Unit III

Unit III - PERSONALITY

Personality is the more or less stable and enduring organization of a person’s character, temperament, intellect and physique, which determine his unique adjustment to the environment.

                                -     Eysenck

CHIEF CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONALITY

From the definitions given above, following characteristics of personality emerge very clearly:

1.      Personality is what one is.

2.      Personality of each individual is unique.

3.      Personality is dynamic and not static.

4.      Personality functions as a unified whole.

5.      Personality is the product of both heredity and environment.

6.      Personality is through and through social.

7.      Personality is continually adjusting itself to environment.

8.      In rare cases personality influences the environment.

9.      Personality is always striving for certain ends.

10.  Personality is self-consciousness. We do not attribute personality to animals.

11.  Personality is influenced by the school environment.

12.  It is only through the study of personality of individual students, that the relative differences among them can be known and their personality developed the optimum level.

Important Elements of Personality

1.      Physical appearance.

2.      Emotionality.

3.      Intelligent behavior.

4.      Sociability.

5.      Character.

Marks of Balanced Personality

1.      Good physical appearance.

2.      Emotional stability.

3.      High intellectual ability.

4.      High degree of social adjustment.

5.      High moral character.

6.      Cool temperament.

7.      Good directedness.

8.      High adjustability.

9.      Tremendous commonsense, drive and pragmatic thinking.

DETERMINANTS OF PERSONALITY

1.      Personal Factors. These include:

(i)                 Physical structure of the individual

(ii)               Emotional reactions

(iii)             Aspirations

(iv)             Aptitudes

(v)               Attitudes

(vi)             Interests

(vii)           Motivation

(viii)         Intellectual level-thinking, contemplation, reasoning, etc.

2.      Family factors. These are:

(i)                 Discipline: Protection and rejection. Etc.

(ii)               No. of children.

(iii)             Value placed on the sex of the child.

(iv)             Step-parents.

(v)               Nuclear or joint family.

(vi)             Accommodation in the house.

(vii)           Parents’ ambitions and interests.

(viii)         Economic, political, religious and social status of the family.

3.      Environment.Neighbourhood, community, peer groups, etc.

4.      Cultural environment- place for art and scope for flourishing of the different arts, styles of life.

5.      Political environment- groupism, false propaganda and gang formation

6.      Religious environment harmony or fanaticism

7.      Social environment- right relations with justice and equality or violence, conflicts

8.      Mass media environment- T.V, films, print material

9.      School environment. This includes:

(i)                 Curriculum (ii)Technology of teaching (iii)Co-curricular activities(iv) Discipline-

constructive, creative, social discipline. (v) Teachers personality. (vi) General tone of the school (vii) Physical environment.

Cattell’s theory (Trait Theory)       

            The most recent advanced theory of personality based on the trait approach has been developed by Cattell (1973), a British-born American researcher. He has defined a trait as a structure of the personality inferred from behavior in different situations and described four types of traits:

·         Common traits.     The traits found widely distributed in general population like honesty, aggression and cooperation.

·         Unique traits.        Traits unique to a person such as temperamental traits, emotional reactions.

·         Surface traits.        These can be recognized by manifestations of behavior like curiosity, dependability and tactfulness.

·         Source traits.         These are the underlying structures or sources that determine behavior such as dominance, submission emotionality, etc.

The 16 basic or source trait dimensions (arrived at through the process of factor analysis) were named as factors. Cattell regarded these factors as the building blocks of personality, i.e. the characteristics in terms of which one’s personality can be described and measured.

            These 16 basic trait dimensions or factors (the ways in which people may differ) are reproduced below along with explanatory descriptions of the related dimension:

The trait theory of Cattell, thus, tried to describe and predict the behavior of individuals on the basis of their personality traits (the fundamental building blocks of human personality). Basically, Cattell’s work as a whole, involves the identification of basic dimensions of personality (by applying factor analysis techniques to the observable behavior, i.e. traits) and then developing instruments to measure these dimensions.

