Projective Test

A projective test is a type of personality test in which you offer responses to ambiguous scenes,
words, or images. A person's responses to a projective test are thought to reflect hidden
conflicts or emotions, with the hope that these issues can then be addressed
through psychotherapy or other appropriate treatments.
History of the Projective Test
This type of test emerged from the psychoanalytic school of thought, which suggested that
people have unconscious thoughts or urges. Projective tests are intended to uncover feelings,
desires, and conflicts that are hidden from conscious awareness.
By interpreting responses to ambiguous cues, psychoanalysts hope to uncover unconscious
feelings that might be causing problems in a person's life.
How a Projective Test Works
In many projective tests, people are shown an ambiguous image and then asked to give the first
response that comes to mind. The key to projective tests is the ambiguity of the stimuli.
According to the theory behind such tests, using clearly defined questions can result in answers
that are carefully crafted by the conscious mind. When you are asked a straightforward question
about a particular topic, you have to spend time consciously creating an answer.
This can introduce biases and even untruths, whether or not you're trying to deceive the test
provider. For example, a respondent might give answers that are perceived as more socially
acceptable or desirable but are perhaps not the most accurate reflection of their true feelings or
behavior.
Types of Projective Tests
There are a number of different types of projective tests. Some of the best-known examples
include:
• The Rorschach Inkblot Test
This test was one of the first projective tests developed and continues to be one of the
best-known and most widely used. Developed by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann
Rorschach in 1921, the test consists of 10 different cards that depict an ambiguous
inkblot.
People are shown one card at a time and asked to describe what they see in the image.
The responses are recorded verbatim by the tester. Gestures, tone of voice, and other
reactions are also noted.
The results of the test can vary depending on which of the many existing scoring
systems the examiner uses.
• The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
In the TAT test, people are asked to look at a series of ambiguous scenes and then to
tell a story describing the scene. This includes describing what is happening, how the
characters are feeling, and how the story will end.
The examiner then scores the test based on the needs, motivations, and anxieties of the
main character, as well as how the story eventually turns out.3
 • The Draw-A-Person Test
This type of projective test involves exactly what you might imagine. People draw a
person and the image that they created is then assessed by the examiner.
To score the test, the test interpreter might look at a number of factors. These may
include the size of particular parts of the body or features, the level of detail given to
the figure, as well as the overall shape of the drawing.
Like other projective tests, the Draw-A-Person test has been criticized for its lack of
validity. A test interpreter might suggest that certain aspects of the drawing are
indicative of particular psychological tendencies. However, it might simply mean that
the individual has poor drawing skills.
The test has been used as a measure of intelligence in children, but research comparing
scores on the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence to the Draw-A-
Person test found a very low correlation between the two scores.
Weaknesses of a Projective Test
Projective tests are most frequently used in therapeutic settings. In many cases, therapists use
these tests to learn qualitative information about individuals.
Some therapists may use projective tests as a sort of icebreaker to encourage people to discuss
issues or examine their thoughts and emotions.
While projective tests have some benefits, they also have a number of weaknesses and
limitations, including:
• Projective tests that do not have standard grading scales tend to lack
both validity and reliability. Validity refers to whether or not a test is measuring what
it purports to measure, while reliability refers to the consistency of the test results.
• Scoring projective tests is highly subjective, so interpretations of answers can vary
dramatically from one examiner to the next.
• The respondent's answers can be heavily influenced by the examiner's attitudes or the
test setting.
Psychometric tests
Psychometric tests are a standard and scientific method used to measure an individual's mental
capabilities and behavioural style. Psychometric tests are designed to measure candidates'
suitability for a role based on the required personality characteristics and aptitude (or cognitive
abilities). They identify the extent to which candidates' personality and cognitive abilities
match those required to perform the role. Employers use the information collected from the
psychometric test to identify the hidden aspects of candidates that are difficult to extract from
a face-to-face interview.
Types of Psychometric tests
Most psychometric tests can be grouped into two. The first group of psychometric tests is
measuring your cognitive or aptitude abilities. These psychometric tests are based on timers
and the idea behind them is that in order to separate between people’s cognitive abilities, we
need to use ask them to complete a list of questions in a very limited time. Those better at the
cognitive ability measured will be able to get more questions solved correctly than those who
are less strong in the ability measured.
This group of psychometric tests includes tests such as abstract tests, numerical tests, and
verbal tests.
• Abstract type psychometric tests:
This psychometric test measures your ability to solve problems and think strategically.
The typical test question styles used in the abstract psychometric test are two - the first
style is offering a group of shapes and you need to decide what is a missing shape, or
what is the next shape or which is the odd-one-out shape. The concept behind this style
of test questions is that you need to identify the logical rules that apply to the group of
shapes and use them to identify the missing shape. The second style of test questions is
offering you a group on initial shapes then there are some processes applied on the
shapes to transform them to the final shapes. Your task is to find what each process
does. Then use this knowledge to identify how a group of initial shapes will transform
to final shapes. The abstract type of psychometric test has a timer either for the entire
test or per test question.

