPI-2 has recently been
developed employing rigorous statistical methods that were used to develop the
RC Scales in 2003.198 The new MMPI-2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) has now
been released by Pearson Assessments. The MMPI-2-RF produces scores on a
theoretically grounded, hierarchically structured set of scales, including the RC
Scales. The modern methods used to develop the MMPI-2-RF were not available
at the time the MMPI was originally developed. The MMPI-2-RF builds on the
foundation of the RC Scales, which have been extensively researched since their
publication in 2003. Publications on the MMPI-2-RC Scales include book
chapters, multiple published articles in peer-reviewed journals, and address the
use of the scales in a wide range of settings.199200201202203204205206207208209210211 The
MMPI-2-RF scales rest on an assumption that psychopathology is a homogenous
199Arbisi, P. A., Sellbom, M., & Ben-Porath, Y. S. (2008). Empirical correlates of the MMPI-2
Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales in psychiatric inpatients. Journal of Personality Assessment, 90,
122-128.
200Castro, Y., Gordon, K. H., Brown, J. S., Cox, J. C., & Joiner, T. E. (In Press). Examination of
racial differences on the MMPI-2 Clinical and Restructured Clinical Scales in an outpatient
sample. Assessment.
201Forbey, J. D., & Ben-Porath, Y. S. (2007). A comparison of the MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical
(RC) and Clinical Scales in a substance abuse treatment sample. Psychological Services, 4, 46-58.
202Handel, R. W., & Archer, R. P. (In Press). An investigation of the psychometric properties of
the MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales with mental health inpatients. Journal of
Personality Assessment.
203Kamphuis, J.H., Arbisi, P.A., Ben-Porath, Y.S., & McNulty, J.L. (In Press). Detecting Comorbid
Axis-II Status Among Inpatients Using the MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical Scales. European
Journal of Psychological Assessment.
204Osberg, T. M., Haseley, E. N., & Kamas, M. M. (2008). The MMPI-2 Clinical Scales and
Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales: Comparative psychometric properties and relative diagnostic
efficiency in young adults. Journal of Personality Assessment. 90, 81-92.
205Sellbom, M., Ben-Porath, Y. S., & Bagby, R. M. (In Press). Personality and Psychopathology:
Mapping the MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales onto the Five Factor Model of
Personality. Journal of Personality Disorders.
206Sellbom, M., Ben-Porath, Y. S., & Graham, J. R. (2006). Correlates of the MMPI-2
Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales in a college counseling setting. Journal of Personality
Assessment, 86, 89-99.
207Sellbom, M., Ben-Porath, Y. S., McNulty, J. L., Arbisi, P. A., & Graham, J. R. (2006). Elevation
differences between MMPI-2 Clinical and Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales: Frequency, origins,
and interpretative implications. Assessment, 13, 430-441.
208Sellbom, M., Graham, J. R., & Schenk, P. (2006). Incremental validity of the MMPI-2
Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales in a private practice sample. Journal of Personality Assessment,
86, 196-205.
209Simms, L. J., Casillas, A., Clark, L .A., Watson, D., & Doebbeling, B. I. (2005). Psychometric
evaluation of the Restructured Clinical Scales of the MMPI-2. Psychological Assessment, 17, 345358.
210Sellbom. M., & Ben-Porath, Y. S. (2006). Forensic applications of the MMPI. In R. P. Archer
(Ed.), Forensic uses of clinical assessment instruments. (pp. 19-55) NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
211Sellbom, M., Ben-Porath, Y. S., Baum, L. J., Erez, E., & Gregory, C. (2008). Predictive validity
of the MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales in a batterers' intervention program. Journal of
Personality Assessment, 90. 129-135.
condition that is additive.
212213214215216217218
Current scale composition

Clinical scales
Scale 1 (AKA the Hypochondriasis Scale) : Measures a person's perception and
preoccupation with their health and health issues., Scale 2 (AKA the Depression
Scale) : Measures a person's depressive symptoms level., Scale 3 (AKA the
Hysteria Scale) : Measures the emotionality of a person., Scale 4 (AKA the
Psychopathic Deviate Scale) : Measures a person's need for control or their
rebellion against control., Scale 5 (AKA the Femininity/Masculinity Scale) :
Measures a stereotype of a person and how they compare. For men it would be
the Marlboro man, for women it would be June Cleaver or Donna Reed., Scale 6
(AKA the Paranoia Scale) : Measures a person's inability to trust., Scale 7 (AKA
the Psychasthenia Scale) : Measures a person's anxiety levels and tendencies.,
Scale 8 (AKA the Schizophrenia Scale) : Measures a person's unusual/odd
cognitive, perceptual, and emotional experiences, Scale 9 (AKA the Mania
Scale) : Measures a person's energy., Scale 0 (AKA the Social Introversion Scale)
: Measures whether people enjoy and are comfortable being around other
people.
The original clinical scales were designed to measure common diagnoses of the
era.
Number
Abbreviation
Description
What is
measured
Hs
Hypochondriasi Concern with

s
bodily
symptoms
No. of items
32
212Sellbom, M., Ben-Porath, Y. S., Lilienfeld, S. O., Patrick, C. J., & Graham, J. R. (2005).
Assessing psychopathic personality traits with the MMPI-2. Journal of Personality Assessment,
85, 334-343.
213Sellbom, M., Ben-Porath, Y. S., & Stafford, K. P. (2007). A comparison of measures of
psychopathic deviance in a forensic setting. Psychological Assessment, 19, 430-436.
214Sellbom, M., Ben-Porath, Y. S., Graham, J. R., Arbisi, P. A., & Bagby, R. M. (2005).
Susceptibility of the MMPI-2 Clinical, Restructured Clinical (RC), and Content Scales to
overreporting and underreporting. Assessment, 12, 79-85.
215Sellbom, M., & Ben-Porath, Y. S. (2005). Mapping the MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical (RC)
Scales onto normal personality traits: Evidence of construct validity. Journal of Personality
Assessment, 85, 179-187.
216Sellbom, M., Fischler, G. L., & Ben-Porath, Y. S. (2007). Identifying MMPI-2 predictors of
police officer integrity and misconduct. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 34, 985-1004.
217Stredny, R. V., Archer, R. P., & Mason, J. A. (2006). MMPI-2 and MCMI-III characteristics of
parental competency examinees. Journal of Personality Assessment, 87, 113-115.
218Wygant, D. B., Boutacoff, L. A., Arbisi, P. A., Ben-Porath, Y. S., Kelly, P. H., & Rupp, W. M.
(2007). Examination of the MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales in a sample of bariatric
surgery candidates. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 14, 197-205.
Depression
Depressive
Symptoms
57
Hy
Hysteria
Awareness of
problems and
vulnerabilities
60
Pd
Psychopathic
Deviate
Conflict,
50
struggle, anger,
respect for
society's rules
MF
Masculinity/Fe Stereotypical
56
mininity
masculine or
feminine
interests/behavi
ors
Pa
Paranoia
Level of trust, 40
suspiciousness,
sensitivity
Pt
Psychasthenia
Worry, Anxiety, 48
tension, doubts,
obsessiveness
Sc
Schizophrenia
Odd thinking
and social
alienation
78
Ma
Hypomania
Level of
excitability
46
Si
Social
Introversion
People
orientation
69
Codetypes are a combination of the one, two or three (and according to a few
authors even four), highest-scoring clinical scales (ex. 4, 8, 2, = 482). Codetypes
are interpreted as a single, wider ranged elevation, rather than interpreting each
scale individually.
Validity scales
The validity scales in the MMPI-2 RF are minor revisions of those contained in
the MMPI-2, which includes three basic types of validity measures: those that
were designed to detect non-responding or inconsistent responding (CNS, VRIN,
TRIN), those designed to detect when clients are over reporting or exaggerating
the prevalence or severity of psychological symptoms (F, Fb, Fp, FBS), and those
designed to detect when test-takers are under-reporting or downplaying
psychological symptoms (L, K)). A new addition to the validity scales for the
MMPI-2 RF includes an over reporting scale of somatic symptoms scale (Fs).
Abbreviation
New in version
Description
Assesses
CNS
"Cannot Say"
Questions not
answered
Lie
Client "faking good"
Infrequency
Client "faking bad"

(in first half of test)
Defensiveness
Denial/Evasiveness
Fb
Back F
Client "faking bad"

(in last half of test)
VRIN
Variable Response answering

Inconsistency
similar/opposite
question pairs
inconsistently
TRIN
True Response
Inconsistency
answering
questions all
true/all false
F-K
F minus K
honesty of test
responses/not
faking good or bad
Superlative SelfPresentation
improving upon K
scale, "appearing
excessively good"
Fp
F-Psychopathology Frequency of
presentation in
clinical setting
Fs
2 RF
Infrequent Somatic Overreporting of

Response
somatic symptoms
Content scales
To supplement these multidimensional scales and to assist in interpreting the
frequently seen diffuse elevations due to the general factor (removed in the RC
scales)219220 were also developed, with the more frequently used being the
substance abuse scales (MAC-R, APS, AAS), designed to assess the extent to
which a client admits to or is prone to abusing substances, and the A (anxiety)
and R (repression) scales, developed by Welsh after conducting a factor analysis
of the original MMPI item pool.
Minneapolis, MN2). An MMPI handbook: Vol. I. Clinical interpretation. Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press.
220Caldwell, A. B. (1988). MMPI supplemental scale manual. Los Angeles: Caldwell Report.
Dozens of content scales currently exist, the following are some samples:
Abbreviation
Description
Es
Ego Strength Scale
OH
Over-Controlled Hostility Scale
MAC
MacAndrews Alcoholism Scale
MAC-R
MacAndrews Alcoholism Scale Revised
Do
Dominance Scale
APS
Addictions Potential Scale
AAS
Addictions Acknowledgement Scale
SOD
Social Discomfort Scale
Anxiety Scale
Repression Scale
TPA
Type A Scale
MDS
Marital Distress Scale
PSY-5 scales
Unlike the Content and Supplementary scales, the PSY-5 scales were not
developed as a reaction to some actual or perceived shortcoming in the MMPI-2
itself, but rather as an attempt to connect the instrument with more general
trend in personality psychology.221 The five factor model of human personality
has gained great acceptance in non-pathological populations, and the PSY-5
scales differ from the 5 factors identified in non-pathological populations in that
they were meant to determine the extent to which personality disorders might
manifest and be recognizable in clinical populations. The five components were
labeled Negative Emotionality (NEGE), Psychoticism (PSYC), Introversion
(INTR), Disconstraint (DISC) and Aggressiveness (AGGR).
221Harkness, A. R., McNulty, J. L., Ben-Porath, Y. S., & Graham, J. R. (2002). MMPI-2
Personality-Psychopathology Five (PSY-5) Scales: Gaining an overview for case conceptualization
and treatment planning. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Scoring and interpretation

Like many standardized tests, scores on the various scales of the MMPI-2 and
the MMPI-2-RF are not representative of either percentile rank or how "well" or
"poorly" someone has done on the test. Rather, analysis looks at relative
elevation of factors compared to the various norm groups studied. Raw scores on
the scales are transformed into a standardized metric known as T-scores (Mean
or Average equals 50, Standard Deviation equals 10), making interpretation
easier for clinicians. Test manufacturers and publishers ask test purchasers to
prove they are qualified to purchase the MMPI/MMPI-2/MMPI-2-RF and other
tests.
RC and Clinical Scales

The Restructured Clinical Scales are psychometrically improved versions of the
original Clinical Scales, which were known to contain a high level of interscale
correlation, overlapping items, and were confounded by the presence of an
overarching factor that has since been extracted and placed in a separate scale
(demoralization). The RC scales measure the core constructs of the original
clinical scales. Critics of the RC scales assert they have deviated too far from the
original clinical scales, the implication being that previous research done on the
clinical scales will not be relevant to the interpretation of the RC scales.
However, research on the RC scales assert that the RC scales predict pathology
in their designated areas better than their concordant original clinical scales
while using significantly fewer items and maintaining equal to higher internal
consistency reliability and validity; further, unlike the original clinical scales, the
RC scales are not saturated with the primary factor (demoralization, now
captured in RCdem) which frequently produced diffuse elevations and made
interpretation of results difficult; finally, the RC scales have lower interscale
correlations and, in contrast to the original clinical scales, contain no interscale
item overlap.222 The effects of removal of the common variance spread across the
older clinical scales due to a general factor common to psychopathology, through
use of sophisticated psychometric methods were described as a paradigm shift in
personality assessment .223224 Critics of the new scales argue that the removal of
this common variance makes the RC scales less ecologically valid (less like real
life) because real patients tend to present complex patterns of symptoms.
However, this issue is addressed by being able to view elevations on other RC
scales that are less saturated with the general factor and, therefore, are also
more transparent and much easier to interpret.
Addition of the Lees-Haley FBS (Symptom Validity)

The following discussion concerns the Lees-Haley validity scale, FBS. After its
addition to MMPI-2 the FBS was renamed "Symptom Validity" to address the
concerns that its full name appears prejudicial, although the FBS acronym
continues to be used in academic publications to refer to Lees-Haley's scale.225
222Tellegen, A., Ben-Porath, Y. S., Sellbom, M., Arbisi, P. A., McNulty, J. L., & Graham, J. R.
(2006). Further evidence on the validity of the MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales:
Addressing questions raised by Rogers et al. and Nichols. Journal of Personality Assessment, 87,
148-171.
223Rogers, R., Sewell, K. W., Harrison, K. S., & Jordan, M. J. (2006). The MMPI-2 Restructured
Clinical Scales: A paradigmatic shift in scale development. Journal of Personality Assessment, 87,
139-147.
224Archer, R. P. (2006). A perspective on the Restructured Clinical (RC) Scale project. Journal of
Personality Assessment, 87, 179-185.
225Ben-Porath, Yossef S.; Greve, Kevin W.; Bianchini, Kevin J.; Kaufmann, Paul M. (2009). "The
MMPI-2 Symptom Validity Scale (FBS) is an Empirically Validated Measure of Overreporting in
Personal Injury Litigants and Claimants: Reply to Butcher et al. (2008)". Psychological Injury and
Law 2 (1): 6285. doi:10.1007/s12207-009-9037-4.
The FBS was developed by psychologist Paul Lees-Haley, who works mainly for
defendants (insurance companies, etc.) in personal injury cases. The scale was
introduced in MMPI after a review of the literature.
One of the critics of the Lees-Haley FBS is retired psychologist James Butcher,
who reported that more than 45% of psychiatric patients he studied had FBS
scores of 20 or more. These are relatively high scores that suggest symptom
exaggeration. While Butcher contends that it is unlikely that so many psychiatric
patients intentionally misled their physicians, his study has been criticized by
numerous clinical neuropsychologists on methodological and conceptual
grounds, including the likelihood that his subject pool included patients who may
have had secondary gain motive to feign symptoms, that he ignored
recommended gender-related cut-offs, and used a less sensitive or specific
MMPI-2 scale as his 'gold-standard.'226
An independent professional panel recommended that the Lees-Haley FBS be
included in the standard Pearson scoring system.227
Several studies by independent Neuropsychologists have since been published in
respected peer-reviewed journals supporting the Lees-Haley FBS scale as highly
sensitive and specific (when proper cut-offs are used) in identifying individuals
who are exaggerating somatic symptoms (as opposed to psychiatric, mood, or
neurological symptoms) in settings where the base-rate of malingering is
typically high (litigation, pain clinics, etc.), as it was designed to do.228229230 The
FBS is one of the validity scales that is frequently considered when examining
populations with secondary gain motive, particularly disability seeking
patients.231
226Greiffenstein M.F., Fox D., Lees-Haley P. (2007) MMPI-2 in Detection of Non-credible Brain
Injury Claims. In K.B. Boone (Ed.) Assessment of Feigned Cognitive Impairment: A
Neuropsychological Perspective (pp. 210-235) New York: Guilford Press.
227Press
Release:http://www.pearsonassessments.com/pai/ai/about/news/NewsItem/2006/newsrelease080
6ca.htm
228Larrabee G.J. (2005) Assessment of Malingering. Forensic Neuropsychology: A Scientific
Approach. (pp 115-158). New York: Oxford University Press
229Greiffenstein M.L., Baker W.J., Axelrod B., Peck E. & Gervais R. (2004) The Fake Bad Scale
and the MMPI-2 F-family in detection of implausible trauma claims. The Clinical
Neuropsychologist, 18, 573-590.
230Henry G.K., Heilbronner H.L., Mittenberg W., Enders C., & Stanczak S.R. (2008) Comparison
of the Lees-Haley Fake Bad Scale, Henry-Heilbronner Index, and Restructured Clinical Scale 1 in
identifying noncredible symptom reporting. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 22, 919-929.
231Downing S.K., Denney R.L., Spray B.L., Houston C.M., Halfaker D.A. Examining the
relationship between the Reconstructed Scales and the Fake Bad Scale of the MMPI-2. (2008)
The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 22, 680-688.
In 2008 Butcher and colleagues published a review of the available evidence in

