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When To Use Projective Tests And What To Do With Them Essay

¶ … Projective Test Under certain situations would I administer a projective test to a client. A projective test would be administered to a client when there are questions about the client's personality. The projective test is designed to elicit responses from the client that reveal underlying emotions, thoughts, desires, or tendencies within the person. The questions are open-ended and allow the responses to be analyzed and assessed in terms of content. The content gives clues as to the personality of the individual.

These tests are most effective with adults because by then the personality has been established. They are less effective with children because with children, researchers find that behavioral tests are more effective in revealing whether or not the child has a behavioral disorder by using "behavior rating scales" (Groth-Marnat, 2009, p. 7).

Thus I would use projective test in adult settings wherein it is helpful to gauge the individual's personality both from a clinical standpoint to help with approaches to treatment as well as for personal insight so that the client can confirm results with what he or she knows about him/herself.

What tests would I administer...

For example, I might use the Rorschach Inkblot test in order to note peculiar gestures or tones that the respondent uses. This test can reveal hidden psychological problems that need to be explored. Or I would use the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), which gives to the client a series of uncertain scenes and the client is asked to tell how the scene happened and what is going on in that scene. How the respondent replies gives the physician all he needs to score the test, gauging the motives, fears, and "outcome" of the story narrated by the client. I might also do the traditional personality test which gauges the four humors of the client, such as whether he or she is sanguine, melancholy, etc. These tests can be given in any number of ways and they are helpful in understanding the client's basic underlying personality tendencies and how a doctor might best interact with them based on these tendencies.
I would share my interpretation with the client because I think it is important to share information about the client with the client. If the point is for the client to be able to understand himself more fully then I see sharing this information as beneficial and a positive…

Sources used in this document:
References

Groth-Marnat, G. (2009). Handbook of Psychological Assessment. NY: John Wiley

and Sons.

Hogan, T. (2003). Psychological Testing: A Practical Introduction. NY: John Wiley

and Sons.
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