Present psychological assessment stems from a philosophy of science that values objectivity but fails to comprehend the existence of the person being evaluated. A humanistic-existential model shifts the focus from omnipotence to encounter and encourages client responsibility. Some pertinent assessment issues are formulated and specific instruments…

When evaluating the utility of a psychological test for clinical decision making, both the psychometric properties of the test (i.e., the reliability and validity of the instrument) and the ambiguity of the language by which test results are interpreted or communicated need to be considered. Although each has been studied independently, to date…

States that the correlation between social desirability (SD) and hopelessness is open to several interpretations, but, in the absence of further data, concern for false-negative rates dictates caution in interpreting hopelessness scores when assessing suicidal behavior. Presents data on the relationship of SD, hopelessness, and prediction of…

The Draw-a-Person Test was individually administered to 120 kindergartners (ages 4 to 7) in order to validate and expand R. Goldman and D. Warren's earlier work (1976) on the development of a rational scale for use as a kindergarten screening measure. (Author/PHR)

Navy enlisted personnel (N=60) were administered the Recall scale of the Kahn Intelligence Test (Experimental Form; KIT) and the Digit Span subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). Scores for the KIT tasks indicate a significant transfer of data to long-term memory. (Author)

The paper briefly describes assessment practices in terms of their theoretical principles. The practices include: (a) the client is an informed participant even during the assessment process; (b) the referral is situated in terms of actual events; (c) life events are primary data, and test scores are secondary or derived data; (d) interpretation…

Paper discusses the nature of the suppressor variable, constraints upon the degree of gain in predictability by the addition of a suppressor, and the distinct aims of prediction and of construct measurement. (Authors/MB)

Definitions of projective tests are critiqued. A distinction is made between projective tests and projective techniques. The unique feature of the latter is its scoring process: response categories are intensionally defined and comprise infinite sets of responses. A continuity from psychometric to projective tests is argued. Statistical…

Compared principal component anlaysis with hierarchical cluster analysis of a psychodiagnostic test battery for children. Results are discussed within a multidimensional framework of cognitive abilities. The structure of the battery of tests included general intelligence, auditory and visual learning, academic achievement, and auditory…

The factor structure of scores on the Adult Manifest Anxiety Scale-College Version (AMAS-C), a new self-report measure of chronic, manifest anxiety, is examined across gender for a sample of 943 college students (608 women and 335 men). Values for the coefficient of congruence and salient variable similarity index are calculated between each of…

Suggests that when MMPI responses are secured from black samples and interpreted according to traditional actuarial or code book descriptions the questionnaire is capable of working against the welfare of man. (Author/AM)