 

Symbols                                  Trait Dimensions or Factors

   A             Reserved (detached, critical,       v/s    Outgoing (warm-hearted, easy-

                                                 aloof, stiff )                        going,Participating).                                       B                  Less intelligence (concrete           v/s             More intelligent (abstract                                                         thinking)                                                           thinking)

 C                Affected by feelings (emotionally  v/s          Emotionally stable (mature, faces reality,

                     less stable, easily up set, changeable).                                                  Calm)

    E           Submissive (mild, easily led,           v/s       Dominant (aggressive, stubborn,   

                    Docile, accommodating).                                                 competitive).  

   F               Serious (sober, taciturn).                v/s        Happy-go-Lucky (enthusiastic).

   G           Expedient (disregards rules).         v/s        Conscientious (persistent, moralistic, staid).

   H             Timid (shy, fears threat, sensitive) v/s       Venturesome (uninhibited, socially bold).

    I            Tough-minded (self-reliant,            v/s       Tender-hearted (sensitive, clinging, over

                       realistic)                                                           protected).

    L               Trusting (accepting conditions).    v/s        Suspicious (hard to fool).

    M          Practical (down-to-earth concerns) v/s      Imaginative (bohemian, absent-minded)

    N              Forthright (unpretentious, genuine            v/s       shrewd (socially aware, astute).

                            but socially clumsy).

    O          Self-assured (secure, placid,           v/s       Apprehensive (self-critical, insecure,

                       complacent).                                        worrying, troubled).

    Q₁         Conservative (respecting                 v/s       Experimenting (liberal, free-thinking).

                    traditional ideas).

    Q₂         Group-dependent (a “joiner” and  v/s       Self-sufficient (resourceful, prefers

                          sound follower).                                         own decisions).

    Q₃         Uncontrolled (careless of social     v/s       Controlled (socially precise, exercising

                    rules, follows own urges).                               will power, compulsive).

    Q₄         Relaxed (tranquil, unfrustrated,     v/s       Tense (frustrated, drive, overwrought).

                                             Composed).

 

            The trait theory of Cattell, thus, tried to describe and predict the behavior of individuals on the basis of their personality traits (the fundamental building blocks of human personality). Basically, Cattell’s work as a whole, involves the identification of basic dimensions of personality (by applying factor analysis techniques to the observable behavior, i.e. traits) and then developing instruments to measure these dimensions.

Type theory

Carl Jung gave Type theory. He divided all human beings basically into two distinct types- Introvert and Extrovert-according to their social participation and the interest they take in social activities. Later on, he further sharpened his two-fold division by giving sub-types. in this process, he took into consideration the four psychological functions-thinking, feeling, sensation and intuition-in relation to his previous extrovert and introvert types. They are

·         Extroverted Thinking – Jung theorized that people understand the world through a mix of concrete ideas and abstract ones, but the abstract concepts are ones passed down from other people. Extroverted thinkers are often found working in the research sciences and mathematics.

·         Introverted Thinking – These individuals interpret stimuli in the environment through a subjective and creative way. The interpretations are informed by internal knowledge and understanding. Philosophers and theoretical scientists are often introverted thinking-oriented people.

·         Extroverted Feeling – These people judge the value of things based on objective fact. Comfortable in social situations, they form their opinions based on socially accepted values and majority beliefs. They are often found working in business and politics.

·         Introverted Feeling – These people make judgments based on subjective ideas and on internally established beliefs. Oftentimes they ignore prevailing attitudes and challenge social norms of thinking. Introverted feeling people thrive in careers as art critics.

·         Extroverted Sensing – These people perceive the world as it really exists. Their perceptions are not colored by any pre-existing beliefs. Jobs that require objective review, like wine tasters and proofreaders, are best filled by extroverted sensing people.

·         Introverted Sensing – These individuals interpret the world through the lens of subjective attitudes and rarely see something for only what it is. They make sense of the environment by giving it meaning based on internal reflection. Introverted sensing people often turn to various arts, including portrait painting and classical music.

·         Extroverted Intuitive – These people prefer to understand the meanings of things through subliminally perceived objective fact rather than incoming sensory information. They rely on guesses and often disregard what they perceive directly from their senses. Inventors that come upon their invention via a stroke of insight and some religious reformers are characterized by the extraverted intuitive type.