Psychological Injury and Law.232 Ben-Porath and colleagues rebutted the
review.233 Butcher and colleagues have continued to debate the utility of the FBS.
234
External links
MMPI-2, Pearson Website
MMPI-A (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent)
MMPI Research Project
16PF Questionnaire
16PF Questionnaire
Diagnostics
MeSH
D002416
232Butcher, James N.; Gass, Carlton S.; Cumella, Edward; Kally, Zina; Williams, Carolyn L.
(2008). "Potential for Bias in MMPI-2 Assessments Using the Fake Bad Scale (FBS)".
Psychological Injury and Law 1 (3): 191209. doi:10.1007/s12207-007-9002-z.
233
234Williams, Carolyn L.; Butcher, James N.; Gass, Carlton S.; Cumella, Edward; Kally, Zina
(2009). "Inaccuracies About the MMPI-2 Fake Bad Scale in the Reply by Ben-Porath, Greve,
Bianchini, and Kaufman (2009)". Psychological Injury and Law 2 (2): 182197.
doi:10.1007/s12207-009-9046-3.
16 primary traits, Big Five,235236 which have become popularized by other authors
in recent years. From early in his research, Cattell found that the structure of
personality was multi-level and hierarchical, with a structure of interdependent
primary and secondary level traits (Cattell, 1946, 1957).237238 The sixteen primary
factors were a result of factor-analyzing hundreds of measures of everyday
behaviors to find the fundamental traits behind them. Then, they discovered the
five global (or second-order) factors by factor-analyzing the sixteen primary
traits themselves, to find the basic, organizing forces among the sixteen basic
traits. Thus, the 16PF test gives scores on both the five second-order global
traits which provide an overview of personality at a broader, conceptual level, as
well as on the more-numerous and precise primary traits, which give a picture of
the richness and complexity of each unique personality. A listing of these traits
can be found in the article on the 16 Personality Factor Model. Cattell also found
that there was a third-order level of personality organization that contained just
two over-arching, top-level factors (Cattell, 1957),239240 but little time has been
spent on defining this most abstract level of personality organization.
The test is an integral part of Cattell's comprehensive theory of individual
differences. The tests 70 years of research have shown it to be useful in
predicting behavior in a range of settings, and to provide an in-depth, integrated
picture of the individual's whole personality. For example, it is commonly used in
schools and colleges, clinical and counseling settings, in career counseling and
employee selection and development, as well as in basic personality research.
Research has indicated that the test is useful in predicting a wide variety of
behaviors, such as creativity, academic success, cognitive style, empathy and
interpersonal skills, leadership potential, conscientiousness, self-esteem,
frustration tolerance, coping patterns, marital compatibility, and job
performance.241242243 The test has also been translated into over 35 languages and
dialects, and is widely used internationally. However, Cattell's findings have
never been repeated by an independent research team. Reports of widespread
use should be balanced with a concern for avoiding over-interpretation of
personality questionnaire results, particularly in making major judgments of a
tested person such as hiring.
235Russell, M.T., & Karol, D. (2002). The 16PF Fifth Edition administrator's manual. Champaign,
IL: Institute for Personality and Ability Testing.
236Cattell, R.B., Eber, H.W., & Tatsuoka, M.M. (1970). Handbook for the Sixteen Personality
Factor Questionnaire (16PF). Champaign, IL: Institute for Personality and Ability Testing.
237Cattell, R.B. (1946). The description and measurement of personality. New York: World Book.
238Cattell, R.B. (1957). Personality and motivation structure and measurement. New York: World
Book.
239
240Cattell, H.E.P. & Mead, A.D. (2008). The 16PF Questionnaire. In G.J. Boyle, G. Matthews, &
D.H. Saklofske (Eds), The Sage Handbook of Personality Theory and Testing: Vol. 2, Personality
Measurement and Testing., Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.
241
242
243Conn, S.R., & Rieke, M.L. (1994). The 16PF Fifth Edition technical manual. Champaign, IL:
Institute for Personality and Ability Testing.
Cattell and his co-workers also developed parallel personality questionnaires to

measure traits in other age-ranges, such as the Adolescent Personality
Questionnaire for ages 12 to 18 years.244 A shorter version, the 16PF Select
Questionnaire, was developed for personnel settings.245 Cattell also developed
non-verbal measures of ability, such as the three scales of the Culture-Fair
Intelligence Test246 as well as tests of motivation.
Outline of Test
The most recent edition of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF),
released in 1993, is the fifth edition of the original test.247 The test was first
published in 1949; the second and third editions were published in 1956 and
1962, respectively; and the five alternative forms of the fourth edition were
released between 1967 and 1969. The goal of the fifth edition revision was to
update, improve, and simplify the language used in the test items; simplify the
answer format; develop new validity scales; improve the psychometric properties
of the test, including new reliability and validity data; and to develop a new
standardization sample (of 10,000 people) to reflect the current U.S. Census
population.
The 16PF Fifth Edition contains 185 multiple-choice items which are written at a
fifth-grade reading level. Of these items, 76% were from the four previous 16PF
editions, although many of them were re-written to simplify or update the
language. The item content typically sounds non-threatening and asks simple
questions about daily behavior, interests, and opinions. One particular
characteristic of the 16PF Questionnaire is that its items tend to sample a broad
range of actual behavior by asking questions about daily, concrete situations,
rather than asking the test-taker to simply make a self-assessment of their own
personality traits as some tests do (e.g. current popular tests include "I am a
warm and friendly person; I am not a worrier; I am an even tempered person.").
That type of simple, self-rating type question tends to be substantially related to
the person's own self-image, and dependent on the individual's view of
themselves, their level of self-awareness, and their defensiveness about their
actual traits. Instead, most 16PF questions tend to ask about actual behavioral
situations:
When I find myself in a boring situation, I usually "tune out" and daydream
about other things. True/False.
When a bit of tact and convincing is needed to get people moving, I'm usually
the one who does it. True/False.
244Schuerger, J.M. (2001). 16PF Adolescent Personality Questionnaire. Champaign, IL: Institute
for Personality and Ability Testing.
245Cattell, R.B., Cattell, A.K., Cattell, H.E.P., & Kelly, M.L. (1999). 16PF Select Questionnaire.
Champaign, IL: Institute for Personality and Ability Testing.
246IPAT (1973). Measuring intelligence with the Culture Fair Tests: Manual for Scales 2 and 3.
247Cattell, R.B., Cattell, A.K., & Cattell, H.E.P. (1993). 16PF Fifth Edition Questionnaire.
The test provides scores on 16 primary personality scales and 5 global

personality scales, all of which are bi-polar (both ends of each scale have a
distinct, meaningful definition). The test also includes three validity scales: a bipolar Impression Management (IM) scale, an Acquiescence (ACQ) scale, and an
Infrequency (INF) scale. The reasoning ability (Factor B) items appear at the end
of the test booklet with separate instructions, because they are the only items
that have right and wrong answers
Administration of the test takes about 3550 minutes for the paper-and-pencil
version and about 30 minutes by computer. The test instructions are simple and
straightforward, and the test is un-timed, and thus it is generally selfadministrable and can be used in either an individual or a group setting. The
16PF test was designed for adults at least age 16 and older, but there are also
parallel tests for various younger age ranges (e.g., the 16PF Adolescent
Personality Questionnaire248).
The 16PF Questionnaire has been translated into more than 35 languages and
dialects. Thus the test can be administered in different languages, scored based
on either local, national, or international normative samples, and computerized
interpretive reports provided in about 15 different languages. The test has
generally been culturally adapted (rather than just translated) in these countries,
with local standardization samples plus reliability and validity information
collected locally and presented in individual manuals.
The test can be hand-scored using a set of scoring keys, or computer-scored by
mailing-in or faxing-in the answer sheet to the Publisher IPAT". There is also a
software system that can be used to administer, score, and provide reports on
the test results directly in the professional's office; and an Internet-based system
which can also provide administration, scoring, and reports at any Internetenabled computer in a range of different languages. There are about a dozen
computer-generated interpretive reports which can be used to help interpret the
test for different purposes, for example, the Personal Career Development
Profile, the Karson Clinical Report, The Couples Counseling Report, the Human
Resource Development Report, the Teamwork Development Report, and the
Leadership Coaching Report. There are also many books that help with test
interpretation, for example, 16PF Interpretation in Clinical Practice (Karson,
Karson, & O'Dell, 1997),249 The 16PF: Personality in Depth (Cattell, H.B.,
1989),250 or Essentials of the 16PF (Cattell, H.E. & Schuerger, J.M, 2003)251
248
249Karson, M., Karson, S., & O'Dell, J.W. (1997). 16PF Interpretation in Clinical Practice: A
guide to the Fifth Edition. Champaign, IL: Institute for Personality and Ability Testing.
250Cattell, H.B. (1989) The 16PF:Personality in Depth. Champaign, IL: Institute for Personality
and Ability Testing.
251Cattell, H.E. & Schuerger, J.M. (2003) Essentials of the 16PF. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
A shorter version of the test, the 16PF Select (Cattell, Cattell, Cattell & Kelly,
1999),252 was developed for use in time-sensitive, employee selection settings,
and includes fewer items per scale than the regular test. The 16PF Express
(Gorsuch, 2007)253 is a very short, 15-minute, version of the test which has about
four items per factor and a wider answer format (items have a four-point or fivepoint answer format), which is used mainly for research. The 16PF traits are also
included in the PsychEval Personality Questionnaire (PEPQ), which combines
measures of both normal and abnormal personality traits into one test (Cattell,
Cattell, Cattell, Russell, & Bedwell, 2003)254
History and development

The 16PF Questionnaire was created from a fairly unique perspective among
personality tests. Most personality tests are developed to measure just the preconceived traits that are of interest to a particular theorist or researcher. The
main author of the 16PF, Raymond B. Cattell, had a strong background in the
physical sciences, especially chemistry and physics, at a time when the basic
elements of the physical world were being discovered, placed in the periodic
table, and used as the basis for understanding the fundamental nature of the
physical world and for further inquiry. From this background in the physical
sciences, Cattell developed the belief that all fields are best understood by first
seeking to find the fundamental underlying elements in that domain, and then
developing a valid way to measure and research these elements (Cattell, 1965)
255
When Cattell moved from the physical sciences into the field of psychology in the
1920s, he described his disappointment about finding that it consisted largely of
a wide array of abstract, unrelated theories and concepts that had little or no
scientific bases. He found that most personality theories were based on
philosophy and on personal conjecture, or were developed by medical
professionals, such as Jean Charcot and Sigmund Freud, who relied on their
personal intuition to reconstruct what they felt was going on inside people, based
on observing individuals with serious psycho-pathological problems. Cattell
(1957) 256 described the concerns he felt as a scientist:
252
253Gorsuch, R.L. (2007). The 16PF Express. Champaign, IL: Institute for Personality and Ability
Testing.
254Cattell, R.B., Cattell, A.K., Cattell, H.E.P., Russell, M.T., & Bedwell, S. (2003). The PsychEval
Personality Questionnaire. Champaign, IL: Institute for Personality and Ability Testing.
255Cattell, R.B. (1965). The Scientific Analysis of Personality. NYC, NY: Penguin Group.
256
In psychology there is an ocean of spawning intuitions and comfortable

assumptions which we share with the layman, and out of which we climb with
difficulty to the plateaus of scientific objectivity....Scientific advance hinges on
the introduction of measurement to the field under investigation.Psychology
has bypassed the necessary descriptive, taxonomic, and metric stages through
which all healthy sciences first must pass.If Aristotle and other philosophers
could get no further by sheer power of reasoning in two thousand years of
observation, it is unlikely that we shall do so now.... For psychology to take its
place as an effective science, we must become less concerned with grandiose
theory than with establishing, through research, certain basic laws of
relationship. (p.3-5)
Thus, Cattells goal in creating the 16PF Questionnaire was to discover the
number and nature of the fundamental traits of human personality and to
develop a way to measure these dimensions. At the University of London, Cattell
worked with Charles Spearman who was developing factor analysis to aid in his
quest to discover the basic factors of human ability. Cattell thought that could
also be applied to the area of personality. He reasoned that human personality
must have basic, underlying, universal dimensions just as the physical world had
basic building blocks (like oxygen and hydrogen). He felt that if the basic
building blocks of personality were discovered and measured, then human
behavior (e.g., creativity, leadership, altruism, or aggression) could become
increasingly understandable and predictable.
Cattell and his colleagues began a comprehensive program of international
research aimed at identifying and mapping out the basic underlying dimensions
of personality. Their goal was to systematically measure the widest possible
range of personality concepts, in a belief that all aspects of human personality
which are or have been of importance, interest, or utility have already become
recorded in the substance of language (Cattell, R. B., 1943, p. 483).257 They
wanted to include every known personality dimension in their investigation, and
thus began with the largest existing compilation of personality traits (Allport and
Odbert, 1936).258 Over time, they used factor analysis to reduce the massive list
of traits by analyzing the underlying patterns among them. They studied
personality data from different sources (e.g. objective measures of daily
behavior, interpersonal ratings, and questionnaire results), and measured these
traits in diverse populations, including working adults, university students, and
military personnel. (Cattell, 1957, 1973).259260
257Cattell, (R.B. 1943). The description of personality: Basic traits resolved into clusters.
Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 38, 476-506.
258Allport, G.W., & Odbert, H.S. (1936). Trait-names: A psycho-lexical study. Psychological
Monographs, 47, 171.
259
260Cattell, R.B. (1973). Personality and mood by questionnaire. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Over several decades of factor-analytic study, Cattell and his colleagues

gradually refined and validated their list of underlying source traits. The search
resulted in the sixteen unitary traits of the 16PF Questionnaire. These traits have
remained the same over the last 50 years of research. In addition, the 16PF
Questionnaire traits are part of a multi-variate personality model that provides a
broader framework including developmental, environmental, and hereditary
patterns of the traits and how they change across the life span (Cattell, 1973,
1979, 1980).261262
The validity of the factor structure of the 16PF Questionnaire (the 16 primary
factors and 5 global factors) has been supported by more than 60 published
studies (Cattell & Krug, 1986; Conn & Rieke, 1994; Hofer and Eber,
2002).263264265 Research has also supported the comprehensiveness of the 16PF
traits: all dimensions on other major personality tests (e.g., the NEO Personality
Inventory, the California Psychological Inventory, the Personality Research
Form, and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) have been found to be contained
within the 16PF scales in regression and factor-analytic studies (Conn & Rieke,
1994; Cattell, 1996).266
The Original Big Five Traits

From the beginning of his research, Cattell found personality traits to have a
multi-level, hierarchical structure (Cattell, 1946).267 The first goal of these
researchers was to find the most fundamental primary traits of personality. Next
they factor-analyzed these numerous primary traits to see if these traits had a
structure of their owni.e. if some of them naturally went together in selfdefining, meaningful groupings.
261Cattell, R.B. (1979). Personality and learning theory: The structure of personality in its
environment, vol 1. New York: Springer
262Cattell, R.B. (1980). Personailty and learning theory: A systems theory of maturation and
structured learning, vol. 2. New York: Springer
263
264Cattell, R.B. & Krug, S.E. (1986). The number of factors in the 16PF: A review of the evidence
with special emphasis on the methodological problems. Educational and Psychological
Measurement, 46, 509-522.
265Hofer, S.M. & Eber, H.W. (2002). Second-order factor structure of the Cattell Sixteen
Personality Factor Inventory (16PF). In B. De Raad & M. Perugini (Eds.),Big-Five Assessment
(pp. 397-404). Cambridge, MA: Hogrefe & Huber publishers.
266Cattell, H.E.P. (1996). The original big-five: A historical perspective. European Review of
Psychology, 46(1), 5-14.
267
They consistently found that the primary traits themselves came together in
particular, meaningful groupings to form broader secondary or global traits,
each with its own particular focus and function within personality (Cattell &
Schuerger, 2003). For example, the first global trait they found was
Extraversion-Introversion. It resulted from the natural affinity of five primary
traits that defined different reasons for an individual to move toward versus
away from other people (see below). They found that there was a natural
tendency for these traits to go together in the real world, and to define an
important domain of human behaviorsocial behavior. This global factor Global
Extraversion/Introversion (the tendency to move toward versus away from
interaction with others) is composed from the following primary traits:
Warmth (Factor A): the tendency to move toward others seeking closeness
and connection because of genuine feelings of caring, sympathy, and concern
(versus the tendency to be reserved and detached, and thus be independent and
unemotional).
Liveliness (Factor F): the tendency to be high-energy, fun-loving, and
carefree, and to spontaneously move towards others in an animated, stimulating
manner. Low-scorers tend to be more serious and self-restrained, and to be
cautious, unrushed, and judicious.
Social Boldness (Factor H): the tendency to seek social interaction in a
confident, fearless manner, enjoying challenges, risks, and being the center of
attention. Low-scorers tend to be shy and timid, and to be more modest and riskavoidant.
Forthrightness (Factor N): the tendency to want to be known by othersto
be open, forthright, and genuine in social situations, and thus to be self-revealing
and unguarded. High-scorers tend to be more private and unself-revealing, and
to be harder to get to know.
Affiliative (Factor Q2): the tendency to seek companionship and enjoy
belonging to and functioning in a group (inclusive, cooperative, good follower,
willing to compromise). Low-scorers tend to be more individualistic and selfreliant and to value their autonomy.
In a similar manner, these researchers found that four other primary traits
consistently merged to define another global factor which they called
Receptivity or Openness (versus Tough-Mindedness). This factor was made
up of four primary traits that describe different kinds of openness to the world:
Openness to sensitive feelings, emotions, intuition, and aesthetic dimensions
(Sensitivity Factor I)
Openness to abstract, theoretical ideas, conceptual thinking, and imagination
(Abstractedness Factor M)
Openness to free thinking, inquiry, exploration of new approaches, and
innovative solutions (Openness-to-Change Factor Q1) and
Openness to people and their feelings (Warmth Factor A).
Another global factor, Self-Controlled (or conscientious) versus

Unrestrained, resulted from the natural coming together of four primary factors
that define the different ways that human beings manage to control their
behavior:
Rule-Consciousness (Factor G) involves adopting and conscientiously
following societys accepted standards of behavior
Perfectionism (Factor Q3) describes a tendency to be self-disciplined,
organized, thorough, attentive to detail, and goal-oriented
Seriousness (Factor F) involves a tendency to be cautious, reflective, selfrestrained, and deliberate in making decisions; and
Groundedness (Factor M) involves a tendency to stay focused on concrete,
pragmatic, realistic solutions.
Because the global factors were developed by factor-analyzing the primary traits,
the meanings of the global traits were determined by the primary traits which
made them up. In addition, then the global factors provide the over-arching,
conceptual framework for understanding the meaning and function of each of the
primary traits. Thus, the two levels of personality are essentially inter-connected
and inter-related.
However it is the primary traits that provide a clear definition of the individual's
unique personality. Two people might have exactly the same level of
Extraversion, but still be quite different from each other. For example, they may
both be at the 80% on Extraversion, and both tend to move toward others to the
same degree, but they may be doing it for quite different reasons. One person
might achieve an 80% on Extraversion by being high on Social Boldness (Factor
H: confident, bold, talkative, adventurous, fearless attention-seeking) and on
Liveliness (Factor F: high-energy, enthusiastic, fun-loving, impulsive), but
Reserved (low on Factor A: detached, cool, unfeeling, objective). This individual
would be talkative, bold, and impulsive but not very sensitive to others peoples
needs or feelings. The second Extravert might be high on Warmth (Factor A:
kind, soft-heated, caring and nurturing), and Group-Oriented (low Factor Q2:
companionable, cooperative, and participating), but Shy (low on Factor H: timid,
modest, and easily embarrassed). This second Extravert would tend to show
quite different social behavior and be caring, considerate, and attentive to others
but not forward, bold or loudand thus have quite a different effect on his/her
social environment.
Today, the global traits of personality are commonly known as the Big Five. The
Big Five traits are most important for getting an abstract, theoretical
understanding of the big, over-arching domains of personality, and in
understanding how different traits of personality relate to each other and how
different research findings relate to each other. The big-five are important for
understanding and interpreting an individual's personality profile mainly in
getting a broad overview of their personality make-up at the highest level of
personality organization. However, it is still the scores on the more specific
primary traits that define the rich, unique personality make-up of any individual.
These more-numerous primary traits have repeatedly been found to be the most
powerful in predicting and understanding the complexity of actual daily behavior
(Ashton, 1998; Goldberg, 1999; Mershon & Gorsuch, 1988; Paunonen & Ashton,
2001).268269270271
Further reading
Gregory, Robert J. (2011). Psychological Testing: History, Principles, and
Applications (Sixth ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. ISBN 978-0-205-78214-7. Lay
summary (7 November 2010).
Tucker, William H. (2009). The Cattell Controversy: Race, Science, and
Ideology. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-03400-8. Lay summary (30
August 2010).
Projective test
Projective test
Diagnostics
MeSH
D011386
268Ashton, M.C. (1998). Personality and job performance: The importance of narrow traits.
Journal of Organizational Behavior, 19,(3), 289-303.
269Goldberg. L.R. (1999). A broad-bandwidth, public-domain, personality inventory measuring
the lower-level facets of several five-factor models. In I. Mervielde, I. Deary, F. De Fruyt, & F.
Ostendorf (Eds), Personality psychology in Europe: Vol. 7, 7-28. Tilburg, The Netherlands:
Tilburg University Press.
270Mershon, B. & Gorsuch, R.L. (1988). Number of factors in the personality sphere: Does
increase in factors increase predictability of real-life criteria? Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 5, 675-680.
271Paunonen, S.V. & Ashton, M.C. (2001). Big-five factors and facets and the prediction of
behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81,524-539.
In psychology, 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. Some criticisms of projective tests include that they rely heavily on clinical
judgement, lack reliability and validity and many have no standardized criteria to
which results may be compared, however this is not always the case. These tests
are used frequently, though the scientific evidence is sometimes debated. There
have been many empirical studies based on projective tests (including the use of
standardized norms and samples), particularly more established tests. The
criticism of lack of scientific evidence to support them and their continued
popularity has been referred to as the "projective paradox".272 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.
The terms "objective test" and "projective test" have recently come under
criticism in the Journal of Personality Assessment. The more descriptive "rating
scale or self-report measures" and "free response measures" are suggested,
rather than the terms "objective tests" and "projective tests," respectively.273
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 of the overall loss of
popularity of the psychoanalytic method and theories. Despite this, they are still
used quite frequently.
272Cordn, Luis A. (2005). Popular psychology: an encyclopedia. Westport, Conn: Greenwood