Let’s review some examples of the abstract type of psychometric tests:

The following example psychometric test question demonstrates one style of abstract
type psychometric test questions in which you have a horizontal list of shapes and your
task is to identify the patterns or logical rules for the set of shapes to be able to predict
the next or missing shape.

What is the next shape?

 To answer this psychometric test question, we need to first identify the patterns and
logical rules among the group of shapes in the test question. In this set of shapes, we
can identify two logical rules or patterns moving left to right. The first is that all the
inner shapes move one place anticlockwise each step. The second rule is that, at every
step, the triangle alternates with a black square. At step five, there is a triangle at the
top – therefore, at the next step, it will move anticlockwise into the left place and
become a black square.

• Verbal type psychometric tests:

This type of psychometric test measures your ability to process information in a logical
manner to make a decision. It also measures your ability to identify and focus on the
critical information rather than on all the information provided. The verbal
psychometric test has several different test question styles.

Let’s review some examples of verbal psychometric test questions.

The first style of verbal psychometric test questions is one in which you are presented
with a list of facts and a conclusion. Your task is to quickly identify which facts lead to
the conclusion being correct.

Let's review the following test example:

Which two statements together prove that Tim has a red car?
A. Gil likes Tim's car colour
B. Tim likes fast cars
C. Gil has a fast car
D. Gil likes only red cars
E. Tim's car is not silver
To answer this verbal psychometric test question, we need to first examine what each statement
says. If we take statement A ‘Gil likes Tim’s car colour’ and combine it with statement D ‘Gil
likes only red cars’ then those alone prove that Tim has a red car. The logic is that if Gil likes
only red cars (D) and he likes Tim’s car colour (A) then Tim’s car must be red.
• Numerical type of psychometric tests:
This type of psychometric test measures your ability to process numerical information
in a logical manner to make decisions. Same as with verbal psychometric tests, it also
measures your ability to identify and focus on the critical information rather than on all
 the information provided. The numerical psychometric test has several different test
question styles.
Let’s review some examples of numerical psychometric test questions.
The first style of numerical psychometric test questions is questions which present numerical
information in tables and/or graphs. Then you are asked a question based on the information
presented. Let's check the following example psychometric test question:

What is the ratio of the differences in actual sales to target sales in Thailand and Italy during
the fourth quarter?
To answer this numerical psychometric test question, we need to review the information
provided in the table. According to the table, Thailand’s fourth-quarter sales target was 550,
but actual sales were: 205 + 105 + 260 = 570. This is a difference of 20 (570 – 550). Italy’s
target was 600 sales, but actual sales were: 125 + 250 + 240 = 615. The difference here was 15
(615 – 600). Therefore, the Thailand to Italy ratio of differences is 20:15 = 4:3.

Personality type psychometric tests:

The second group of psychometric tests is measuring your personality profile. There are many
types of personality psychometric tests. Each test measures a different set of personality traits.
Each test, also measures your personality traits using a different style of psychometric test
questions. This group of psychometric tests is not using a timer and you are allowed to complete
the tests at your own pace. This group of psychometric tests does not measure if you are better
than others. It measures whether you trigger a risk to the employer hiring or promoting you
based on your personality profile. In many cases, it is sufficient for one risk to be identified for
employers to reject your application.
Let’s review some example of personality type psychometric tests:
In the first style of personality tests, you receive a list of statements and you need to state the
extent to which you agree about each statement. Let's review an example personality test
question for this style:
To what extent do you agree with the following statement:
People often turn out not be as nice as they seem.
• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Neutral
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree
A second style of personality psychometric tests is one that each test question has 2-3 short
personality statements. Your task is to decide which is most and which is least like you. This
style of personality test question can get fairly challenging when you have equally desirable
stamens in one question and you need to select which is the least like you or when you have
not desirable statements and you need to decide which is the most like you. Let's review an
example personality test question for this style:
Which is the least like you:
I am generous
I am confident
I like to be active