·         Introverted Intuitive – These individuals, Jung thought, are profoundly influenced by their internal motivations even though they do not completely understand them. They find meaning through unconscious, subjective ideas about the world. Introverted intuitive people comprise a significant portion of mystics, artists, and religious fanatics.

Eysenck’s theory of personality (Type Cum Trait Theory)

            Eysenck explained how individual behavior is organized and acquires the shape of a definite type. It is revealed by the following illustration.

            According to Eysenck, there are four levels of behavior organization:

1. At the lowest level are the specific responses. They grow out of particular responses to any single act. Blushing, for example, is a specific response.
2. Habitual responses form the second level and comprise similar responses of an individual, to similar situations. For instance, (a) the inability to easily make friendships, or (b) hesitate in talking to strangers are habitual responses.
3. At the third level is the organization of habitual acts into traits. Behavior acts which have similarities are said to belong to one group and are called traits. In the above example the habitual responses (a) and (b) etc., give birth to a group of traits called ‘shyness’.
4. The fourth level is the organization of these traits into a general type. A type is defined as a group of correlated traits. Traits which are similar in nature give birth to a definite type. Traits like persistence, rigidity, shyness etc., have been grouped into a type termed as Introversion.

An ultimate, distinct type is obtained at this final stage. A person, can now be classified as an introvert if he has traits as described at the third level, habits and habit systems as described at the second level and responds specifically as described at the first level.

                                                        

  

 

                                               

           

      Eysenck’s work has clearly demonstrated that human behavior and personality can be very well-organised into a hierarchy with specific responses at the bottom and the definite personality type at the top. The three basic dimensions (defined as clusters or groups correlated traits) derived by Eysenck through his work are:

1. Introversion-extroversion
2. Neuroticism (emotional instability-emotional stability)
3. Psychoticism

These three basic dimensions refer to definite personality types i.e. introvert, extrovert, neurotic and psychotic. However, the term ‘type’ as applied by Eysenck stands clearly for a dimension along a scale with a low end and a high end for putting people at various points between the two extremes. While the high end on the first dimension introversion-extroversion, includes the highly extrovert recognized as sociable, outgoing, impulsive, optimistic and jolly people, the lower end typifies the highly introvert recognized as quiet, introspective, reserved, reflective, disciplined and well-ordered people. Eysenck believed that purely extrovert or purely introvert people were rarely found and he, therefore, preferred to use a dimension, i.e. a continuum ranging from introversion to extroversion instead of naming types as introverts and extroverts.

      The second major dimension suggested by Eysenck involves emotional instability at the lower end and emotional stability at the upper end describing people as neurotic and not neurotic. Thus, at its lower end are the persons who are moody, touchy, anxious or restless and at the upper end are the persons who are stable, calm, carefree, even-tempered and dependable.

The third dimension is psychoticism. The people high on this dimension tend to be solitary, insensitive, egocentric, impersonal, impulsive and opposed to accepted social norms while those scoring low are found to be more empathic and less adventurous and bold.

FREUD’S PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY

            Freud’s theory of personality is built on the premise that the mind is topographical and dynamic; there are provinces or divisions which are always moving and interrelated. The human mind has three main divisions namely, the conscious, semiconscious and unconscious.

            These three levels of the human mind are continuously in a state of clash and compromise to give birth to one or the other type of behavioural characteristics resulting in a specific type of personality. Freud also believes that the anatomy of our personality is built around the three unified and inter-relating systems, namely, id, ego and superego

The id is the raw, savage and immoral basic stuff of a man’s personality that is hidden in the deep layers of his unconscious mind. It consists of such ambitions, desires, tendencies and appetites as are guided by the pleasure-seeking principle. It has no values, knows no laws, follows no rules, does not recognize right or wrong and considers only the satisfaction of its needs and appetites to be paramount.

 

                                                                      

Obviously, the id cannot be allowed to dominate and so a second system, the ego, functions, as a policeman to check the unlawful activities of the id. It is the executive unit with the power of rejectionIt follows the principle of reality and acts with intelligence to control, select and decide what appetites have to be satisfied and in which way they may be satisfied.

            The third system of personality is the superego. It is the ethical or moral arm of the personality. It is idealistic and does not care for realities. Perfection rather than pleasure is its goal. It is a decision-making entity which decides what is good or bad to the social norms and therefore acceptable or otherwise.