Press. pp. 201204. ISBN 0-313-32457-3.
273Meyer, Gregory J. and Kurtz, John E.(2006) 'Advancing Personality Assessment Terminology:
Time to Retire "Objective" and "Projective" As Personality Test Descriptors', Journal of
Personality Assessment, 87: 3, 223 225
Common variants
Rorschach
The best known and most frequently used projective test is the Rorschach inkblot
test, in which a subject is shown a series of ten irregular but symmetrical
inkblots, and asked to explain what they see.274 The subject's responses are then
analyzed in various ways, noting not only what was said, but the time taken to
respond, which aspect of the drawing was focused on, and how single responses
compared to other responses for the same drawing. For example, if someone
consistently sees the images as threatening and frightening, the tester might
infer that the subject may suffer from paranoia.
Thematic apperception test

Another popular projective test is the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) in which
an individual views ambiguous scenes of people, and is asked to describe various
aspects of the scene; for example, the subject may be asked to describe what led
up to this scene, the emotions of the characters, and what might happen
afterwards. The examiner then evaluates these descriptions, attempting to
discover the conflicts, motivations and attitudes of the respondent. In the
answers, the respondent "projects" their unconscious attitudes and motivations
into the picture, which is why these are referred to as "projective tests."
Draw-A-Person test
The Draw-A-Person test requires the subject to draw a person. The results are
based on a psychodynamic interpretation of the details of the drawing, such as
the size, shape and complexity of the facial features, clothing and background of
the figure. As with other projective tests, the approach has very little
demonstrated validity and there is evidence that therapists may attribute
pathology to individuals who are merely poor artists.275 A similar class of
techniques is kinetic family drawing.
274
275
Animal Metaphor Test

The Animal Metaphor test consists of a series of creative and analytical prompts
in which the person filling out the test is asked to create a story and then
interpret its personal significance. Unlike conventional projective tests, the
Animal Metaphor Test works as both a diagnostic and therapeutic battery.
Unlike the Rorschach test and TAT, the Animal Metaphor is premised on selfanalysis via self-report questions. The test combines facets of art therapy,
cognitive behavioral therapy, and insight therapy, while also providing a
theoretical platform of behavioral analysis. The test has been used widely as a
clinical tool, as an educational assessment, and in human resource selection. The
test is accompanied by an inventory, The Relational Modality Evaluation Scale, a
self-report measure that targets individuals' particular ways of resolving conflict
and ways of dealing with relational stress. These tests were developed by Dr.
Albert J Levis at the Center for the Study of Normative Behavior in Hamden, CT,
a clinical training and research center.
Sentence completion test

Sentence completion tests require the subject complete sentence "stems" with
their own words. The subject's response is considered to be a projection of their
conscious and/or unconscious attitudes,personality characteristics, motivations,
and beliefs.
Uses in marketing
Projective techniques, including TATs, are used in qualitative marketing
research, for example to help identify potential associations between brand
images and the emotions they may provoke. In advertising, projective tests are
used to evaluate responses to advertisements. The tests have also been used in
management to assess achievement motivation and other drives, in sociology to
assess the adoption of innovations, and in anthropology to study cultural
meaning. The application of responses is different in these disciplines than in
psychology, because the responses of multiple respondents are grouped together
for analysis by the organisation commissioning the research, rather than
interpreting the meaning of the responses given by a single subject.
Footnotes
Theodor W. Adorno, et al. (1964). The Authoritarian Personality. New York:
John Wiley & Sons.
Lawrence Soley & Aaron Lee Smith (2008). Projective Techniques for Social
Science and Business Research. Milwaukee: The Southshore Press.
Thematic Apperception Test

Thematic Apperception Test
Diagnostics
MeSH
D013803
The Thematic Apperception Test, or TAT, is a projective psychological test.

Historically, it has been among the most widely researched, taught, and used of
such tests. Its adherents assert that the TAT taps a subject's unconscious to
reveal repressed aspects of personality, motives and needs for achievement,
power and intimacy, and problem-solving abilities.
Procedure
The TAT is popularly known as the picture interpretation technique because it
uses a standard series of provocative yet ambiguous pictures about which the
subject is asked to tell a story. The subject is asked to tell as dramatic a story as
they can for each picture presented, including the following:
what has led up to the event shown
what is happening at the moment
what the characters are feeling and thinking
what the outcome of the story was
If these elements are omitted, particularly for children or individuals of low
cognitive abilities, the evaluator may ask the subject about them directly.
There are 31 picture cards in the standard form of the TAT. Some of the cards
show male figures, some female, some both male and female figures, some of
ambiguous gender, some adults, some children, and some show no human
figures at all. One card is completely blank. Although the cards were originally
designed to be matched to the subject in terms of age and gender, any card may
be used with any subject. Most practitioners choose a set of approximately ten
cards, either using cards that they feel are generally useful, or that they believe
will encourage the subject's expression of emotional conflicts relevant to their
specific history and situation.276
276Cramer, P. (2004). Storytelling, narrative, and the Thematic Apperception Test. New York:
Guilford Press..
Scoring Systems
The TAT is a projective test in that, like the Rorschach test, its assessment of the
subject is based on what he or she projects onto the ambiguous images.
Therefore, to complete the assessment, each narrative created by a subject must
be carefully recorded and analyzed to uncover underlying needs, attitudes, and
patterns of reaction. Although most clinical practitioners do not use formal
scoring systems, several formal scoring systems have been developed for
analyzing TAT stories systematically and consistently. Two common methods that
are currently used in research are the:
Defense Mechanisms Manual DMM.277 This assesses three defense mechanisms:
denial (least mature), projection (intermediate), and identification (most mature).
A person's thoughts/feelings are projected in stories involved.
Social Cognition and Object Relations SCOR278 scale. This assesses four
different dimensions of object relations: Complexity of Representations of
People, Affect-Tone of Relationship Paradigms, Capacity for Emotional
Investment in Relationships and Moral Standards, and Understanding of Social
Causality.
History
TAT was developed by the American psychologist Henry A. Murray and
Christiana D. Morgan at Harvard during the 1930s to explore the underlying
dynamics of personality, such as internal conflicts, dominant drives, interests,
and motives.
Howard P Vincent was a noted scholar of Herman Melville, the American author
best known for his novel Moby-Dick. According to Vincent, the TAT was inspired
by the lesson implicit in Moby-Dick Chapter XCIX - THE DOUBLOON: that
morality is not what users think it may be. Vincent writes that the TAT
1. "... came into being when Dr. Henry A. Murray, psychologist and
Melvillist, adapted the implicit lesson of Melvilles Doubloon chapter
to a new and larger creative, therapeutic purpose.
277Cramer, P (1991). The Development of Defense Mechanisms: Theory, Research, and

Assessment. New York: Springer-Verlag.
278Westen, Drew. Clinical Assessment of Object Relations Using the TAT. Journal of Personality
Assessment, Volume 56, Issue 1 February 1991 , pages 56 - 74.
After World War II, the TAT was adopted more broadly by psychoanalysts and
clinicians to evaluate emotionally disturbed patients. An Indian adaptation was
developed in 1960 by Mrs.Uma Choudhary(Uma Choudhary. (1960). Indian
Adaptation of TAT.New Delhi: Manasayan.) Later, in the 1970s, the Human
Potential Movement encouraged psychologists to use the TAT to help their
clients understand themselves better and stimulate personal growth.
Criticisms
Declining adherence to the Freudian principle of repression on which the test is
based has caused the TAT to be criticized as false or outdated by some
professional psychologists. Their criticisms are that the TAT is unscientific
because it cannot be proved to be valid (that it actually measures what it claims
to measure), or reliable (that it gives consistent results over time, due to the
challenge of standardizing interpretations of the narratives provided by
subjects).
Some critics of the TAT cards have observed that the characters and
environments are dated, even old-fashioned, creating a cultural or psychosocial distance between the patients and the stimuli that makes identifying with
them less likely.279 Also, in researching the responses of subjects given
photographs versus the TAT, researchers found that the TAT cards evoked more
deviant stories (i.e., more negative) than photographs, leading researchers to
conclude that the difference was due to the differences in the characteristics of
the images used as stimuli.
In a 2005 dissertation,280 Matthew Narron, Psy.D. attempted to address these
issues by reproducing a Leopold Bellak 281 10 card set photographically and
performing an outcome study. The results concluded that the old TAT elicited
answers that included many more specific time references than the new TAT.
279Holmstrom, R.W., Silber, D.E., & Karp, S.A. (1990). Development of the Apperceptive
Personality Test. Journal of Personality Assessment, 54 (1 & 2), 252-264.
280Narron, M. C. (2005). Updating the TAT: A Photographic Revision of the Thematic
Apperception Test, Dissertations Abstract International, DAI-B 66/01, p. 568, Jul 2005
281Saxon, Wolfgang (30 March 2000). "Leopold Bellak, 83; Expert on Psychological Tests". The
New York Times. . Retrieved 25 May 2010.
Contemporary applications of TAT

Despite criticisms, the TAT remains widely used as a tool for research into areas
of psychology such as dreams, fantasies, mate selection and what motivates
people to choose their occupation. Sometimes it is used in a psychiatric or
psychological context to assess personality disorders, thought disorders, in
forensic examinations to evaluate crime suspects, or to screen candidates for
high-stress occupations. It is also commonly used in routine psychological
evaluations, typically without a formal scoring system, as a way to explore
emotional conflicts and object relations.282
TAT is widely used in France and Argentina using a psychodynamic approach.
The Israeli army uses the test for evaluating potential officers.
It is also used by the Services Selection Board of India.
David McClelland and Ruth Jacobs conducted a 12 year longitudinal study of
leadership using TAT and found no gender differences motivational predictors of
attained management level. The content analysis, however, "revealed 2 distinct
styles of power-related themes that distinguished the successful men from the
successful women. The successful male managers were more likely to use
reactive power themes while the successful female managers were more likely to
use resourceful power themes. Differences between the sexes in the power
themes were less pronounced among the managers who had remained in lower
levels of management" 283
TAT in popular culture

Thomas Harris' novel Red Dragon includes a scene where the imprisoned
psychiatrist and serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter mocks a previous attempt to
administer the test to him.
Michael Crichton included the TAT in the battery of tests given to the disturbed
patient and main character Harry Benson in his novel, The Terminal Man.
In the novel Sphere, the protagonist Norman Johnson, a psychologist himself,
mentions the Thematic Apperception Test while in the underwater deep-sea
habitat.
282Cramer, 2004
283Jacobs, R. L., & McClelland, D. C. (1994). Moving up the corporate ladder: A longitudinal
study of the leadership motive pattern and managerial success in women and men. Consulting
Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 46(1), 32-41. doi:10.1037/1061-4087.46.1.32
In the MTV cartoon Daria, Daria and her sister Quinn are given a test that
appears to be the TAT by the school psychologist on their first day at their new
school. Daria and Quinn are shown a picture of two people. Quinn makes up a
story about the two people having a discussion about popularity and dating.
Daria states that she sees "a herd of beautiful wild ponies running free across
the plains." The psychologist tells her the picture is of two people, not ponies.
Daria states, "last time I took one of these tests they told me they were clouds.
They said they could be whatever I wanted." The psychologist explains, "That's a
different test, dear. In this test, they're people and you tell me what they're
discussing." To which Daria characteristically replies, "Oh... I see. All right, then.
It's a guy and a girl and they're discussing... a herd of beautiful wild ponies
running free across the plains."284 (Cf. the Rorschach test administered to Charlie
Gordon in Flowers for Algernon, during which Drs. Nemur and Strauss ask him
what he "sees" on a card, he replies that he sees an inkblot, they ask him to
pretend that it is something else, and he replies "I pretend a bottel of ink spilld
all over a wite card [sic]".)
The TAT is administered to Alex, the main character of A Clockwork Orange.
Charlie Gordon, the protagonist in Daniel Keyes's Flowers for Algernon, notes
in his "progris riport 4" on March 6 that he was given a "Thematic Appercepton
Test." As he says, "I dont know the frist 2 werds but I know what test means. You
got to pass it or you get bad marks [sic]"
Italian poet Edoardo Sanguineti wrote a collection of poetry called T.A.T (1966
1968) that refers to the Test.
External links
Book review of Storytelling, Narrative, and the Thematic Apperception Test
Research into the origins of imagery used in the TAT
Information about the Thematic Apperception Test from Thomson Gale
Rorschach test
Rorschach test
Diagnostics
MeSH
D012392
284http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Daria#.22Esteemsters.22_.5B1.01.5D
The Rorschach test (German pronunciation: [oax]; also known as the

Rorschach inkblot test, the Rorschach technique, or simply the inkblot
test) is a psychological test in which subjects' perceptions of inkblots are
recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation, complex
scientifically derived algorithms, or both. Some psychologists use this test to
examine a person's personality characteristics and emotional functioning. It has
been employed to detect underlying thought disorder, especially in cases where
patients are reluctant to describe their thinking processes openly.285 The test is
named after its creator, Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach.
The first of the ten cards in the Rorschach
test, with the occurrence of the most
statistically frequent details indicated.286287
The images themselves are only one
component of the test, whose focus is the
analysis of the perception of the images.
29%
18%
6%
In the 1960s, the Rorschach was the most widely used projective test.288 In a
national survey in the U.S., the Rorschach was ranked eighth among
psychological tests used in outpatient mental health facilities.289 It is the second
most widely used test by members of the Society for Personality Assessment, and
it is requested by psychiatrists in 25% of forensic assessment cases,290 usually in
a battery of tests that often include the MMPI-2 and the MCMI-III.291 In surveys,
the use of Rorschach ranges from a low of 20% by correctional psychologists292
to a high of 80% by clinical psychologists engaged in assessment services, and
80% of psychology graduate programs surveyed teach it.293
285Gacano & J. Reid Meloy 1994
286Santo Di Nuovo, Maurizio Cuffaro (2004). Il Rorschach in pratica : strumenti per la psicologia
clinica e l'ambito giuridico. Milano: F. Angeli. p. 147. ISBN 9788846454751.
287Ftima Miralles Sangro (1996). Rorschach : tablas de localizacin y calidad formal en una
muestra espaola de 470 sujetos. Madrid: Universidad Pontifcia Comillas. p. 71.
ISBN 9788487840920.
288Chapman, Loren J.; Chapman, Jean (1982). "Test results are what you think they are". In
Kahneman, Daniel; Slovic, Paul; Tversky, Amos. Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and
Biases. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 238248. ISBN 0-521-28414-7
289Gacano & J. Reid Meloy 1994, p. 4
290
291edited by Carl B. Gacono, F. Barton Evans ; with Lynne A. Gacono, Nancy Kaser-Boyd. (2007).
The handbook of forensic Rorschach psychology. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. p. 80.
ISBN 9780805858235.
292Raynor, Peter; McIvor, Gill (2008). Developments in Social Work Offenders (Research
Highlights in Social Work). London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. p. 138. ISBN 1-84310-538-1.
293Weiner & Greene 2007, p. 402
Although the Exner Scoring System (developed since the 1960s) claims to have
addressed and often refuted many criticisms of the original testing system with
an extensive body of research,294 some researchers continue to raise questions.
The areas of dispute include the objectivity of testers, inter-rater reliability, the
verifiability and general validity of the test, bias of the test's pathology scales
towards greater numbers of responses, the limited number of psychological
conditions which it accurately diagnoses, the inability to replicate the test's
norms, its use in court-ordered evaluations, and the proliferation of the ten
inkblot images, potentially invalidating the test for those who have been exposed
to them.295
History
Hermann Rorschach created
1921.
Using interpretation of
assess an individual's
that goes back to
Botticelli. Interpretation
to a game from the late
Rorschach's, however,
approach of this kind.296
the Rorschach inkblot test in
"ambiguous designs" to
personality is an idea
Leonardo da Vinci and
of inkblots was central
19th century.
was the first systematic
It has been suggested

that Rorschach's use of
inkblots may have been
inspired by German
doctor Justinus Kerner who, in 1857, had published a popular book of poems,
each of which was inspired by an accidental inkblot.297 French psychologist
Alfred Binet had also experimented with inkblots as a creativity test,298 and, after
the turn of the century, psychological experiments where inkblots were utilized
multiplied, with aims such as studying imagination and consciousness.299
After studying 300 mental patients and 100 control subjects, in 1921 Rorschach
wrote his book Psychodiagnostik, which was to form the basis of the inkblot test
(after experimenting with several hundred inkblots, he selected a set of ten for
their diagnostic value),300 but he died the following year. Although he had served
as Vice President of the Swiss Psychoanalytic Society, Rorschach had difficulty in
publishing the book and it attracted little attention when it first appeared.301
294Exner, John E. (2002). The Rorschach: Basic Foundations and Principles of Interpretation:
Volume 1. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0471386723.
295Scott O. Lilienfeld, James M- Wood and Howard N. Garb: What's wrong with this picture?
Scientific American, May 2001
296Groth-Marnat 2003, p. 408
297Pichot, P. (1984). Centenary of the birth of Hermann Rorschach. (S. Rosenzweig & E.
Schriber, Trans.). Journal of Personality Assessment, 48, 591596.
298Herman Rorschach, M.D at mhhe.com
299Gerald Goldstein & Michel Hersen, ed (2000). Handbook of psychological assessment.
Amsterdam: Pergamon Press. p. 437. ISBN 9780080436456.
300Kumar N, Verma, Romesh. Textbook Of Statistics, Psychology & Education.. p. 225.
ISBN 9788126114115.
301April 2, 1922: Rorschach Dies, Leaving a Blot on His Name at wired.com
In 1927, the newly-founded Hans Huber publishing house purchased Rorschach's

