specific projective measure of personality (Rorschach or TAT) and an objective measure of personality (MMPI or Myers-Briggs)

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Let's take a closer look at these two personality assessment instruments, which you can then draw on for your final copy. I also include an excerpt at the end of this response explaining Jung's theory more fully, and link for Freud's theory.

RESPONSE:

1. Compare and contrast a specific projective measure of personality (Rorschach or TAT) and an objective measure of personality (MMPI or Myers-Briggs) and the theories that underlie them where applicable.

The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), developed by Henry Murray, was a student of psychoanalytic thought. It is based on Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality development. The TAT is a projection test consisting of numerous cards with black and white and grayscale pictures, which were chosen for two reasons. First, they are ambiguous to some extent and portray emotion and thought without specifying details, and therefore subjective. For instance, one example is be a silhouette of a man looking off into the distance. While there is obvious emotional and intellectual activity, the details are not revealed. The second reason is that these pictures correspond to the major themes of psychoanalytic thought, such as the oedipal complex, where the son develops an attraction for the mother and then identifies with the father. There are relationship cards and several that portray both sexual and aggressive undertones without depicted actual violence, aggression, or sexual activity. ((http://allpsych.com/personalitysynopsis/rorschach.html))

The TAT is considered subjective because Individuals being tested are asked to tell a story about each card, including what led up to the picture, what is happening in the present, and how the story will end; and, then the therapist will subjectively interpret the results based on psychoanalytic or dynamic theory themes. The basic theoretical premise is that unconscious themes will begin to emerge that relate to specific types of card and these themes can then be "subjectively" interpreted by the therapist based on Freud's theories themes and used for further exploration in therapy. (http://allpsych.com/personalitysynopsis/rorschach.html)

In other words, the theory behind projection tests like TAT is Freudian and Neo-Freudian theories that emphasize the importance of understanding unconscious themes, which demands a technique that bypasses strong "ego" defense mechanisms in order to help a person heal, The technique needs tap the unconscious. The therapist is interested in helping the client gain insight, or creates a deeper understanding of motives, beliefs, and drives. Specifically, Freud argued that there were only two distinct drives that motivate every person: sex and aggression, so the buried themes are about these two motives, but seems to interpreted mostly based on sexual themes. (http://allpsych.com/personalitysynopsis/rorschach.html)

Theoretically, these drives direct the majority of our everyday behavior, and in order for a person to change these behaviors, according to psychoanalytic and dynamic thought, she or he must understand not only what they are but where they come from as well. Since this information is believed to be hidden from the individual, even if she or he wants to access it, at the conscious level there as defenses in the way that seem to function beyond the conscious will of the person. One of Freud's main defense mechanisms is ...