            Freud put forward a dynamic concept of personality by conceptualizing the continuous conflict among the id, ego and superego. While the id operating on the pleasure principle, continuously presses for the immediate discharge of bodily tension, the superego concerned with morality prohibits such gratification. Thus, a warlike situation is created between the id and the superego with the ego attempting to mediate. The extent to which the ego is able to discharge its responsibilities decides the personality make-up of the individual. 

1.      Individuals who have a strong or powerful ego are said to have a strong or balanced personality because the ego is capable of maintaining a balance between the superego and the id.

2.      In case an individual possesses a weak ego, he is bound to have a maladjusted personality. Here two situations may arise. In one situation, the superego may be more powerful than the ego, and so does not permit desirable fulfillment of the repressed wishes and impulses which results in a neurotic personality. If, on the other hand, the id is more powerful than the ego, the individual may indulge in unlawful or immoral activities leading to the formation of a delinquent personality.

In addition to the above structure of the personality, built around the concept of the id, ego and superego, Freud tried to provide and explanation of the development of human personality through his ideas about sex. He held that sex is a life energy. The sexual needs of the individual are basic needs which have to be satisfied for a balanced growth of the personality. A knowledge of the sex needs of a person and the status of their satisfaction is sufficient to tell us all about a person’s personality. He will be an adjusted or maladjusted personality depending the extent to which his sexual needs are satisfied.

PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES

The Rorschach Inkblot Test

            This technique was developed by Harmann Rorschach (1884-1922), the Swiss psychiatrist. The material used in this test consists of 10 cards on which there are ink-blots. Five of them are in black and white and five are multi-colored. These ink-blots are completely unstructured – the shapes of the blots do not have any specific meaning.

Administration of the test

The test is administered in the following sequence.

1. The cards are presented one at the time in a specified order. When the subject gets seated, the examiner gives him the first card with necessary instructions and asks him to say what he sees in it, what it looks like to him, etc.
2. The subject is allowed as much time as he wants for a given card and is permitted to give as many responses as he wishes. He is also allowed to turn the card around a look at it from any angle he wants.
3. Besides keeping a record of the responses of the subject concerning these inkblots on separate pieces of paper, the examiner notes the time taken for each response. The position in which the cards are being held, emotional expression and other factors of incidental behavior of the subject during the test etc.
4. After all the cards have been presented, the second phase of inquiry which is intended to seek clarification or addition to the original responses follows.

Scoring, analysis and interpretation of the test.   For the purpose of scoring, the responses are given specific symbols and are entered into 4 columns.

            These scoring categories are marked as (a) location, (b) contents, (c) originality and (d) determinants.

            Location refers to the part of the blot with which the subject associates each response. The symbols W, w, D, d and s are used for scoring the location responses as follows:

            (W) indicates that the subject is seeing the card as a whole.

            (w) indicates that the subject has failed to see the problems as a whole.

            (D) indicates the major details.

            (d) indicates minor details involving petty issues or less important matters

            (s) indicate the subject’s response to the white spaces within the main 

outlines.

            Contents column is concerned with the contents of the responses. It takes note only of what is seen by the subject and not the manner of its perception. Some of the symbols used for scoring the contents of the responses are:

Scoring Symbol                     Contents of the response

                        H                                 human forms

                        A                                 animal forms

                        Ad                               animal detail

                        Hd                               human detail

                        N                                 natural objects like rivers, green fields etc.

                        O                                 inanimate objects like lamp-shade, pot etc.

In originality column for each of 10 cards, certain responses are scored as popular, by using the symbol P, because of their common occurrence while others which contain something new and thus indicate some type of originality are scored as original and represented by the symbol O.

            Determinants column takes note of the manner of perception. The main determinants are (F), the form of the blot, (C), its color, (M) its movement and (K), its shading.

            The subject’s responses on account of shading, e.g., perception of rough or smooth surfaces, smoke, cloud etc., are scored as K, whereas if the subject responds in terms of movements – (like a boy running, dancing etc.), an animal (like a dog barking), or inanimate objects like water following, cloth fluttering etc., the symbols.