book Psychodiagnostik from the inventory of Ernst Bircher.302 Huber has
remained the publisher of the test and related book, with Rorschach a registered
trademark of Swiss publisher Verlag Hans Huber, Hogrefe AG.303 The work has
been described as "a densely written piece couched in dry, scientific
terminology".304
After Rorschach's death, the original test scoring system was improved by
Samuel Beck, Bruno Klopfer and others.305 John E. Exner summarized some of
these later developments in the comprehensive system, at the same time trying
to make the scoring more statistically rigorous. Some systems are based on the
psychoanalytic concept of object relations. The Exner system remains very
popular in the United States, while in Europe other methods sometimes
dominate,306307 such as that described in the textbook by Evald Bohm, which is
closer to the original Rorschach system and rooted more deeply in the original
psychoanalysis principles.
302"About the Test". The International Society of the Rorschach and Projective Methods. .
Retrieved 2009-07-01.
303"Psychodiagnostics: A Diagnostic Test Based on Perception". Hogrefe, Cambridge. MA, ISBN
978-3-456-83024-7. 1998. . Retrieved 2009-07-07.
304Acklin, M. W. & Oliveira-Berry, J. (1996). Return to the source: Rorschachs
Psychodiagnostics. Journal of Personality Assessment, 67, 427433.
305Exner Jr., John E.: "Obituary: Samuel J. Beck (18961980)", "American Psychologist", 36(9)
306a cura di Franco Del Corno, Margherita Lang (1989). Psicologia clinica. Milano: F. Angeli.
p. 302. ISBN 9788820498764. "Nonostante il Sistema Comprensivo di J.E. Exner rappresenti ai
nostri giorni il Metodo Rorschach pi diffuso a livello mondiale, in Italia ancora non molto
utilizzato. Although J. E. Exner's Comprehensive Systems nowadays represents the most widely
adopted method worldwide, it is not yet very widespread in Italy."
307Dana 2000, p. 329 "Although it has enormously expanded throughout Europe [...] use of the
RCS remains, as it where, somewhat confidential in many countries."
Method
The tester and subject typically sit next to each other at a table, with the tester
slightly behind the subject.308 This is to facilitate a "relaxed but controlled
atmosphere". There are ten official inkblots, each printed on a separate white
card, approximately 18x24 cm in size.309 Each of the blots has near perfect
bilateral symmetry. Five inkblots are of black ink, two are of black and red ink
and three are multicolored, on a white background.310311312 After the test subject
has seen and responded to all of the inkblots (free association phase), the tester
then presents them again one at a time in a set sequence for the subject to study:
the subject is asked to note where he sees what he originally saw and what
makes it look like that (inquiry phase). The subject is usually asked to hold the
cards and may rotate them. Whether the cards are rotated, and other related
factors such as whether permission to rotate them is asked, may expose
personality traits and normally contributes to the assessment.313 As the subject is
examining the inkblots, the psychologist writes down everything the subject says
or does, no matter how trivial. Analysis of responses is recorded by the test
administrator using a tabulation and scoring sheet and, if required, a separate
location chart.314
The general goal of the test is to provide data about cognition and personality
variables such as motivations, response tendencies, cognitive operations,
affectivity, and personal/interpersonal perceptions. The underlying assumption is
that an individual will class external stimuli based on person-specific perceptual
sets, and including needs, base motives, conflicts, and that this clustering
process is representative of the process used in real-life situations.315 Methods of
interpretation differ. Rorschach scoring systems have been described as a
system of pegs on which to hang one's knowledge of personality.316 The most
widely used method in the United States is based on the work of Exner.
Administration of the test to a group of subjects, by means of projected images,
has also occasionally been performed, but mainly for research rather than
diagnostic purposes.317
308Klopfer & Davidson 1962
309Goldman 2000, p. 158
310Harry Bakwin, Ruth Mae Morris Bakwin (1960). Clinical management of behavior disorders
in children. Saunders. p. 249. "The Rorschach Test consists of 10 inkblots, printed on a white
background and mounted on cardboard 7 by 9% inches"
311Alfred M. Freedman, Harold I. Kaplan, Benjamin J. Sadock (1972). Modern synopsis of
Comprehensive textbook of psychiatry. Williams & Wilkins. p. 168. "The Rorschach test [...]
consists of 10 symmetrical inkblots printed on a white background"
312Gardner Murphy, Lois Barclay Murphy, Theodore Mead Newcomb (1931). Experimental
social psychology: an interpretation of research upon the socialization of the individual. Harper &
Brothers. "It consists of ten irregular but symmetrical ink blots, five of them in blacks and grays,
and five partially in colors, on a white background."
313Weiner 2003, p. 214
314
315Groth-Marnat 2003, p. 407
316Mons, W. (1950). Principles and Practice Of the Rorschach Personality Test (2nd ed.). Faber.
pp. 3031.
317
Test administration is not to be confused with test interpretation:

"The interpretation of a Rorschach record is a complex process. It requires a
wealth of knowledge concerning personality dynamics generally as well as
considerable experience with the Rorschach method specifically. Proficiency
as a Rorschach administrator can be gained within a few months. However,
even those who are able and qualified to become Rorschach interpreters
usually remain in a "learning stage" for a number of years."318
Features or categories
The interpretation of the Rorschach test is not based primarily on the contents of
the response, i.e., what the individual sees in the inkblot (the content). In fact,
the contents of the response are only a comparatively small portion of a broader
cluster of variables that are used to interpret the Rorschach data: for instance,
information is provided by the time taken before providing a response for a card
can be significant (taking a long time can indicate "shock" on the card).319 as well
as by any comments the subject may make in addition to providing a direct
response.320
In particular, information about determinants (the aspects of the inkblots that
triggered the response, such as form and color) and location (which details of the
inkblots triggered the response) is often considered more important than
content, although there is contrasting evidence.321322 "Popularity" and
"originality" of responses 323 can also be considered as basic dimensions in the
analysis.324
Content
Content is classified in terms of "human", "nature", "animal", "abstract", etc., as
well as for statistical popularity (or, conversely, originality).325
318
319Weiner 2003, p. 232
320Weiner 2003, p. 224.
321Eysenck, Michael W. (2004). Psychology : an international perspective. Hove: Psychology
Press. p. 458. ISBN 9781841693606.
322Eysenck, Michael W. (1998). Individual differences : normal and abnormal. Hove: Psychology
Press. p. 48. ISBN 9780863772573.
323edited by Cecil R. Reynolds and Randy W. Kamphaus (2003). Handbook of psychological and
educational assessment of children personality, behavior, and context. New York: Guilford Press.
p. 61. ISBN 9781572308848.
324Groth-Marnat 2003, pp. 423
325Pertti J. Pelto; Gretel H. Pelto (1996). Anthropological research : the structure of inquiry.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 90. ISBN 9780521292283.
More than any other feature in the test, content response can be controlled
consciously by the subject, and may be elicited by very disparate factors, which
makes it difficult to use content alone to draw any conclusions about the
subject's personality; with certain individuals, content responses may potentially
be interpreted directly, and some information can at times be obtained by
analyzing thematic trends in the whole set of content responses (which is only
feasible when several responses are available), but in general content cannot be
analyzed outside of the context of the entire test record.326
Location
The basis for the response is usually the whole inkblot, a detail (either a
commonly or an uncommonly selected one), or the negative space around or
within the inkblot.327
Determinants
Systems for Rorschach scoring generally include a concept of "determinants":
these are the factors that contribute to establish the similarity between the
inkblot and the subject's content response about it, and they can represent
certain basic experiential-perceptual attitudes, showing aspects of the way a
subject perceives the world. Rorschach's original work used only form, color and
movement; currently, another major determinant considered is shading,328 which
was inadvertently introduced by poor printing of the inkblots (which originally
featured uniform saturation), and subsequently recognized as significant by
Rorschach himself.329330331
326Schachtel 2001, pp. 258261

327
328Schachtel 2001, pp. 7678
329Schachtel 2001, p. 243
330Edward Aronow, Marvin Reznikoff (1976). Rorschach content interpretation. Grune and
Stratton. p. 7. ISBN 9780808909613. "The printer also reduced the blot cards in size and altered
their colors. In addition an imperfect printing process resulted in varieties of shading that were
not originally intended by Rorschach (Ellenberger, 1954)."
331Leichtman, Martin (1996). The Rorschach: a developmental perspective. Routledge.
ISBN 9780881631388. ""[...] the printing of the cards was more than unsatisfactory. The cards
were reduced in size, the colors changed and the original uniformity of the black areas was
reproduced in a variety of shades, delineating all kinds of vague forms. The printer probably did
not expect congratulations for his slovenly work, but as soon as Rorschach had seen the proofs
he was seized by a renewed enthusiasm, and understood at once the new possibilities the prints
offered." (Ellenberger 1954, p. 206) Far from being outraged that the integrity of his experiment
was violated, Rorschach appreciated immediately that shading enriched the test by further
increasing the creative possibilities the cards afforded."
Form is the most common determinant, and is related to intellectual processes;

color responses often provide direct insight into emotional life. Shading and
movement have been considered more ambiguously, both in definition and
interpretation: Rorschach originally disregarded shading (which was originally
not even present on the cards, being a result of the print process),332 and he
considered movement as only actual experiencing of motion, while others have
widened the scope of this determinant, taking it to mean that the subject sees
something "going on".333
More than one determinant can contribute to the formation of the subject's
percept, and fusion of two determinants is taken into account, while also
assessing which of the two constituted the primary contributor (e.g. "form-color"
implies a more refined control of impulse than "color-form"). It is, indeed, from
the relation and balance among determinants that personality can be most
readily inferred.334
Exner scoring system

The Exner scoring system, also known as the Rorschach Comprehensive System
(RCS),335 is the standard method for interpreting the Rorschach test. It was
developed in the 1960s by Dr. John E. Exner, as a more rigorous system of
analysis. It has been extensively validated and shows high inter-rater
reliability.336337 In 1969, Exner published The Rorschach Systems, a concise
description of what would be later called "the Exner system". He later published
a study in multiple volumes called The Rorschach: A Comprehensive system, the
most accepted full description of his system.
Creation of the new system was prompted by the realization that at least five
related, but ultimately different methods were in common use at the time, with a
sizeable minority of examiners not employing any recognized method at all,
basing instead their judgment on subjective assessment, or arbitrarily mixing
characteristics of the various standardized systems.338
332Schachtel 2001, pp. 243

333. ISBN 9781406744408.
334
335Giuseppe Costantino, Richard H. Dana, Robert G. Malgady. (2007). TEMAS (Tell-Me-A-Story)
assessment in multicultural societies. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum. p. 213.
ISBN 9780805844511.
336
337Weiner 2003
338Groth-Marnat 2003, pp. 406407
The key components of the Exner system are the clusterization of Rorschach
variables and a sequential search strategy to determine the order in which to
analyze them,339 framed in the context of standardized administration, objective,
reliable coding and a representative normative database.340 The system places a
lot of emphasis on a cognitive triad of information processing, related to how the
subject processes input data, cognitive mediation, referring to the way
information is transformed and identified, and ideation.341
In the system, responses are scored with reference to their level of vagueness or
synthesis of multiple images in the blot, the location of the response, which of a
variety of determinants is used to produce the response (i.e., what makes the
inkblot look like what it is said to resemble), the form quality of the response (to
what extent a response is faithful to how the actual inkblot looks), the contents of
the response (what the respondent actually sees in the blot), the degree of
mental organizing activity that is involved in producing the response, and any
illogical, incongruous, or incoherent aspects of responses. It has been reported
that popular responses on the first card include bat, badge and coat of arms.342
Using the scores for these categories, the examiner then performs a series of
calculations producing a structural summary of the test data. The results of the
structural summary are interpreted using existing research data on personality
characteristics that have been demonstrated to be associated with different
kinds of responses.
With the Rorschach plates (the ten inkblots), the area of each blot which is
distinguished by the client is noted and coded typically as "commonly selected"
or "uncommonly selected". There were many different methods for coding the
areas of the blots. Exner settled upon the area coding system promoted by S. J.
Beck (1944 and 1961). This system was in turn based upon Klopfer's (1942)
work.
As pertains to response form, a concept of "form quality" was present from the
earliest of Rorschach's works, as a subjective judgment of how well the form of
the subject's response matched the inkblots (Rorschach would give a higher form
score to more "original" yet good form responses), and this concept was followed
by other methods, especially in Europe; in contrast, the Exner system solely
defines "good form" as a matter of word occurrence frequency, reducing it to a
measure of the subject's distance to the population average.343
339Weiner 2003, p. 61
340Weiner 2003, p. 59
341Ravaioli, Laura (2008). "Il test di Rorschach secondo il sistema comprensivo di Exner". .
342
343Dana 2000, pp. 337,338
Cultural differences
Comparing North American Exner normative data with data from European and
South American subjects showed marked differences in some features, some of
which impact important variables, while others (such as the average number of
responses) coincide.344 For instance, texture response is typically zero in
European subjects (if interpreted as a need for closeness, in accordance with the
system, a European would seem to express it only when it reaches the level of a
craving for closeness),345 and there are fewer "good form" responses, to the point
where schizophrenia may be suspected if data were correlated to the North
American norms.346 Form is also often the only determinant expressed by
European subjects;347 while color is less frequent than in American subjects,
color-form responses are comparatively frequent in opposition to form-color
responses; since the latter tend to be interpreted as indicators of a defensive
attitude in processing affect, this difference could stem from a higher value
attributed to spontaneous expression of emotions.348
The differences in form quality are attributable to purely cultural aspects:
different cultures will exhibit different "common" objects (French subjects often
identify a chameleon in card VIII, which is normally classed as an "unusual"
response, as opposed to other animals like cats and dogs; in Scandinavia,
"Christmas elves" (nisser) is a popular response for card II, and "musical
instrument" on card VI is popular for Japanese people),349 and different
languages will exhibit semantic differences in naming the same object (the figure
of card IV is often called a troll by Scandinavians and an ogre by French
people).350 Many of Exner's "popular" responses (those given by at least one third
of the North American sample used) seem to be universally popular, as shown by
samples in Europe, Japan and South America, while specifically card IX's
"human" response, the crab or spider in card X and one of either the butterfly or
the bat in card I appear to be characteristic of North America.351352
Form quality, popular content responses and locations are the only coded
variables in the Exner systems that are based on frequency of occurrence, and
thus immediately subject to cultural influences; therefore, cultural-dependent
interpretation of test data may not necessarily need to extend beyond these
components.353
344Dana 2000, p. 332

345Dana 2000, p. 335
346Dana 2000, p. 333
347Dana 2000, p. 334
348
349Weiner 2003, p. 53
350Dana 2000, p. 338,339,354
351
352Weiner 2003, p. 52
353Weiner 2003, p. 54
The cited language differences mean that it's imperative for the test to be
administered in the subject's native language or a very well mastered second
language, and, conversely, the examiner should master the language used in the
test. Test responses should also not be translated into another language prior to
analysis except possibly by a clinician mastering both languages. For example, a
bow tie is a frequent response for the center detail of card III, but since the
equivalent term in French translates to "butterfly tie", an examiner not
appreciating this language nuance may code the response differently from what
is expected.354
Neurology
Research using card III have found that unique responses are found in people
with larger amygdalas. The researchers note, "Since previous reports have
indicated that unique responses were observed at higher frequency in the
artistic population than in the non-artistic normal population, this positive
correlation suggests that amygdalar enlargement in the normal population might
be related to creative mental activity."355
The ten inkblots

Below are the ten inkblots of the Rorschach test printed in Rorschach's
Rorschach Test Psychodiagnostic Plates,356 together with the most frequent
responses for either the whole image or the most prominent details according to
various authors.
Card
Popular responses357358359
Beck:
bat,
butterfly,
moth
Piotrowski:
bat (53%),
butterfly
Comments360361
When seeing card I,
subjects often inquire on
how they should proceed,
and questions on what
they are allowed to do
with the card (e.g. turning
it) are not very significant.
354Weiner 2003, p. 55
355Asari T, Konishi S, Jimura K, Chikazoe J, Nakamura N, Miyashita Y. (2010). Amygdalar
enlargement associated with unique perception. Cortex. 46:9499.
doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2008.08.001 PMID 18922517
356Rorschach, Hermann (1927). Rorschach Test Psychodiagnostic Plates. Hogrefe. ISBN 3-45682605-2.
357Alvin G. Burstein, Sandra Loucks (1989). Rorschach's test: scoring and interpretation. New
York: Hemisphere Pub. Corp.. p. 72. ISBN 9780891167808.
358Piotrowski, Z. A. (1987). Perceptanalysis: The Rorschach Method Fundamentally Reworked,
Expanded and Systematized. Psychology Press. p. 107. ISBN 9780805801026.
359Dana 2000, p. 338
360Weiner & Greene 2007, pp. 390395
361Weiner 2003, pp. 102109
(29%)
Dana (Francebutterfly
):
(39%)
Being the first card, it can

provide clues about how
subjects tackle a new and
stressful task. It is not,
however, a card that is
usually difficult for the
subject to handle, having
readily available popular
responses.
The red details of card II

are often seen as blood,
Beck:
two humans
and are the most
Piotrowski: four-legged distinctive features.
animal (34%, Responses to them can
gray parts) provide indications about
Dana (Franceanimal: dog, how a subject is likely to
manage feelings of anger
):
elephant,
bear (50%, or physical harm. This
card can induce a variety
gray)
of sexual responses.
Card III is typically
perceived to contain two
Beck:
two humans
humans involved in some
(gray)
interaction, and may
Piotrowski: human
provide information about
figures (72%, how the subject relates
gray)
with other people
Dana (Francehuman (76%, (specifically, response
latency may reveal
):
gray)
struggling social
interactions).
Card IV is notable for its
dark color and its shading
Beck:
animal hide,
(posing difficulties for
skin, rug
depressed subjects), and is
Piotrowski: animal skin, generally perceived as a
skin rug
big and sometimes
(41%)
threatening figure;
Dana (Franceanimal skin compounded with the
common impression of the
):
(46%)
subject being in an inferior
position ("looking up") to
it, this serves to elicit a
sense of authority. The
human or animal content
seen in the card is almost
invariably classified as
male rather than female,
and the qualities
expressed by the subject
may indicate attitudes
toward men and authority.
Because of this Card IV is
often called "The Father
Card".362
Beck:
bat,
butterfly,
moth
Piotrowski:
butterfly
(48%), bat
(40%)
Dana (Francebutterfly
):
(48%), bat
(46%)
Card V is an easily
elaborated card that is not
usually perceived as
threatening, and typically
instigates a "change of
pace" in the test, after the
previous more challenging
cards. Containing few
features that generate
concerns or complicate the
elaboration, it is the
easiest blot to generate a
good quality response
about.
Texture is the dominant

characteristic of card VI,
Beck:
animal hide,
which often elicits
skin, rug
association related to
Piotrowski: animal skin, interpersonal closeness; it
skin rug
is specifically a "sex card",
(41%)
its likely sexual percepts
Dana (Franceanimal skin being reported more
frequently than in any
):
(46%)
other card, even though
other cards have a greater
variety of commonly seen
sexual contents.
Beck:
Piotrowski:
Card VII can be

associated with femininity
human heads
(the human figures
or faces (top)
commonly seeing in it
heads of
being described as women
women or
or children), and function
children
as a "mother card", where
(27%, top)
difficulties in responding
362Hayden, Brian C. (1981). "Rorschach Cards IV and VII Revisited". Journal of Personality
Assessment 45 (3): 226229. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa4503_1. PMID 7252752.
Dana (Francehuman head may be related to concerns