Emotional Intelligence type psychometric tests:

Emotional intelligence psychometric tests measure your ability to understand emotions,
identify emotions and predict emotional responses. This type of psychometric tests use facial
images, work-related or general scenarios to measure your emotional intelligence. Emotional
intelligence psychometric tests are typically a part of the personality group of tests. However,
some tests regard emotional intelligence to be an ability and therefore they add a timer to this
type of psychometric test.
Let’s review some example of emotional intelligence type psychometric tests:
The first style of emotional intelligence test questions is using a scenario to measure your
emotional intelligence. Please check the following example:
Joan felt stressed, and became a bit anxious when she thought about all the work she needed to
do. When her manager brought her an additional project, she felt ____. (Select the best choice.)
a) Overwhelmed
b) Depressed
c) Ashamed
d) Self-conscious
e) Jittery
The correct answer is overwhelmed. Joan felt stressed before her manager brought her more
work. The additional work given to her when she already was feeling under stress only
increased the feeling and made her overwhelmed.

Another example for a similar style of emotional intelligence test question is:

How much is each feeling in the list below expressed by this face?
Happiness (1-5)
Sadness (1-5)
Fear (1-5)
Anger (1-5)
Disgust (1-5)
Here you need to analyse the facial expression to identify the correct emotion and the intensity
of the emotion on a scale of 1 to 5.
Sociometry
Sociometry is a field within social science that delves into the study of social relationships and
interpersonal interactions within groups. According to Charles Kurzman, sociometry, by
definition, measures the “socius,” meaning the interpersonal connection between two people.
The founder of sociometry was Jacob L. Moreno (1889–1974).
Sociometry more specifically deals with the nature, quality, and quantity of human connection.
It is the science of group organization -it identifies the problem not from the outer structure of
the group, the group surface, but from the inner structure. Sociometric explorations reveal the
hidden structures that give a group its form: the alliances, the subgroups, the hidden beliefs,
the forbidden agendas, the ideological agreements, the ‘stars’ of the show.
Sociometry recognizes and uses the fact that all human connections are always evident in the
social choices we make—for example, with whom we eat lunch; whom we marry; whom we sit
next to in classes, receptions, and other meetings; whom we like and do not like (based on tele,
warm-up, role reciprocity). Using both positive (choose/acceptance/attraction) and negative (not
choose/ rejection/repulsion) choices, the connections between people and the patterns of
connections throughout groups are made manifest, explored, and influenced. Sociometry as a
science may utilize sociograms, graphical representations of social networks, to visualize the
intricate connections between individuals based on criteria such as affection, trust,
communication, or collaboration.
Sociometry has two main branches:
• Research sociometry- Research sociometry is action research with groups exploring the
socio-emotional networks of relationships using specified criteria, e.g. who in this
group do you want to sit beside you at work? Who in the group do you go to for advice
on a work problem? Who in the group do you see providing satisfying leadership in the
pending project? Sometimes called network explorations, research sociometry is
concerned with relational patterns in small (individual and small group) and larger
populations, such as organizations and neighbourhoods.
• Applied sociometry- utilize a range of methods to assist people and groups review,
expand and develop their existing psycho-social networks of relationships.
Suppose we conduct an observation aimed at ascertaining the pattern the students of a class in
a public school exhibit in respect of exchanging the New Year greeting. We may find one
student may be taken to be the most popular member of the class in as such as he receives
maximum number of greetings a sociometric terminology. We may further find that there has
been among students incidence of mutual exchange of greeting cards eg. A sends to B and B
sends to A. This is known as the mutual choice in the course of our observation.
The sociometric questionnaire and interviews are employed in securing information from each
person about the other members of the group with whom they would like to or would not like
to engage in a particular type of interaction and, their thoughts about this interactions.
Questions included in the sociometric questionnaire/schedule are directed toward seeking
information from each person in one group. He would like to as his playmate, roommate
colleague etc. Sometimes the person is asked to name all the people in the group whom he
would like or not like to choose or reject and there is no problem or restriction on the respondent
to confine his choices or rejections to the first three or four people in order of preference. But
if the group is numerically large the individual respondent is usually asked to indicate his
choice or rejection to the first few person in order or preference.