Interpretation

            For example, if (a) the number of Ws is greater than d or D; then the person is said to be mature, intelligent and is expected to possess the ability to synthesize; (b) greater frequency of color at the expense of human movement indicates an extrovert nature while domination of M over K characterizes and introvert.

TAT OR THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST

            This test consists of perception of certain picture in a thematic manner, i.e. reveling imaginative themes. It was first introduced by Henry Murray (1943) to measure the need for achievement. Later it was fully developed for the assessment of personality with the help of the psychologist C.D. Morgan.

Test material and administration.    The test material consists of thirty pictures which portray human beings in a variety of actual life situations. Ten of these cards are meant for males, ten for females and ten are common to both sexes. The maximum number of pictures used on any one subject is thus, twenty. The test is usually administered in two sessions, using ten pictures in each session.

            The pictures are presented one at a time. They are vague and indefinite. The subject is told clearly, that this is a test of creative imagination and that there is no right or wrong response. He has to make up a story for each of the pictures presented to him, within a fixed period of time. He has to take care of the following aspects while knitting the story:

1.      What is going on in the picture?

2.      What has led to this scene?

3.      What would likely happen in such a situation?

In making up the stories the subject unconsciously projects several characteristics o his own personality. There is no time to think. Therefore, the stories express his own natural life’s desires, likes and dislikes, ambitions, emotions, sentiments etc. the special value of this test lies in its capacity to exploring the underlying hidden drives, complexes and conflicts of the subject’s personality. A competent examiner can learn a lot about the personality of his subject by carefully analyzing the given responses.

Scoring and interpretation.   Originally Murray analysed the contents of the stories according to needs and pressures in the form of the environmental forces to which the subject is exposed. The terms of analysis have now been modified and the system of scoring and interpretation takes the following into account:

• Hero of the story. What type of personality does he have?
• Theme of the story. What is the nature of theme or  plot used in making up the story?
• The style of the story. The length of the story, the language used, whether the expression is direct or indirect, forced or poor, organization of the contents, originality and creativity, etc.
• The content of the story. What interests sentiments, attitudes they depict, whether behavior has been expressed in real terms or as fantasy and what inner state of the mind the story reveals.
• Test situation as a whole. The subject’s reaction is to be listed as a whole.
• Particular emphasis or omissions. The omissions, addition, distortion and attention to particular detail.
• Subject’s attitude towards authority and sex.
• Outcome. Whether the ending of the story is happy, unhappy, funny etc.

As a whole, the recurring themes and features contribute more towards the interpretation than a single response. Moreover, the global view of one’s personality should be based on the responses of all the twenty pictures shown to the subject. There are many chances of misinterpretation of the contents of the stories by an immature examiner. The future of TAT therefore, hangs more on the success in perfecting the interpreter than on success in perfecting the material. People entrusted with interpreting the test must be given adequate opportunities to acquire the necessary knowledge and training for this purpose.

CAT (Children’s Apperception Test)

            TAT works well with adults and adolescents but it is not suitable for children. Dr. Leopold Bellak developed this test for children between three and ten years of age.

Description.                

This test consists of 10 cards. The cards have pictures of animals instead of human characters since it was thought that children could identify themselves with animal figures more readily than with human figures. These animals are shown in various real life situations. All ten cards are used for children of both sexes. The pictures designed to evoke fantasies relating to the child’s own experiences, reactions and feelings. The child’s personality is reflected in whatever story emerges. It is a color-free test by it demands some alterations according to the child’s local conditions.

Administration and interpretation of the test

            All the ten cards are presented one by one and the subject is asked to make up stories out of them. The examiner should try to develop such a rapport that the child treats the making-up of stories as a game.

            Interpretation of the stories is centered on the following eleven variables:

• The hero. The personality traits of the hero as revealed in the story.
• Theme of the story. The nature of the theme selected for building the story.
• The end of the story. Whether the ending is happy, wishful, realistic or unrealistic?
• Attitude towards parental figures. Which of the following emotions has been depicted in relation to parental figures: hatred, respect, devotion, gratitude, dependence, aggression, fear?
• Family role. With whom in the family has the child identified himself?
• Other outside figures introduced. Objects or external elements have been introduced in the story which is not shown in the pictures.
• Omitted or ignored figures. Which figures have the child omitted or ignored should be noted as they may reveal the wish of the subject that the figures were not there?
• Nature of anxieties. Harassment, loss of love, fear of being left alone etc., should also be noted.
• Punishment for crime. The relationship between a crime committed in the story and the severity of punishment given for it should be noted.
• Defence and confidence. The type of defences, flight, aggression, passivity and regression etc., the child adopts the nature of compliance or dependence, involvement in pleasure and achievement, sex desire etc. should also be noted.
• Other supplementary factors. The language, the overall structure of the stories, the time taken for completing them and the reactions of the subject at the time of making up the story etc.