):
(46%, top)
with the female figures in
the subject's life. The
center detail is relatively
often (though not
popularly) identified as a
vagina, which make this
card also relate to
feminine sexuality in
particular.
People often express relief
about card VIII, which
Beck:
animal: not
lets them relax and
cat or dog
respond effectively.
(pink)
Similar to card V, it
Piotrowski: four-legged represents a "change of
animal (94%, pace"; however, the card
pink)
introduces new
Dana (Francefour-legged elaboration difficulties,
):
animal (93%, being complex and the
first multi-colored card in
pink)
the set. Therefore, people
who find processing
complex situations or
emotional stimuli
distressing or difficult may
be uncomfortable with this
card.
Beck:
human
(orange)
Piotrowski:
none
Dana (Francenone
):
Characteristic of card IX
is indistinct form and
diffuse, muted chromatic
features, creating a
general vagueness. There
is only one popular
response, and it is the
least frequent of all cards.
Having difficulty with
processing this card may
indicate trouble dealing
with unstructured data,
but aside from this there
are few particular "pulls"
typical of this card.
Card X is structurally
similar to card VIII, but its
Beck:
crab, lobster,
uncertainty and
spider (blue)
complexity are reminiscent
Piotrowski: crab, spider of card IX: people who find
(37%, blue), it difficult to deal with
rabbit head many concurrent stimuli
(31%, light may not particularly like
green),
this otherwise pleasant
caterpillars, card. Being the last card,
worms,
it may provide an
snakes (28%, opportunity for the subject
deep green) to "sign out" by indicating
what they feel their
Dana (Francenone
situation is like, or what
):
they desire to know.
Prevalence
United States
The Rorschach test is used almost exclusively by psychologists. In a survey done
in the year 2000, 20% of correctional psychologists used the Rorschach while
80% used the MMPI.363 Forensic psychologists use the Rorschach 36% of the
time.364 In custody cases, 23% of psychologists use the Rorschach to examine a
child.365 Another survey found that 124 out of 161 (77%) of clinical psychologists
engaging in assessment services utilize the Rorschach,366 and 80% of psychology
graduate programs teach its use.367 Another study found that its use by clinical
psychologists was only 43%, while it was used less than 24% of the time by
school psychologists.368
363
364Hughes; Gacono, Carl B.; Owen, Patrick F. (2007). "Current status of Rorschach assessment:
implications for the school psychologist". Psychology in the Schools 44 (3): 281.
doi:10.1002/pits.20223.
365Butcher, James Neal (2009). Oxford Handbook of Personality Assessment (Oxford Library of
Psychology). Oxford University Press, USA. p. 290. ISBN 0-19-536687-5.
366Camara et al.; Nathan, Julie S.; Puente, Anthony E. (2000). "Psychological Test Usage:
Implications in Professional Psychology". Professional Psychology:Research and Practice 31:
131154. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.31.2.141.
367
368
Controversy
Some skeptics consider the Rorschach inkblot test pseudoscience,369370 as several
studies suggested that conclusions reached by test administrators since the
1950s were akin to cold reading.371 In the 1959 edition of Mental Measurement
Yearbook, Lee Cronbach (former President of the Psychometric Society and
American Psychological Association)372 is quoted in a review: "The test has
repeatedly failed as a prediction of practical criteria. There is nothing in the
literature to encourage reliance on Rorschach interpretations." In addition,
major reviewer Raymond J. McCall writes (p. 154): "Though tens of thousands of
Rorschach tests have been administered by hundreds of trained professionals
since that time (of a previous review), and while many relationships to
personality dynamics and behavior have been hypothesized, the vast majority of
these relationships have never been validated empirically [sic], despite the
appearance of more than 2,000 publications about the test."373 A moratorium on
its use was called for in 1999.374
A 2003 report by Wood and colleagues had more mixed views: "More than 50
years of research have confirmed Lee J. Cronbach's (1970) final verdict: that
some Rorschach scores, though falling woefully short of the claims made by
proponents, nevertheless possess "validity greater than chance" (p. 636). [...] "Its
value as a measure of thought disorder in schizophrenia research is well
accepted. It is also used regularly in research on dependency, and, less often, in
studies on hostility and anxiety. Furthermore, substantial evidence justifies the
use of the Rorschach as a clinical measure of intelligence and thought
disorder."375
369
370Pieter J.D., Drenth (2003). "Growing Anti-intellectualism in Europe: A Menace to Science"
Annual Report 2003. ALLEA (All European Academies). PDF.
371James M. Wood, M. Teresa Nezworski, Scott O. Lilienfeld, & Howard N. Garb: The Rorschach
Inkblot Test, Fortune Tellers, and Cold Reading. Skeptical Inquirer magazine, Jul 2003.
372Alexander, Meredith (October 5, 2001). "Lee Cronbach, dead at 85". Stanford Report
(Stanford University School of Education).
373Robyn M, Dawes (1991). "Giving up Cherished Ideas: The Rorschach Ink Blot Test". Institute
for Psychological Therapies Journal 3 (4).
374Garb HN (December 1999). "Call for a moratorium on the use of the Rorschach Inkblot Test
in clinical and forensic settings". Assessment 6 (4): 3138. doi:10.1177/107319119900600402.
PMID 10539978.
375Wood, James M.; Nezworski, M. Teresa; Garb, Howard N. (2003). "Whats Right with the
Rorschach?". The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice 2 (2).
Test materials
The basic premise of the test is that objective meaning can be extracted from
responses to blots of ink which are supposedly meaningless. Supporters of the
Rorschach inkblot test believe that the subject's response to an ambiguous and
meaningless stimulus can provide insight into their thought processes, but it is
not clear how this occurs. Also, recent research shows that the blots are not
entirely meaningless, and that a patient typically responds to meaningful as well
as ambiguous aspects of the blots.376 Reber (1985) describes the blots as merely
".. the vehicle for the interaction .." between client and therapist, concluding: "..
the usefulness of the Rorschach will depend upon the sensitivity, empathy and
insightfulness of the tester totally independently of the Rorschach itself. An
intense dialogue about the wallpaper or the rug would do as well provided that
both parties believe."377
Illusory and invisible correlations

In the 1960s, research by psychologists Loren and Jean Chapman showed that at
least some of the apparent validity of the Rorschach was due to an illusion.378379
At that time, the five signs most often interpreted as diagnostic of homosexuality
were 1) buttocks and anuses; 2) feminine clothing; 3) male or female sex organs;
4) human figures without male or female features; and 5) human figures with
both male and female features.380381 The Chapmans surveyed 32 experienced
testers about their use of the Rorschach to diagnose homosexuality. At this time
homosexuality was regarded as a psychopathology, and the Rorschach was the
most popular projective test.382 The testers reported that homosexual men had
shown the five signs more frequently than heterosexuals.383384 Despite these
beliefs, analysis of the results showed that heterosexual men are just as likely to
report these signs, so they are totally ineffective for identifying
homosexuals.385386387 The five signs did, however, match the guesses students
made about which imagery would be associated with homosexuality.388
376
377Arthur S. Reber (1985). Penguin Dictionary of Psychology. Penguin Books. p. 653.
ISBN 9780140510799.
378Sutherland 2007, pp. 117120
379Plous 1993, pp. 164166
380
381Hardman 2009, p. 57
382
383
384Fine 2006, pp. 6670
385
386
387
388
The Chapmans investigated the source of the testers' false confidence. In one
experiment, students read through a stack of cards, each with a Rorschach blot,
a sign and a pair of "conditions" (which might include homosexuality). The
information on the cards was fictional, although subjects were told it came from
case studies of real patients.389 The students reported that the five invalid signs
were associated with homosexuality, even though the cards had been
constructed so there was no association at all.390391 The Chapmans repeated this
experiment with another set of cards, in which the association was negative; the
five signs were never reported by homosexuals. The students still reported
seeing a strong positive correlation.392393 These experiments showed that the
testers' prejudices could result in them "seeing" non-existent relationships in the
data. The Chapmans called this phenomenon "illusory correlation" and it has
since been demonstrated in many other contexts.394395
A related phenomenon called "invisible correlation" applies when people fail to
see a strong association between two events because it does not match their
expectations.396 This was also found in clinicians' interpretations of the
Rorschach. Homosexual men are more likely to see a monster on Card IV or a
part-animal, part-human figure in Card V.397398 Almost all of the experienced
clinicians in the Chapmans' survey missed these valid signs.399400 The Chapmans
ran an experiment with fake Rorschach responses in which these valid signs
were always associated with homosexuality. The subjects missed these perfect
associations and instead reported that invalid signs, such as buttocks or feminine
clothing, were better indicators.401
In 1992, the psychologist Stuart Sutherland argued that these artificial
experiments are easier than the real-world use of the Rorschach, and hence they
probably underestimated the errors that testers were susceptible to. He
described the continuing popularity of the Rorschach after the Chapmans'
research as a "glaring example of irrationality among psychologists".402
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
Tester projection
Some critics argue that the testing psychologist must also project onto the
patterns. A possible example sometimes attributed to the psychologist's
subjective judgement is that responses are coded (among many other things), for
"Form Quality": in essence, whether the subject's response fits with how the blot
actually looks. Superficially this might be considered a subjective judgment,
depending on how the examiner has internalized the categories involved. But
with the Exner system of scoring, much of the subjectivity is eliminated or
reduced by use of frequency tables that indicate how often a particular response
is given by the population in general.403 Another example is that the response
"bra" was considered a "sex" response by male psychologists, but a "clothing"
response by females.404 In Exner's system, however, such a response is always
coded as "clothing" unless there is a clear sexual reference in the response.405
Third parties could be used to avoid this problem, but the Rorschach's inter-rater
reliability has been questioned. That is, in some studies the scores obtained by
two independent scorers do not match with great consistency.406 This conclusion
was challenged in studies using large samples reported in 2002.407
Validity
When interpreted as a projective test, results are poorly verifiable. The Exner
system of scoring (also known as the "Comprehensive System") is meant to
address this, and has all but displaced many earlier (and less consistent) scoring
systems. It makes heavy use of what factor (shading, color, outline, etc.) of the
inkblot leads to each of the tested person's comments. Disagreements about test
validity remain: while the Exner proposed a rigorous scoring system, latitude
remained in the actual interpretation, and the clinician's write-up of the test
record is still partly subjective.408 Reber (1985) comments ".. there is essentially
no evidence whatsoever that the test has even a shred of validity."409
403
404Wood 2003
405
406Wood 2003, pp. 227234
407Meyer, G. J., Hilsenroth, M. J., Baxter, D., Exner J. E., Fowler, J. C., Piers, C. C.; Resnick, J.
(2002) An examination of interrater reliability for scoring the Rorschach comprehensive system
in eight data sets. Journal of Personality Assessment. 78(2), 219274.
408Goldman 2000, p. 159
409
Nevertheless, there is substantial research indicating the utility of the measure

for a few scores. Several scores correlate well with general intelligence.
Interestingly, one such scale is R, the total number of responses; this reveals the
questionable side-effect that more intelligent people tend to be elevated on many
pathology scales, since many scales do not correct for high R: if a subject gives
twice as many responses overall, it is more likely that some of these will seem
"pathological". Also correlated with intelligence are the scales for Organizational
Activity, Complexity, Form Quality, and Human Figure responses.410 The same
source reports that validity has also been shown for detecting such conditions as
schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders; thought disorders; and personality
disorders (including borderline personality disorder). There is some evidence
that the Deviant Verbalizations scale relates to bipolar disorder. The authors
conclude that "Otherwise, the Comprehensive System doesn't appear to bear a
consistent relationship to psychological disorders or symptoms, personality
characteristics, potential for violence, or such health problems as cancer".411
(Cancer is mentioned because a small minority of Rorschach enthusiasts have
claimed the test can predict cancer.)412
Reliability
It is also thought that the test's reliability can depend substantially on details of
the testing procedure, such as where the tester and subject are seated, any
introductory words, verbal and nonverbal responses to subjects' questions or
comments, and how responses are recorded. Exner has published detailed
instructions, but Wood et al.413 cites many court cases where these had not been
followed. Similarly, the procedures for coding responses are fairly well specified
but extremely time-consuming leaving them very subject to the author's style and
the publisher to the quality of the instructions (such as was noted with one of
Bohm's textbooks in the 1950s414) as well as clinic workers (which would include
examiners) being encouraged to cut corners415416
410Wood 2003, Table 9.4

411Wood 2003, pp. 249250
412Graves, P.L., Thomas, C.B. and Mead, L.A. (1991). " The Rorschach Interaction Scale as a
potential predictor of cancer," Psychosomatic Medicine, 48, 549563
413
414(1958) Journal of personality assessment Volumes 22-23; Page 462
415Lowrey, Lawson Gentry (1946) American journal of orthopsychiatry, Volume 16 American
Orthopsychiatric Association pg 732
416Buros, Oscar Krisen (1975) Personality tests and reviews: including an index to The mental
measurements yearbooks, Volume 1. Gryphon Press, pg Page 411
US Courts have challenged the Rorschach as well. Jones v Apfel (1997) stated
(quoting from Attorney's Textbook of Medicine) that Rorschach "results do not
meet the requirements of standardization, reliability, or validity of clinical
diagnostic tests, and interpretation thus is often controversial".417 In State ex rel
H.H. (1999) where under cross examination Dr. Bogacki stated under oath "many
psychologists do not believe much in the validity or effectiveness of the
Rorschach test"418 and US v Battle (2001) ruled that the Rorschach "does not
have an objective scoring system." 419
Population norms
Another controversial aspect of the test is its statistical norms. Exner's system
was thought to possess normative scores for various populations. But, beginning
in the mid-1990s others began to try to replicate or update these norms and
failed. In particular, discrepancies seemed to focus on indices measuring
narcissism, disordered thinking, and discomfort in close relationships.420
Lillenfeld and colleagues, who are critical of the Rorschach, have stated that this
proves that the Rorschach tends to "overpathologise normals".421 Although
Rorschach proponents, such as Hibbard,422 suggest that high rates of pathology
detected by the Rorschach accurately reflect increasing psychopathology in
society, the Rorschach also identifies half of all test-takers as possessing
"distorted thinking",423 a false positive rate unexplained by current research.
The accusation of "over-pathologising" has also been considered by Meyer et al.
(2007). They presented an international collaborative study of 4704 Rorschach
protocols, obtained in 21 different samples, across 17 different countries, with
only 2% showing significant elevations on the index of perceptual and thinking
disorder, 12% elevated on indices of depression and hyper-vigilance and 13%
elevated on persistent stress overloadall in line with expected frequencies
among nonpatient populations.424
417Gacono, Carl B., F. Barton Evans (2007) "The Handbook of Forensic Rorschach Assessment"
pg 83
418
419
420Lillenfeld, S.O., Wood, J.M., Garb, H.N.. The scientific status of projective techniques,
Psychological Science in the Public Interest v. 1, pp. 2766, 2000.
421
422Hibbard, S.. A Critique of Lilienfeld et al.'s (2000) The Scientific status of Projective
Techniques, Journal of Personality Assessment v. 80, pp. 260271, 2003.
423Rorschach Test: Discredited But Still Controversial. July 31, 2009
424Meyer, G.J., Erdberg, P., & Shaffer, T.W.. Toward international normative reference data for
the Comprehensive System, Journal of Personality Assessment v. 89(S1), S201S206, 2007.
Applications
The test is also controversial because of its common use in court-ordered
evaluations. This controversy stems, in part, from the limitations of the
Rorschach, with no additional data, in making official diagnoses from the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).425 Irving B.
Weiner (co-developer with John Exner of the Comprehensive system) has stated
that the Rorschach "is a measure of personality functioning, and it provides
information concerning aspects of personality structure and dynamics that make
people the kind of people they are. Sometimes such information about
personality characteristics is helpful in arriving at a differential diagnosis, if the
alternative diagnoses being considered have been well conceptualized with
respect to specific or defining personality characteristics".426 In the vast majority
of cases, anyway, the Rorschach test wasn't singled out but used as one of
several in a battery of tests,427 and despite the criticism of usage of the
Rorschach in the courts, out of 8,000 cases in which forensic psychologists used
Rorschach-based testimony, the appropriateness of the instrument was
challenged only six times, and the testimony was ruled inadmissible in only one
of those cases.428 One study has found that use of the test in courts has increased
by three times in the decade between 1996 and 2005, compared to the previous
fifty years.429 Others however have found that its usage by forensic psychologists
has decreased.430
Protection of test items and ethics

Psychologists object to the publication of psychological test material out of
concerns that a patient's test responses will be influenced ("primed") by previous
exposure. The Canadian Psychological Association takes the position that,
"Publishing the questions and answers to any psychological test compromises its
usefulness" and calls for "keeping psychological tests out of the public
domain."431 The same statement quotes their president as saying, "The CPA's
concern is not with the publication of the cards and responses to the Rorschach
test per se, for which there is some controversy in the psychological literature
and disagreement among experts, but with the larger issue of the publication
and dissemination of psychological test content".
425American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental
disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC.
426Weiner, Irving B. (1999). What the Rorschach Can do for you: Incremental validity in clinical
applications. Assessment 6. pp. 327338.
427
428
429
430Garb HN, Wood JM, Lilienfeld SO, Nezworski MT (January 2005). "Roots of the Rorschach
controversy". Clin Psychol Rev 25 (1): 97118. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2004.09.002. PMID 15596082.
431"Canadian Psychological Association Position on Publication and Dissemination of
Psychological Tests" (PDF). Canadian Psychological Association. August 4, 2009. . Retrieved
2010-07-08. "Publishing the questions and answers to any psychological test compromises its
usefulness."
However, from a legal standpoint, the Rorschach test images have in fact been in
the public domain for many years in most countries, particularly those with a
copyright term of up to 70 years post mortem auctoris. They have been in the
public domain in Hermann Rorschach's native Switzerland since at least 1992
(70 years after the author's death, or 50 years after the cut-off date of 1942),
according to Swiss copyright law.432433 They are also in the public domain under
United States copyright law 434435 where all works published before 1923 are
considered to be in the public domain.436
This means that the Rorschach images may be used by anyone for any purpose.
William Poundstone was, perhaps, first to make them public in his 1983 book Big
Secrets, where he also described the method of administering the test.
432"Copyright Durations Worldwide - EU Copyright". Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual

Property. . Retrieved 2009-08-26.
433"Copyrights Terms of Protection". Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property. .
434Carol Forsloff (30 July 2009). "Rorschach Personality Test: Did Wikipedia Leak a Cheat
Sheet". Digital Journal. .
435Noam Cohen (28 July 2009). "Has Wikipedia Created a Rorschach Cheat Sheet? Analyze
That". New York Times. . "Because the Rorschach plates were created nearly 90 years ago, they
have lost their copyright protection in the United States."
436"Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States". Cornell Copyright Information
Center. 1 January 2009. .
The American Psychological Association (APA) has a code of ethics that supports
"freedom of inquiry and expression" and helping "the public in developing
informed judgments".437 It claims that its goals include "the welfare and
protection of the individuals and groups with whom psychologists work", and it
requires that psychologists "make reasonable efforts to maintain the integrity
and security of test materials". The APA has also raised concerns that the
dissemination of test materials might impose "very concrete harm to the general
public". It has not taken a position on publication of the Rorschach plates but
noted "there are a limited number of standardized psychological tests considered
appropriate for a given purpose".438 Exner and others have claimed that the
Rorschach test is capable of detecting suicidality.439440441 A public statement by
the British Psychological Society expresses similar concerns about psychological
tests (without mentioning any test by name) and considers the "release of [test]
materials to unqualified individuals" to be misuse if it is against the wishes of the
test publisher.442 In his book Ethics in psychology, Koocher (1998) notes that
some believe "reprinting copies of the Rorschach plates ... and listing common
responses represents a serious unethical act" for psychologists and is indicative
of "questionable professional judgment".443 Other professional associations, such
as the Italian Association of Strategic Psychotherapy, recommend that even
information about the purpose of the test or any detail of its administration
should be kept from the public, even though "cheating" the test is held to be
practically impossible.444
On September 9, 2008, Hogrefe attempted to claim copyright over the Rorschach
ink blots during fillings of a complaint with the World Intellectual Property
Organization against the Brazilian psychologist Ney Limonge. These complaints
were denied.445 Further complaints were sent to two other websites that
contained information similar to the Rorschach test in May 2009 by legal firm
Schluep and Degen of Switzerland.446447
437"Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct". American Psychological
Association. 2003-06-01. . Retrieved 2009-06-23.
438"Statement on the Disclosure of Test Data". American Psychological Association. February
1996. . Retrieved 2009-08-09.
439Exner, J.E., & Wylie, J. (1977). Some Rorschach data concerning suicide. Journal of
Personality Assessment, 41(4), 339348.
440Viglione, D. (1999). A review of recent research addressing the utility of the Rorschach.
Psychological Assessment, 11 (3), 251265.
441Fowler, J. C., Piers, C., Hilsenroth, M. J., Holdwick, D. J., & Padawer, J. R. The Rorschach
suicide constellation: Assessing various degrees of lethality. Journal of Personality Assessment,
76 (2), 333351.
442"Statement on the Conduct of Psychologists providing Expert Psychometric Evidence to
Courts and Lawyers". The British Psychological Society. 2007-10-15. . Retrieved 2009-06-23.
443Koocher, Gerald P.; Keith-Spielgel, Patricia (1998). Ethics in psychology. New York: Oxford
University Press. pp. 159160. ISBN 9780195092011.
444"Rorschach Test". Associazione Italiana di Psicoterapia Strategica Integrata. 21 July 2009. .
Retrieved 2009-08-29. "Infatti il Rorschach porta con s (dovrebbe portare) il riserbo assoluto su
come si somministra, sul suo significato generale e su quello delle tavole in particolare. [...]
Tuttavia, al contrario di quanto si possa credere, "mentire" al Rorschach praticamente
impossibile [...]"
445"WIPO Domain Name Decision: D2008-1206". . Retrieved Oct 15, 2009.
446"extra.listverse.com". .
447"Online Rorschach Test: Legal Threats". .
Psychologists have sometimes refused to disclose tests and test data to courts
when asked to do so by the parties citing ethical reasons; it is argued that such
refusals may hinder full understanding of the process by the attorneys, and
impede cross-examination of the experts. APA ethical standard 1.23(b) states
that the psychologist has a responsibility to document processes in detail and of
adequate quality to allow reasonable scrutiny by the court.448
Controversy ensued in the psychological community in 2009 when the original
Rorschach plates and research results on interpretations were published in the
"Rorschach test" article on Wikipedia.449 Hogrefe & Huber Publishing, a German
company that sells editions of the plates, called the publication "unbelievably
reckless and even cynical of Wikipedia" and said it was investigating the
possibility of legal action.450 Due to this controversy an edit filter was temporarily
established on Wikipedia to prevent the removal of the plates.451
Dr. James Heilman, a Canadian emergency room physician involved in the
debate, compared it to the publication of the eye test chart: though people are
likewise free to memorize the eye chart before an eye test, its general usefulness
as a diagnostic tool for eyesight has not diminished.452 For those opposed to
exposure, publication of the inkblots is described as a "particularly painful
development", given the tens of thousands of research papers which have, over
many years, "tried to link a patients responses to certain psychological
conditions."453 Controversy over Wikipedia's publication of the inkblots has
resulted in the blots being published in other locations, such as The Guardian454
and The Globe And Mail.455
Publication of the Rorschach images is also welcomed by critics who consider the
test to be pseudoscience. Benjamin Radford, editor of Skeptical Inquirer
magazine, stated that the Rorschach "has remained in use more out of tradition
than good evidence" and was hopeful that publication of the test might finally
hasten its demise.456
References
Dana, Richard H. (2000). Handbook of cross-cultural and multicultural
personality assessment. Lawrence Erlbaum. ISBN 9780805827897.
448Paul R. Lees-Haley, John C. Courtney (2000). "Are Psychologists Hiding Evidence? - A Need
for Reform". Claims magazine. .
449A Rorschach Cheat Sheet on Wikipedia?, The New York Times, July 28, 2009
450
451Heilman JM, Kemmann E, Bonert M, et al. (2011). "Wikipedia: a key tool for global public
health promotion". J. Med. Internet Res. 13 (1): e14. doi:10.2196/jmir.1589. PMID 21282098. .
452
453
454Ian Simple (29 July 2009). "Testing times for Wikipedia after doctor posts secrets of the
Rorschach inkblots". The Guardian. .
455Patrick White (31 July 2009). "Rorschach and Wikipedia: The battle of the inkblots". The
Globe And Mail. . (registration required)
456Radford, Benjamin (2009-07-31). "Rorschach Test: Discredited But Still Controversial". Live
Science (Imaginova Corp.). . Retrieved 2009-09-01.
Exner, John E. (1995). The Rorschach: A Comprehensive System. Vol 1: Basic

Foundations. New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-55902-4.
Fine, Cordelia (2006). A Mind of its Own: how your brain distorts and deceives.
Cambridge, UK: Icon books. ISBN 1840466782. OCLC 60668289.
Gacano, Carl B.; J. Reid Meloy (1994). The Rorschach Assessment of Aggressive
and Psychopathic Personalities. Hillsdale, New Jersey Hove, UK: Lawrence
Erlbaum. ISBN 978-0805809800.
Goldman, Howard H. (2000). Review of general psychiatry. New York: Lange
Medical Books/McGraw-Hill, Medical Pub. Division. ISBN 9780838584347.
Groth-Marnat, Gary (2003). Handbook of psychological assessment. John Wiley
& Sons. ISBN 9780471419792.
Hardman, David (2009). Judgment and decision making: psychological
perspectives. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 9781405123983.
Klopfer, B.; Davidson, H. H. (1962). The Rorschach Technique: An Introductory
Manual. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World. p. 245. ISBN 0-15-577873-0.
Plous, Scott (1993). The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making.
McGraw-Hill. ISBN 9780070504776. OCLC 26931106.
Rorschach, H. (1927). Rorschach Test Psychodiagnostic Plates. Cambridge,
MA: Hogrefe Publishing Corp.. ISBN 3-456-82605-2.
Rorschach, H. (1998). Psychodiagnostics: A Diagnostic Test Based on
Perception (10th ed.). Cambridge, MA: Hogrefe Publishing Corp.. ISBN 978-3456-83024-7.
Schachtel, Ernest G. (2001). Experiential foundations of Rorschach's test.
Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press. ISBN 9780881633542.
Sutherland, Stuart (2007). Irrationality (2nd ed.). London: Pinter and Martin.
ISBN 9781905177073. OCLC 72151566.
Weiner, Irving B. (2003). Principles of Rorschach interpretation. Mahwah, N.J.:
Lawrence Erlbaum. ISBN 9780805842326.
Weiner, Irving B.; Greene, R.L. (2007). Handbook of Personality Assessment.
John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0471228818.
Wood, Jim; Nezworski, M. Teresa; Lilienfeld, Scott O.; Garb, Howard N. (2003).
What's Wrong with the Rorschach?. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, John Wiley
& Sons. ISBN 9780787960568.
External links
The International Society of the Rorschach and Projective Methods (ISR)
Overview of the Rorschach test, published by the Gteborgs Universitet,
Sweden
Holtzman Inkblot Test

Holtzman Inkblot Test
Diagnostics
MeSH
D006698
The Holtzman Inkblot Test, conceived by Wayne Holtzman, is a projective

personality test similar to the Rorschach test. The Holtzman Inkblot Test was
invented as an attempt to address many, if not all, of the controversial issues
surrounding the Rorschach Inkblot Test.
The test consists of two alternative forms of forty-five inkblots, originally drawn
from a pool of several thousand. Scoring is based on twenty-two items: reaction
time, rejection, location, space, form definiteness, form appropriateness, color,
shading, movement, pathognomonic verbalization, integration, content (human,
animal, anatomy, sexual, or abstract), anxiety, hostility, barrier, penetration,
balance, and popularity.
Scoring takes a very long time if the test is not administered by computer. The
Holtzman Inkblot Test is used primarily with students, children, and with
patients suffering from schizophrenia, head trauma or depression. The Holtzman
Inkblot Test has been used in both experimental and clinical applications.
The technique is featured as part of a travelling exhibition entitled "Psychology:
Understanding Ourselves, Understanding Each Other" and sponsored by the
American Psychological Association in partnership with the Ontario Science
Centre. It is housed permanently at the Smithsonian Institution.457
External links
CPS Website
Neuropsychological test
Neuropsychological test
Diagnostics
MeSH
D009483
457Inkblot Perception and Personality from the University of Texas
Neuropsychological tests are specifically designed tasks used to measure a

psychological function known to be linked to a particular brain structure or
pathway. Tests are used for research into brain function and in a clinical setting
for the diagnosis of deficits. They usually involve the systematic administration of
clearly defined procedures in a formal environment. Neuropsychological tests
are typically administered to a single person working with an examiner in a quiet
office environment, free from distractions. As such, it can be argued that
neuropsychological tests at times offer an estimate of a person's peak level of
cognitive performance. Neuropsychological tests are a core component of the
process of conducting neuropsychological assessment, along with personal,
interpersonal and contextual factors.
Most neuropsychological tests in current use are based on traditional
psychometric theory. In this model, a person's raw score on a test is compared to
a large general population normative sample, that should ideally be drawn from
a comparable population to the person being examined. Normative studies
frequently provide data stratified by age, level of education, and/or ethnicity,
where such factors have been shown by research to affect performance on a
particular test. This allows for a person's performance to be compared to a
suitable control group, and thus provide a fair assessment of their current
cognitive function.
Categories of neuropsychological tests

Most forms of cognition actually involve multiple cognitive functions working in
unison, however tests can be organised into broad categories based on the
cognitive function which they predominantly assess.458
Intelligence
Intelligence testing in a research context is relatively more straightforward than
in a clinical context. In research, intelligence is tested and results are generally
as obtained, however in a clinical setting intelligence maybe impaired. The
presence of impairment can be determined through a number of methods which
include: Comparison of test results to expected achievement levels based on
prior education and occupation. The use of hold tests which are based on
cognitive faculties which are generally good indicators of intelligence and
thought to be more resistant to cognitive damage, eg. language.
Ammons Quick Test
National Adult Reading Test (NART)Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
458Lezak, M. D., Howieson, D. B., Loring, D. W., Hannay, H. J. & Fischer, J. S. (2004).
Neuropsychological Assessment, 4th ed.. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195111217.
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV IQ test)

Wechsler Test of Adult Reading
Memory
Memory is a very broad ability which includes several types of memory which
can be selectively impaired. If there are indications that memory maybe
impaired, tests focussing on specific types of memory or a more thorough battery
of memory tests is required to accurately define exactly what memory processes
have been impaired.
California Verbal Learning Test
Memory Assessment Scales
Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test
Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test
Test of Memory and Learning (TOMAL)
Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM)
Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS)
Language
Language functions include speech, reading and writing, all of which can be
selectively impaired.
Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination
Boston Naming Test
Comprehensive Aphasia Test (CAT)
Lexical decision task
Multilingual Aphasia Examination
Executive Function
Executive functions are an umbrella term for a various cognitive processes and
sub-processes.459 The executive functions include: problem solving, planning,
organisational skills, selective attention, inhibitory control and some aspects of
short term memory.460
Behavioural Assessment of Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS)
CogScreen: Aeromedical Edition
Continuous Performance Task (CPT)
Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT)
d2 Test of Attention
Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS)
Digit Vigilance Test
Figural Fluency Test
Halstead Category Test
Hayling and Brixton tests
Iowa gambling task
Kaplan Baycrest Neurocognitive Assessment (KBNA)
Kaufman Short Neuropsychological Assessment
Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT)
Pediatric Attention Disorders Diagnostic Screener (PADDS)
Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure
Ruff Figural Fluency Test
Stroop Task
Test of Variables of Attention (T.O.V.A.)
Tower of London Test
Trail-Making Test (TMT) or Trails A & B
Wisconsin card sorting task (WCST)
Symbol Digit Modalities Test
459Elliot R. (2003). "Executive functions and their disorders". British Medical Bulletin 65 (1): 4959. doi:10.1093/bmb/ldg65.049.
460Morgan, A. B. & Lilienfeld, S. O. (2000). "A meta-analytic review of the relation beween
antisocial behaviours and neuropsychological measures of executive function". Clinical
Psychology Review 20 (1): 113-136. doi:10.1016/S0272-7358(98)00096-8.
Dementia specific
Dementia testing is often done by way of testing the cognitive functions that are
most often impaired by the disease eg. memory, orientation, language and
problem solving. Tests such as these are by no means conclusive of deficits, but
may give a good indication as to the presence or severity of dementia.
Clinical Dementia Rating
Dementia Rating Scale
MCI Screen
Batteries assessing multiple neuropsychological

function
There are some test batteries which combine a range of tests to provide an
overview of cognitive skills. These are usually good early tests to rule out
problems in certain functions and provide an indication of functions which may
need to be tested more specifically.
Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery(CANTAB)
Cognistat (The Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination)
Cognitive Assessment Screening Instrument (CASI)
Cognitive Function Scanner (CFS)
Dean-Woodcock Neuropsychology Assessment System (DWNAS)
General Practitioner Assessment Of Cognition (GPCOG)
Hooper Visual Organization Test
Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological battery
MicroCog
Mini mental state examination (MMSE)
NEPSY
Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status
CDR Computerized Assessment System
External links
[3] Brief information about some neuropsychological tests.
[4] Brief explanation of Personality Projective and Nonprojective tests Children & Adults.
Bender-Gestalt Test
Bender-Gestalt Test
Diagnostics
ICD-9-CM
94.02
MeSH
D001538
The Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test, or simply the Bender-Gestalt test, is
a psychological test first developed by child neuropsychiatrist Lauretta Bender.
The test is used to evaluate "visual-motor maturity", to screen for developmental
disorders, or to assess neurological function or brain damage.
The original test consists of nine figures, each on its own 3 5 card. The subject
is shown each figure and asked to copy it onto a piece of blank paper. The test
typically takes 710 minutes, after which the results are scored based on
accuracy and other characteristics.
Bender first described her Visual Motor Gestalt Test in an 1938 monograph
entitled: A Visual Motor Gestalt Test and Its Clinical Use. The figures were
derived from the work of the famous Gestalt psychologist Wertheimer. The
Bender-Gestalt test as it is now often called, was typically among the top five
tests used by school and clinical psychologists for decades. It measures
perceptual motor skills, perceptual motor development, and gives an indication
of neurological intactness. It has been used as a personality test and a test of
emotional problems.
The impetus for the clinical use of the Bender Gestalt came in the late 1930s
when Max L. Hutt, an Instructor at the Educational Clinic of City College of New
York became interested in developing a non-verbal projective personality test.
The advantages of such an instrument would eliminate problems with language
as well as prevent the test subjects from consciously screening their responses
and the reproduction of the nine Bender Test Figures by test subjects could be
accomplished in as little as ten minutes.
Reasoning that providing a test subject with several sheets of blank paper, a
pencil, and explaining that "you are going to shown some cards, one at a time,
with a simple design on each of them and you are to copy them as well as you
can. Do it any way you think is best for you. This is not a test of artistic ability,
but try to copy the designs as well as you can" would confront the subject with
an ambiguous problem to solve. With no further instructions and the response of
"do it in any way you think is best" to any questions, the subject was forced to
interpret the task and proceed in a manner that was consistent with the
individuals accustomed personality style.
Hutt subsequently developed a series of "test factors" with suggestions as to the
personality characteristics with which they might be associated.
However, nothing regarding this preliminary work was published and it

remained out of the main stream of Educational Psychology, which at that time
was virtually limited to intelligence,ability and vocational interest testing.
However, with the United States entering into World War II in 1941, Hutt was
commissioned in the U.S.Army and assigned as a consultant in Psychology to the
Surgeon General's Office in Washington. The Army was experiencing a need to
quickly train and deploy both Psychiatrists and Psychologists to meed the vastly
increased need of professionals to diagnose and treat the emotional problems
that develop in the stress of wartime military duty.
Hutt's first assignment was to train Psychologists as clinicians and he
established classes at Brooke Army Hospital in San Antonio, TX. There he
introduced the Bender-Gestalt Test to classes of inducted and commissioned
psychologists who in prior years had experience in educational clinics, schools,
and mental institutions. In 1945 he published and distributed a mimeographed
"Tentative Guide for the Administration and Interpretation of the Bender-Gestalt
Test" which had, in the previous three years, been widely adopted and utilized in
the U.S. military. The clinicians trained by Hutt and now discharged and
continuing the practice and teaching of Clinical Psychology in civilian life made
the Bender-Gestalt one of the most widely utilized psychological tests.
Hutt published several articles regarding the Bender Gestalt subsequently: "The
Case of Gregor," J. proj. Tech., 1949, 13 443-446.; "Revised Bender Visual-Motor
Gestalt Test in Weider, A. (Ed), contributions toward medical psychology. N.Y.
Ronald Press, 1950; "Interpretation of a Bender-Gestalt Record" in Shneidman,
E. S. (Ed) Thematic Test Analyses,N.Y. Grune and Stratton, 1951.
In 1959, Hutt met with a former student and recent Army Officer and
Psychologist, Dr.Gerald J. Briskin,who had served during the Korean War and
who had made considerable use of the Bender-Gestalt during his military service.
Briskin had acquired extensive experience with that test in treating and
diagnosing brain damage and stress related psychological and psychiatric
disorders.
Their discussions and exchange of clinical findings led to the decision to bring
their joint extensive experience with the Bender Gestalt in one definitive volume
and that led to the publication of "The Clinical use of the Revised Bender-Gestalt
Test, N.Y. Grune and Stratton, 1960.
Subsequently,Elizebeth M. Koppitz adopted several of the Hutt and Briskin
scoring factors in her subsequent work, "The Bender-Gestalt Test for Young
Children, N.Y. Grune and Stratton, 1964
The test has been used as a screening device for brain damage. Bender herself
said it was "a method of evaluating maturation of gestalt functioning children 411's brain functioning by which it responds to a given constellation of stimuli as
a whole, the response being a motor process of patterning the perceived gestalt."
Originally published by the American Orthopsychiatric Association, it was

purchased in the 1990s by Riverside Publishing company and released with a
revised qualitative scoring system as the Bender-II. The Bender-II contains 16
figures versus 9 in the original. The new or revised scoring system for the
Bender-II was developed based on empirical investigation of numerous scoring
systems. The Global Scoring System was, tangentially related to Bender's
original scoring method and a revision of a system devised by Branigan in the
1980s, was selected based on reliability and validity studies, as well as its ease of
use and construct clarity. Elizabeth Koppitz, a clinical child psychologist and
school psychologist (who worked most of her career in the Mount Kisco schools
in New York), developed a scoring system in the 1960s devoted to assessing the
maturation of visual-motor skills in children, remaining true to Bender's aim for
the test, and popularized its use in the schools. For decades, the Koppitz version,
known as the Bender-Gestalt Test for Young Children, was one of the most
frequently used scoring systems for the Bender-Gestalt in the United States.
After Koppitz' death in the early 1980s the use of the method held its popularity
until the mid1990s when it was withdrawn from the market as a result of
publishing company consolidations.
Steve Mathews and Cecil Reynolds (a friend of Koppitz for some years near the
end of her life) were eventually able to locate the publishing rights to the Koppitz
version of the Bender-Gestalt, and these rights were subsequently acquired by
Pro-Ed Publishing Company of Austin Texas, who then retained Cecil Reynolds to
revise the Koppitz version. It was released under Reynolds' authorship in 2007
by Pro-Ed as the Koppitz-2: The Koppitz Developmental Scoring System for the
Bender-Gestalt Test. A portion of the proceeds of all sales of the Koppitz-2 go to
the American Psychological Foundation to support the Koppitz scholarships in
child clinical psychology.461
More specific information on the Bender-Gestalt II can be found in the link below
or by visiting the website of Riverside Publishing:
http://www.assess.nelson.com/pdf/9-95644_BenderII_ASB1.pdf
References
Bender, L. (1938). A visual-motor Gestalt test and its clinical use. American
Orthopsychiatric Association Monograph Series Number 3. NY: American
Orthopsychiatric Association.
Brannigan, G. G., & Decker, S. L. (2003). Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test,
Second Edition. Itasca, IL: Riverside Publishing.
Reynolds, C. R. (2007). Koppitz-2: The Koppitz Developmental Scoring System
for the Bender-Gestalt Test. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed Inc.
Luria-Nebraska neuropsychological
461Introduction: The Bender-Gestalt II
battery
Luria-Nebraska neuropsychological battery
Diagnostics
MeSH
D008182
The Luria-Nebraska neuropsychological battery is a standardized test based

on the theories of Alexander Luria regarding neuropsychological functioning.
There are 14 scales:
1. motor functions,
2. rhythm,
3. tactile functions,
4. visual functions,
5. receptive speech,
6. expressive speech,
7. writing,
8. reading,
9. arithmetic,
10. memory,
11. intellectual processes,
12. pathognomic,
13. left hemisphere and
14. right hemisphere.
It is used with people who are 15 years or older; however, it may be used with
adolescents down to 12 years old. Part of A.R. Luria's legacy was the premium
that he placed on the observation of a patient completing a task; intraindividual
differences. The modern practice of standardized testing tends to neglect this
aspect of psychology. The Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (now in its
third iteration) attempts to create an alloy of standardized testing and
idiosyncratic observation by allowing comparison to the normative sample, and
at the same time giving the test administrator flexibility in the administration.
Trail-making test
Trail-making test
Diagnostics
MeSH
D014145
The Trail-making test is a neuropsychological test of visual attention and task

switching. The task requires a subject to 'connect-the-dots' of 25 consecutive
targets on a sheet of paper or computer screen. Two versions are available: A, in
which the targets are all numbers (1,2,3, etc.), and B, in which the subject
alternates between numbers and letters (1, A, 2, B, etc.). The goal of the subject
is to finish the test as quickly as possible, and the time taken to complete the test
is used as the primary performance metric.
The test was initially used for assessing general intelligence (and was part of the
Army Individual Test of General Ability), but has since become a common
diagnostic tool in clinical settings as well, as poor performance is known to be
associated with many types of brain impairment; in particular frontal lobe
lesions.
References
Reitan R. M. (1958). Validity of the Trail Making test as an indicator of organic
brain damage. Percept. Mot Skills, 8, 271-276.
Corrigan, J. D., Hinkeldey, M. S. (1987). Relationships between parts A and B of
the Trail Making Test. J. Clin Psychol, 43 (4), 402409.
Gaudino, E. A., Geisler, M. W., Squires, N. K. (1995). Construct validity in the
Trail Making Test: What makes Part B harder? J Clin Exp Neuropsychol, 17 (4),
529-535.
External links
A free computer-based research-oriented implementation of the trail-making
test is available as part of the PEBL Test Battery
Wechsler Memory Scale

Wechsler Memory Scale
Diagnostics
ICD-9-CM
94.02
The Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) is a neuropsychological test designed to

measure different memory functions in a person. It can be used with people from
age 16 through 90. The current version is the fourth edition (WMS-IV) which was
published in 2009 and which was designed to be used with the WAIS-IV. WMS-IV
is made up of seven subtests: Spatial Addition, Symbol Span, Design Memory,
General Cognitive Screener, Logical Memory, Verbal Paired Associates, and
Visual Reproduction. A person's performance is reported as five Index Scores:
Auditory Memory, Visual Memory, Visual Working Memory, Immediate Memory,
and Delayed Memory.
External links
Wechsler Memory Scale Fourth Edition (WMS-IV) at publisher
Wechsler Memory ScaleIII Abbreviated at publisher
Benton Visual Retention Test

Benton Visual Retention Test
Diagnostics
ICD-9-CM
94.02
The Benton Visual Retention Test (or simply Benton Test) is an individually
administered test for ages 8-adult that measures visual perception and visual
memory . It can also be used to help identify possible learning disabilities. The
child is shown 10 designs, one at a time, and asked to reproduce each one as
exactly as possible on plain paper from memory. The test is untimed, and the
results are professionally scored by form, shape, pattern, and arrangement on
the paper.
References
McCullough, Virginia. Testing and Your Child: What You Should Know About
150 of the Most Common Medical, Educational, and Psychological Tests. New
York: Plume, 1992.
Walsh, W. Bruce, and Nancy E. Betz. Tests and Assessment. 2nd ed. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990.
Mental status examination

Mental status examination
Intervention
ICD-9-CM
94.09, 94.11
The mental status examination in the USA or mental state examination in

the rest of the world, abbreviated MSE, is an important part of the clinical
assessment process in psychiatric practice. It is a structured way of observing
and describing a patient's current state of mind, under the domains of
appearance, attitude, behavior, mood and affect, speech, thought process,
thought content, perception, cognition, insight and judgment.462 There are some
minor variations in the subdivision of the MSE and the sequence and names of
MSE domains.
462Trzepacz, PT; Baker RW (1993). The Psychiatric Mental Status Examination. Oxford, U.K.:
Oxford University Press. p. 202. ISBN 0195062515.
The purpose of the MSE is to obtain a comprehensive cross-sectional description

of the patient's mental state, which, when combined with the biographical and
historical information of the psychiatric history, allows the clinician to make an
accurate diagnosis and formulation, which are required for coherent treatment
planning.
The data is collected through a combination of direct and indirect means:
unstructured observation while obtaining the biographical and social
information, focused questions about current symptoms, and formalised
psychological tests.463
The MSE is not to be confused with the mini-mental state examination (MMSE),
which is a brief neuro-psychological screening test for dementia.
The Scream by Edvard
a representation of anxiety464
Munch has been described as
Theoretical
foundations
The MSE derives from

an approach to
psychiatry known as
descriptive
465
psychopathology or
descriptive
phenomenology466 which
developed from the work
of the philosopher and
psychiatrist Karl
Jaspers.467 From Jaspers'
perspective it was
assumed that the only
way to comprehend a
patient's experience is
through his or her own
description (through an
approach of empathic
and non-theoretical
enquiry), as distinct
from an interpretive or
psychoanalytic approach
which assumes the
analyst might
understand experiences or processes of which the patient is unaware, such as
defense mechanisms or unconscious drives.
In practice, the MSE is a blend of empathic descriptive phenomenology and
empirical clinical observation. It has been argued that the term phenomenology
has become corrupted in clinical psychiatry: current usage, as a set of
supposedly objective descriptions of a psychiatric patient (a synonym for signs
and symptoms), is incompatible with the original meaning which was concerned
with comprehending a patient's subjective experience.468469
463Trzepacz & Baker (1993) Ch 1
464http://www.slate.com/id/2130897/
465Sims (1995) Ch 1
466Krupl Taylor F (1967) The Role of Phenomenology in Psychiatry. The British Journal of
Psychiatry 113: 765-770
467Owen G and Harland R (2007) Editor's Introduction: Theme Issue on Phenomenology and
Psychiatry for the 21st Century. Taking Phenomenology Seriously. Schizophrenia Bulletin 33 (1)
pp. 105107 doi:10.1093/schbul/sbl059
468Berrios GE (1989) What is phenomenology? Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 82:4258
469Beumont PJ (1992) Phenomenology and the history of psychiatry. Australian and New
Application
The mental status examination is a core skill of psychiatrists, psychologists,
physician assistants, nurse practitioners and other qualified mental health
personnel. It is a key part of the initial psychiatric assessment in an out-patient
or psychiatric hospital setting. It is a systematic collection of data based on
observation of the patient's behavior while the patient is in the clinician's view
during the interview. The purpose is to obtain evidence of symptoms and signs of
mental disorders, including danger to self and others, that are present at the
time of the interview. Further, information on the patient's insight, judgment,
and capacity for abstract reasoning is used to inform decisions about treatment
strategy and the choice of an appropriate treatment setting.470 It is carried out in
the manner of an informal enquiry, using a combination of open and closed
questions, supplemented by structured tests to assess cognition.471 The MSE can
also be considered part of the comprehensive physical examination performed by
physicians and nurses although it may be performed in a cursory and
abbreviated way in non-mental-health settings.472 Information is usually recorded
as free-form text using the standard headings,473 but brief MSE checklists are
available for use in emergency situations, for example by paramedics or
emergency department staff.474475 The information obtained in the MSE is used,
together with the biographical and social information of the psychiatric history,
to generate a diagnosis, a psychiatric formulation and a treatment plan.
Domains
Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 26(4):532-45 PMID: 1476517

470Vergare,, Michael; Binder, Renee; Cook, Ian et al. (June 2006). "Psychiatric Evaluation of
Adults, Second Edition". American Psychiatric Association Practice Guidelines.
PsychiatryOnline. . Retrieved 2008-07-30.
471"History and Mental Status Examination". eMedicine. February 4, 2008. . Retrieved 2008-0626.
472Trzepacz & Baker (1993) Preface
473"Mental state examination examples". Monash University learning support. . Retrieved 200806-27.
474Kaufman DM, Zun L.A. (1995) A quantifiable, Brief Mental Status Examination for emergency
patients. Journal of Emergency Medicine. Jul-Aug;13(4):449-56. PMID: 7594361
475"Brief Mental Status Examination" (PDF). . Retrieved 2008-06-27.
Appearance
Clinicians assess the physical aspects such as the appearance of a patient,
including apparent age, height, weight, and manner of dress and grooming.
Colorful or bizarre clothing might suggest mania, while unkempt, dirty clothes
might suggest schizophrenia or depression. If the patient appears much older
than his or her chronological age this can suggest chronic poor self-care or illhealth. Clothing and accessories of a particular subculture, body modifications,
or clothing not typical of the patient's gender, might give clues to personality.
Observations of physical appearance might include the physical features of
alcoholism or drug abuse, such as signs of malnutrition, nicotine stains, dental
erosion, a rash around the mouth from inhalant abuse, or needle track marks
from intravenous drug abuse. Observations can also include any odor which
might suggest poor personal hygiene due to extreme self-neglect, or alcohol
intoxication.476Gelder, Mayou & Geddes (2005) tells us to look out for weight
loss. This could signify a depressive disorder, physical illness, anorexia nervosa
or chronic anxiety.
Attitude
Attitude, also known as rapport,477 refers to the patient's approach to the
interview process and the interaction with the examiner. The patient's attitude
may be described for example as cooperative, uncooperative, hostile, guarded,
suspicious or regressed. The most subjective element of the mental status
examination, attitude depends on the interview situation, the skill and behaviour
of the clinician, and the pre-existing relationship between the clinician and the
patient. However, attitude is important for the clinician's evaluation of the
quality of information obtained during the assessment.478
476Trzepacz & Baker (1993) p. 13-19

477Sims (1995) p. 13
478Trzepacz & Baker (1993) p. 19-21
Behavior
Abnormalities of behavior, also called abnormalities of activity,479 include
observations of specific abnormal movements, as well as more general
observations of the patient's level of activity and arousal, and observations of the
patient's eye contact and gait. Abnormal movements, for example choreiform,
athetoid or choreoathetoid movements may indicate a neurological disorder. A
tremor or dystonia may indicate a neurological condition or the side effects of
antipsychotic medication. The patient may have tics (involuntary but quasipurposeful movements or vocalizations) which may be a symptom of Tourette's
syndrome. There are a range of abnormalities of movement which are typical of
catatonia, such as echopraxia, catalepsy, waxy flexibility and paratonia (or
gegenhalten480). Stereotypies (repetitive purposeless movements such a rocking
or head banging) or mannerisms (repetitive quasi-purposeful abnormal
movements such as a gesture or abnormal gait) may be a feature of chronic
schizophrenia or autism. More global behavioural abnormalities may be noted,
such as an increase in arousal and movement (described as psychomotor
agitation or hyperactivity) which might reflect mania or delirium. An inability to
sit still might represent akathisia, a side effect of antipsychotic medication.
Similarly a global decrease in arousal and movement (described as psychomotor
retardation, akinesia or stupor) might indicate depression or a medical condition
such as Parkinson's disease, dementia or delirium. The examiner would also
comment on eye movements (repeatedly glancing to one side can suggest that
the patient is experiencing hallucinations), and the quality of eye contact (which
can provide clues to the patient's emotional state). Lack of eye contact may
suggest autism.481482483
Mood and affect

The distinction between mood and affect in the MSE is subject to some
disagreement. For example Trzepacz and Baker (1993)484 describe affect as "the
external and dynamic manifestations of a person's internal emotional state" and
mood as "a person's predominant internal state at any one time", whereas Sims
(1995)485 refers to affect as "differentiated specific feelings" and mood as "a more
prolonged state or disposition". This article will use the Trzepacz and Baker
(1993) definitions, with mood regarded as a current subjective state as described
by the patient, and affect as the examiner's inferences of the quality of the
patient's emotional state based on objective observation.486
479Trzepacz & Baker (1993) p 21
480German: holding against
481Hamilton (1985) p 92-114
482Sims (1995) p 274
483Trzepacz & Baker (1993) p 21-38
484Trzepacz & Baker (1993) p 39
485Sims (1995) p 222
486Supported for example by "Mental state examination: Mood and affect". Psychskills. .
Mood is described using the patient's own words, and can also be described in
summary terms such as neutral, euthymic, dysphoric, euphoric, angry, anxious
or apathetic. Alexithymic individuals may be unable to describe their subjective
mood state. An individual who is unable to experience any pleasure may be
suffering from anhedonia.
Vincent van Gogh's 1889 Self
mood and affect in the time
Portrait suggests the artist's

leading up to his suicide.
Affect is described by
labelling the apparent
emotion conveyed by the
person's nonverbal
behavior (anxious, sad
etc.), and also by using
the parameters of
appropriateness,
intensity, range,
reactivity and mobility.
Affect may be described
as appropriate or
inappropriate to the
current situation, and as
congruent or
incongruent with their
thought content. For
example, someone who
shows a bland affect
when describing a very
distressing experience
would be described as
showing incongruent
affect, which might
suggest schizophrenia.
The intensity of the
affect may be described
as normal, blunted,
exaggerated, flat,
heightened or overly
dramatic. A flat or
blunted affect is
associated with schizophrenia, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder;
heightened affect might suggest mania, and an overly dramatic or exaggerated
affect might suggest certain personality disorders. Mobility refers to the extent
to which affect changes during the interview: the affect may be described as
mobile, constricted, fixed, immobile or labile. The person may show a full range
of affect, in other words a wide range of emotional expression during the
assessment, or may be described as having restricted affect. The affect may also
be described as reactive, in other words changing flexibly and appropriately with
the flow of conversation, or as unreactive. A bland lack of concern for one's
disability may be described as showing belle indiffrence,487 a feature of
conversion disorder, which is historically termed "hysteria" in older texts.488489490
487French: beautiful indifference "la belle indifference". . Retrieved 2008-06-26.

488Hamilton (1985) Ch 6
489Sims (1995) Ch 16
Speech
The patient's speech is assessed by observing the patient's spontaneous speech,
and also by using structured tests of specific language functions. This heading is
concerned with the production of speech rather than the content of speech,
which is addressed under thought form and thought content (see below). When
observing the patient's spontaneous speech, the interviewer will note and
comment on paralinguistic features such as the loudness, rhythm, prosody,
intonation, pitch, phonation, articulation, quantity, rate, spontaneity and latency
of speech. A structured assessment of speech includes an assessment of
expressive language by asking the patient to name objects, repeat short
sentences, or produce as many words as possible from a certain category in a set
time. Simple language tests form part of the mini-mental state examination. In
practice, the structured assessment of receptive and expressive language is often
reported under Cognition (see below).491
Language assessment will allow the recognition of medical conditions presenting
with aphonia or dysarthria, neurological conditions such as stroke or dementia
presenting with aphasia, and specific language disorders such as stuttering,
cluttering or mutism. People with autism or Asperger syndrome may have
abnormalities in paralinguistic and pragmatic aspects of their speech. Echolalia
(repetition of another person's words) and palilalia (repetition of the subject's
own words) can be heard with patients with autism, schizophrenia or Alzheimer's
disease. A person with schizophrenia might use neologisms, which are made-up
words which have a specific meaning to the person using them. Speech
assessment also contributes to assessment of mood, for example people with
mania or anxiety may have rapid, loud and pressured speech; on the other hand
depressed patients will typically have a prolonged speech latency and speak in a
slow, quiet and hesitant manner.492493494
Thought process
The paintings of the outsider artist Adolf Wlfli could be seen as a visual representation of formal
thought disorder.
491See for example "Mental state examination: Cognitive function". Psychskills. . Retrieved
2008-06-26.
492Hamilton (1985) p 56-62
493Sims (1995) Ch 9
Thought process in the

MSE refers to the
quantity, tempo (rate of
flow) and form (or
logical coherence) of
thought. Thought
process cannot be
directly observed but
can only be described by
the patient, or inferred
from a patient's speech.
Regarding the tempo of
thought, some people
may experience flight of
ideas, when their
thoughts are so rapid
that their speech seems
incoherent, although a
careful observer can
discern a chain of poetic
associations in the
patient's speech.
Alternatively an
individual may be
described as having
retarded or inhibited
thinking, in which
thoughts seem to
progress slowly with few
associations. Poverty of
thought is a global
reduction in the quantity
of thought and thought perseveration refers to a pattern where a person keeps
returning to the same limited set of ideas. A pattern of interruption or
disorganization of thought processes is broadly referred to as formal thought
disorder, and might be described more specifically as thought blocking, fusion,
loosening of associations, tangential thinking, derailment of thought, or knight's
move thinking. Thought may be described as circumstantial when a patient
includes a great deal of irrelevant detail and makes frequent diversions, but
remains focused on the broad topic. Flight of ideas is typical of mania.
Conversely, patients with depression may have retarded or inhibited thinking.
Poverty of thought is one of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, and might
also be a feature of severe depression or dementia. A patient with dementia
might also experience thought perseveration. Formal thought disorder is a
common feature of schizophrenia. Circumstantial thinking might be observed in
anxiety disorders or certain kinds of personality disorders.495496497
Thought content
A description of thought content would describe a patient's delusions, overvalued
ideas, obsessions, phobias and preoccupations. Abnormalities of thought content
are established by exploring individual's thoughts in an open-ended
conversational manner with regard to their intensity, salience, the emotions
associated with the thoughts, the extent to which the thoughts are experienced
as one's own and under one's control, and the degree of belief or conviction
associated with the thoughts.498499500
495Hamilton (1985) Ch 4
496Sims (1995) Ch 8
497Trzepacz & Baker (1993) p 83-91
498Hamilton (1985) p 41-53
499Trzepacz & Baker p 91-106
500Sims (1995) p 118-125
A delusion can be defined as "a false, unshakeable idea or belief which is out of
keeping with the patient's educational, cultural and social background ... held
with extraordinary conviction and subjective certainty",501 and is a core feature of
psychotic disorders. The patient's delusions may be described as persecutory or
paranoid delusions, delusions of reference, grandiose delusions, erotomanic
delusions, delusional jealousy or delusional misidentification. Delusions may be
described as mood-congruent (the delusional content in keeping with the mood),
typical of manic or depressive psychoses, or mood-incongruent (delusional
content not in keeping with the mood) which are more typical of schizophrenia.
Delusions of control, or passivity experiences (in which the individual has the
experience of the mind or body being under the influence or control of some kind
of external force or agency), are typical of schizophrenia. Examples of this
include experiences of thought withdrawal, thought insertion, thought
broadcasting, and somatic passivity. Schneiderian first rank symptoms are a set
of delusions and hallucinations which have been said to be highly suggestive of a
diagnosis of schizophrenia. Delusions of guilt, delusions of poverty, and nihilistic
delusions (belief that one has no mind or is already dead) are typical of
depressive psychoses.
An overvalued idea is a false belief that is held with conviction but not with
delusional intensity. Hypochondriasis is an overvalued idea that one is suffering
from an illness, dysmorphophobia is an overvalued idea that a part of one's body
is abnormal, and people with anorexia nervosa may have an overvalued idea of
being overweight.
An obsession is an "undesired, unpleasant, intrusive thought that cannot be
suppressed through the patient's volition",502 but unlike passivity experiences
described above, they are not experienced as imposed from outside the patient's
mind. Obsessions are typically intrusive thoughts of violence, injury, dirt or sex,
or obsessive ruminations on intellectual themes. A person can also describe
obsessional doubt, with intrusive worries about whether they have made the
wrong decision, or forgotten to do something, for example turn off the gas or
lock the house. In obsessive-compulsive disorder, the individual experiences
obsessions with or without compulsions (a sense of having to carry out certain
ritualized and senseless actions against their wishes).
A phobia is "a dread of an object or situation that does not in reality pose any
threat",503 and is distinct from a delusion in that the patient is aware that the fear
is irrational. A phobia is usually highly specific to certain situations and will
usually be reported by the patient rather than being observed by the clinician in
the assessment interview.
501Sims (1995 p 82)

502Trzepacz & Baker p 101
503Trzepacz & Baker p 103
Preoccupations are thoughts which are not fixed, false or intrusive, but have an
undue prominence in the person's mind. Clinically significant preoccupations
would include thoughts of suicide, homicidal thoughts, suspicious or fearful
beliefs associated with certain personality disorders, depressive beliefs (for
example that one is unloved or a failure), or the cognitive distortions of anxiety
and depression. The MSE contributes to clinical risk assessment by including a
thorough exploration of any suicidal or hostile thought content. Assessment of
suicide risk includes detailed questioning about the nature of the person's
suicidal thoughts, belief about death, reasons for living, and whether the person
has made any specific plans to end his or her life.504
Perceptions
A perception in this context is any sensory experience, and the three broad types
of perceptual disturbance are hallucinations, pseudohallucinations and illusions.
A hallucination is defined as a sensory perception in the absence of any external
stimulus, and is experienced in external or objective space (i.e. experienced by
the subject as real). An illusion is defined as a false sensory perception in the
presence of an external stimulus, in other words a distortion of a sensory
experience, and may be recognized as such by the subject. A pseudohallucination
is experienced in internal or subjective space (for example as "voices in my
head") and is regarded as akin to fantasy. Other sensory abnormalities include a
distortion of the patient's sense of time, for example dj vu, or a distortion of
the sense of self (depersonalization) or sense of reality (derealization).
Hallucinations can occur in any of the five senses, although auditory and visual
hallucinations are encountered more frequently than tactile (touch), olfactory
(smell) or gustatory (taste) hallucinations. Auditory hallucinations are typical of
psychoses: third-person hallucinations (i.e. voices talking about the patient) and
hearing one's thoughts spoken aloud (gedankenlautwerden or cho de la pense)
are among the Schneiderian first rank symptoms indicative of schizophrenia,
whereas second-person hallucinations (voices talking to the patient) threatening
or insulting or telling them to commit suicide, may be a feature of psychotic
depression or schizophrenia. Visual hallucinations are generally suggestive of
organic conditions such as epilepsy, drug intoxication or drug withdrawal. Many
of the visual effects of hallucinogenic drugs are more correctly described as
visual illusions or visual pseudohallucinations, as they are distortions of sensory
experiences, and are not experienced as existing in objective reality. Auditory
pseudohallucinations are suggestive of dissociative disorders. Dj vu,
derealization and depersonalization are associated with temporal lobe epilepsy
and dissociative disorders.505506
504Jacobs, Douglas; Baldessarini, Ross; Conwell, Yeates et al. (November 2003). "Assessment
and Treatment of Patients With Suicidal Behaviors". American Psychiatric Association Practice
Guidelines. PsychiatryOnline. . Retrieved 2008-07-30.
505Sims (1995) Ch 6
506Trzepacz & Baker (1993) p 106-120
Cognition
Further information: Cognitive test
This section of the MSE covers the patient's level of alertness, orientation,
attention, memory, visuospatial functioning, language functions and executive
functions. Unlike other sections of the MSE, use is made of structured tests in
addition to unstructured observation. Alertness is a global observation of level of
consciousness i.e. awareness of, and responsiveness to the environment, and this
might be described as alert, clouded, drowsy, or stuporose. Orientation is
assessed by asking the patient where he or she is (for example what building,
town and state) and what time it is (time, day, date). Attention and concentration
are assessed by the serial sevens test (or alternatively by spelling a five-letter
word backwards), and by testing digit span. Memory is assessed in terms of
immediate registration (repeating a set of words), short-term memory (recalling
the set of words after an interval, or recalling a short paragraph), and long-term
memory (recollection of well known historical or geographical facts).
Visuospatial functioning can be assessed by the ability to copy a diagram, draw a
clock face, or draw a map of the consulting room. Language is assessed through
the ability to name objects, repeat phrases, and by observing the individual's
spontaneous speech and response to instructions. Executive functioning can be
screened for by asking the "similarities" questions ("what do x and y have in
common?") and by means of a verbal fluency task (e.g. "list as many words as
you can starting with the letter F, in one minute"). The mini-mental state
examination is a simple structured cognitive assessment which is in widespread
use as a component of the MSE.
Mild impairment of attention and concentration may occur in any mental illness
where people are anxious and distractible (including psychotic states), but more
extensive cognitive abnormalities are likely to indicate a gross disturbance of
brain functioning such as delirium, dementia or intoxication. Specific language
abnormalities may be associated with pathology in Wernicke's area or Broca's
area of the brain. In Korsakoff's syndrome there is dramatic memory impairment
with relative preservation of other cognitive functions. Visuospatial or
constructional abnormalities here may be associated with parietal lobe
pathology, and abnormalities in executive functioning tests may indicate frontal
lobe pathology. This kind of brief cognitive testing is regarded as a screening
process only, and any abnormalities are more carefully assessed using formal
neuropsychological testing.507
The MSE may include a brief neuropsychiatric examination in some situations.

Frontal lobe pathology is suggested if the person cannot repetitively execute a
motor sequence (e.g. "paper-scissors-stone"). The posterior columns are assessed
by the person's ability to feel the vibrations of a tuning fork on the wrists and
ankles. The parietal lobe can be assessed by the person's ability to identify
objects by touch alone and with eyes closed. A cerebellar disorder may be
present if the person cannot stand with arms extended, feet touching and eyes
closed without swaying (Romberg's sign); if there is a tremor when the person
reaches for an object; or if he or she is unable to touch a fixed point, close the
eyes and touch the same point again. Pathology in the basal ganglia may be
indicated by rigidity and resistance to movement of the limbs, and by the
presence of characteristic involuntary movements. A lesion in the posterior fossa
can be detected by asking the patient to roll his or her eyes upwards (Perinaud's
sign). Focal neurological signs such as these might reflect the effects of some
prescribed psychiatric medications, chronic drug or alcohol use, head injuries,
tumors or other brain disorders.508509510511512
Insight
The person's understanding of his or her mental illness is evaluated by exploring
his or her explanatory account of the problem, and understanding of the
treatment options. In this context, insight can be said to have three components:
recognition that one has a mental illness, compliance with treatment, and the
ability to re-label unusual mental events (such as delusions and hallucinations) as
pathological.513 As insight is on a continuum, the clinician should not describe it
as simply present or absent, but should report the patient's explanatory account
descriptively.514
Impaired insight is characteristic of psychosis and dementia, and is an important
consideration in treatment planning and in assessing the capacity to consent to
treatment.515
508AJ Giannini. The Biological Foundations of Clinical Psychiatry. New Hyde Park, NY. Medical
Examination Publishing Co., 1986 ISBN 0-87488-449-7.
509AJ Giannini, HR Black, RL Goettsche. The Psychiatric, Psychogenic and Neuropsychiatric
Disorders. New Hyde Park, NY, Medical Examination Publishing Co., 1978 ISBN 0-87488-595-5.
510AJ Giannini, RL Gilliland. The Neurologic, Neurogenic and Neuropsychiatric Disorders. New
Hyde Park, NY, Medical Examination Publishing Co., 1982 ISBN 0-87488-699-9.
511RB Taylor. Difficult Diagnosis Second Edition. New York, WB Saunders Co., 1992.
512JN Walton. Brain's Diseases of the Nervous System Eighth Edition. New York, Oxford
University Press,1977
513David AS (1990) Insight and psychosis. The British Journal of Psychiatry 156: 798-808
514Amador XF, Strauss DH, Yale SA, Flaum MM, Endicott J, Gorman JM. (1993) Assessment of
insight in psychosis. American Journal of Psychiatry. 150(6):873-9.
515Trzepacz & Baker (1993) p 167-171
Judgment
Judgment refers to the patient's capacity to make sound, reasoned and
responsible decisions. Traditionally, the MSE included the use of standard
hypothetical questions such as "what would you do if you found a stamped,
addressed envelope lying in the street?"; however contemporary practice is to
inquire about how the patient has responded or would respond to real-life
challenges and contingencies. Assessment would take into account the
individual's executive system capacity in terms of impulsiveness, social cognition,
self-awareness and planning ability.
Impaired judgment is not specific to any diagnosis but may be a prominent
feature of disorders affecting the frontal lobe of the brain. If a person's judgment
is impaired due to mental illness, there might be implications for the person's
safety or the safety of others.516
Cultural considerations
There are potential problems when the MSE is applied in a cross-cultural
context, when the clinician and patient are from different cultural backgrounds.
For example, the patient's culture might have different norms for appearance,
behavior and display of emotions. Culturally normative spiritual and religious
beliefs need to be distinguished from delusions and hallucinations - without
understanding may seem similar though they have different roots. Cognitive
assessment must also take the patient's language and educational background
into account. Clinician's racial bias is another potential confounder.517518
Children
There are particular challenges in carrying out an MSE with young children, and
others with limited language such as people with intellectual impairment. The
examiner would explore and clarify the individual's use of words to describe
mood, thought content or perceptions, as words may be used idiosyncratically
with a different meaning from that assumed by the examiner. In this group, tools
such as play materials, puppets, art materials or diagrams (for instance with
multiple choices of facial expressions depicting emotions) may be used to
facilitate recall and explanation of experiences.519

517Bhugra D & Bhui K (1997) Cross-cultural psychiatric assessment. Advances in Psychiatric
Treatment (3):103-110
518Sheldon M (August 1997). "Mental State Examination". Psychiatric Assessment in Remote
Aboriginal Communities of Central Australia. Australian Academy of Medicine and Surgery. .
519Rutter, Michael; Taylor, Eric (2003). Child and adolescent psychiatry. Fourth Edition.
Malden: Blackwell Science. ISBN 0-632-05361-5. pp 43-44
References
Hamilton, Max (1985). Fish's clinical psychopathology. London: John Wright.
ISBN 0-7236-0605-6.
Sims, A. G. (1995). Symptoms in the mind: an introduction to descriptive
psychopathology. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders. ISBN 0-7020-1788-4.
Trzepacz, Paula T; Baker, Robert (1993). The psychiatric mental status
examination. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-506251-5.
Further reading
Recupero, Patricia R (2010). "The Mental Status Examination in the Age of the
Internet". Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 38 (1):
1526. PMID 20305070. Retrieved 20 November 2010
External links
The Mental State Examination Rapid Record Form (free)
Psychskills.co.uk - The Mental State Examination (MSE)
MED/3358 at eMedicine
University of Utah Medical School: Video clips demonstrating cognitive
assessment
Relational Assessment
Introduction
In this chapter, the term relational assessment refers to the approach to psychological
assessment first developed by Codrin Stefan Tapu (2001).
According to the hypostatic view of personality, there are four main things
that people do: they think, act (including through words, or verbal
communication), feel, and express through their body language (nonverbal
communication).
Assessing the relationships between these four dimensions of doing - both
within the person and in her relationships - is the scope of relational assessment, just a part
of a broader approach to psychological assessment.
Well-adjusted people act what they think, and express what they feel. These
are called direct intrapersonal relations. Also, in a relationship, they think
about others' acts, and feel about what others express. These are called
direct interpersonal relations.
Unadjusted people act what they feel, instead of what they think, or express
what they think, instead of what they feel. These are called crossed
intrapersonal relations. In a relationship, they think about what others
express, or feel about others' acts. These are called crossed interpersonal
relations.
Many conflicts and relationship problems arise from the fact that we
act to please or harm others, and we feel pleased or harmed by other's
actions. If we act to inform or change others at a rational level, and
assess rationally instead of emotionally the actions of others, then we
can avoid much of our minor or serious relational problems and
breakups. It's more natural to be upset by the fact that the other does
not value me positively, as I feel that from his body language, than to
be saddened that he did me something wrong. For the latter I should
have no feelings, but rather think and do something about it!
Initial assessment
First, as always, you have to establish what is the main problem that led the
client to your office.
Second, you have to identify crossed relations within the person, and
between her and others. In the preliminary interview, you may want to ask the
client questions like:
Tell me if it ever happens to you to act what you feel? For example, to buy
something to the one you love, instead of telling her you love her, or just
letting that show in your gestures and facial expressions?
Tell me if it ever happens to you to express what you think through your body
language, instead of using words? For example, to try to show somebody
through your body language that you do not agree with her, instead of just
saying it to her?
Tell me if it ever happens to you to feel about what others act, instead of
thinking about it? For example, to feel happy about a gift you receive from a
loved one on your birthday, as if it meant that he is loving you too, instead of
maybe just being polite?
Tell me if it ever happens to you to think about what others express, instead
of feeling about it? For example, thinking that if someone frowns, something
is wrong with her or with you, instead of just feeling that she is sad or
angry?
Crossed relations questionnaire

Check in the answer you see fit:
1. I decided that's better for me to leave my boyfriend, and
a. I tried to show him that
b. I told him that
2. Today I decided that it's better for me to break up with my girlfriend, and
a. I'll behave so that she will leave me

b. I will tell her that
3. I love my girlfriend, and
a. I always buy her what she wants
b. I'm always gentle with her
4. We love each other;
a. that's why we are moving in together
b. that's why we can't spend much time being apart
5. My girlfriend wants to make up with me, and
a. I'm thrilled about it, 'cause this means that she loves me
b. I agree, because that's better for both of us
6. My partner wants to buy me a house, and therefore
a. I assume he/she loves me
b. I assume he/she wants to make me understand he/she is serious about us
7. I can feel in her eyes that
a. She thinks that I'm smart
b. She likes me
8. He is giving me a bitter look, and
a. I'm wondering what is wrong?
b. I feel that he is angry
Answers (a) to questions 1 to 4 indicate that the person is likely to have
crossed intrapersonal relations, whereas answers (a) to questions 5 to 8
indicate that she is likely to have crossed interpersonal relations
Group relational questionnaire

For each person in your group, except you, if you remember that something mentioned
here happened to you in the past week in relation with that person, check in the cell
corresponding to the phrase and the person.
J.D.
P.B.
O.D.
M.K.
When she did something for me, I felt

that she liked me.
[act-feel crossed interpersonal relation]
When she did something that hurt me
in some way, I felt she didn't like me.
[act-feel crossed interpersonal relation]
I thought of what her body language
might have meant.
[express-think crossed interpersonal
relation]
I tried to help her, in order to make her
understand that I liked her.
[feel-act crossed intrapersonal relation]
I tried to sabotage her, in order to make
her understand that I didn't like her.
[feel-act crossed intrapersonal relation]
I tried to make her understand through
my body llanguage what I thought
about her.
[think-express crossed intrapersonal
relation]
Bibliography
1. Tapu, Codrin Stefan Hypostatic Personality: Psychopathology of Doing and Being Made, Premier, 2001
2. Tapu, Codrin Stefan The Complete Guide to Relational Therapy, Scribd, 2011
P.W.
3. Surhone, Lambert M., Tennoe, Mariam T., Henssonow, Susan F. Hypostatic Model of Personality, Betascript, 2010
4. Personality Theories: Nature Versus Nurture, Positive Disintegration, Two-Factor Models of Personality, Hypostatic
Model of Personality General Books, 2010
5. Rodriguez, Tessie J. Understanding Human Behavior: A Psychology Worktext, Rex Bookstore, Inc., 2009
Link: http://relationtherapy.webs.com

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Psychological Testing

Exner scoring system....................................................................................................................102

Psychological testing is a field characterized by the use of samples of behavior

Types of psychological tests

IQ tests (e.g., WAIS-IV, WISC-IV, Cattell Culture Fair III, Woodcock-Johnson

Public safety employment tests

Objective tests (Rating scale or self-report measure)

Projective tests (Free response measures)

As improved sampling and statistical methods developed, much controversy

Direct observation tests

11Exner, J. E. & Erdberg, P. (2005) The Rorschach: A comprehensive system: advanced

The Parent-Child Interaction Assessment-II (PCIA)15 is an example of a direct

"What is Psychological Testing?"

An intelligence quotient, or IQ, is a score derived from one of several different

The general intelligence factor (g)

The War Years

Short-Term Memory (Gsm): is the ability to apprehend and hold information in

Alexander Luria's earlier work on neuropsychological processes lead to the PASS

IQ scales are ordinally scaled.54555657 While one standard deviation is 15 points,

Mental age vs. modern method

population are calculated so

The term "IQ" comes

working for adults.

Reliability and validity

ISBN 978-0-19-852367-3. Lay summary (9 August 2010).

Psychometricians generally regard IQ tests as having high statistical reliability. A

Genetics and Environment

Shared family environment

Non-shared family environment and environment

IQ and brain anatomy

Developed nations have implemented several health policies regarding nutrients

In establishing a causal direction to the link between IQ and work performance,

The American Psychological Association's 1995 report Intelligence: Knowns and

A study of the relationship between US county-level IQ and US county-level

Other correlations with IQ

MDs or PhDs 125 (WAIS-R, 1987)

Criticism and views

"Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns"

Popular culture usage

Frey, Meredith C.; Detterman, Douglas K. (2004). "Scholastic Assessment org?".

StanfordBinet Intelligence Scales

The development of the StanfordBinet Intelligence Scales initiated the

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale

Indices and scales

The Processing Speed Index includes three tests

Other test variants and uses

178"Distribution of IQ Scores". MSN Encarta. . Retrieved 2007-07-08.

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children

WISC-III, Dutch edition

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), developed by Dr.

179Kaplan, Robert M.; Saccuzzo, Dennis P. (2009). Psychological Testing: Principles,

Wechsler, D. (1991). The Wechsler intelligence scale for childrenthird edition.

The four temperaments as illustrated by Johann Kaspar Lavater

A personality test aims to describe aspects of a person's character that remain

Criticism and controversy

Biased test taker interpretation

Application to non-clinical samples

Personality versus social factors

Dangers of Such Practices

Examples of personality tests

The Five Factor Personality Inventory - Children (FFPI-C) was developed to

Sample Personality Test Websites

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is one of the most