With all this knowledge an expert interpreter can form an assessment of the various aspects of the child’s personality.

Word association test In this technique a series of stimulus words is presented and the free verbal resposes along with expressions of the subject are noted.

Example; words like table, music, man, mountain, house may be given

Sentence Completion   The respondent is asked to complete an incomplete sentence or task. A sentence- completion instrument may include such items as

My greatest ambition is…

I get very angry when …

Picture Completion TestPicture completion is another method to study the unconscious mental contents. If certain bare outlines or incomplete pictures are given and the subject is asked to fill in the gaps or complete the picture, he will imagine the lines to mean something and this imagination will be his own phantasy and he will project himself on those outlines of incomplete picture to complete it.

Story CompletionHere incomplete stories are given and the subject is asked to complete the story.

Role Playing Subjects are asked to improvise or act out a situation in which they have been assigned various roles. The researcher may observe such traits as hostility, frustration, dominance, sympathy, insecurity, prejudice- or the absence of such traits.

Creative or constructive

Allowing subjects to model clay, finger paint, play with dolls, play with toys, or draw or write imaginative stories about assigned situations may be revealing.

The choice of colour, form, words, the sense of orderliness, evidence of tensions, and other reactions may provide opportunities to infer deep- seated feelings.

NON-PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES

ATTITUDE

Definition

An attitude is a particular feeling about something. It therefore involves a tendency to behave in a certain way in situations which involve that something, whether person, idea or object. It is partially rational and partially emotional and is acquired, not inherent, in an individual.-Soreson.

Characteristics

Attitudes have Subject-object relationship: Attitude always involve the relation of an individual with specific objects, persons, groups, institutions and values or norms related to his environment

Attitudes are learned: Attitudes are learned and acquired dispositions. They are not innate and inherent in an individual.

Attitudes have motivational –affective characteristics: Attitudes have definite motivational characteristics. Attitude towards one’s family, nation, religion or other sacred institutions have definite motivational affective characteristics.

Attitudes are re-actively enduring states of readiness: Attitudes represent the state of readiness to respond to a certain stimulus.

Attitudes are as numerous and varied as the stimuli to which they respond: Attitude is an implicit; therefore it stands to be varied with the number and variety of the responses which the individual makes.

It range from strongly positive to strongly negative: When a person shows some tendency to approach an object he is said to have positive attitude towards it but when he shows tendency to avoid the object, his attitude is described as negative.

Measurement of attitudes

Direct Methods: Measuring the verbal report of the attitude

Indirect Method: Interpretation of the attitude from the unsaturated or indirect responses

Direct methods

In this method, opinion of an individual about a particular subject in the form of a verbal report is collected and based on this, his attitude towards the subject is estimated. Generally the following devices are used for the purpose.

1.      asking the individual directly how he feels about a subject

2.      asking to mark those statements from a list with which he is in agreement

3.      to indicate his degree of agreement or disagreement with a series of statements dealing with the same subject (Thurstones attitude scale and Likert attitude scale)

Indirect method

In these methods the subjects are given opportunities to structure their own response without letting them know the real purpose of the task. The projective techniques used for assessment of personality are the good example of these indirect methods. The essence of these techniques is that subjectexpresses his covert tendencies while responding to unstructured stimuli. An intelligent interpretation of his responses may shoe his attitude towards a particular object or issue.

APTITUDE

Meaning & Definition

Aptitude is considered to be unique or unusual potential or ability of an individual to acquire general knowledge and skill in many fields.

Aptitude is defined as a condition or set of characteristics regarded as indicative of an individual’s ability to acquire with training some specified knowledge, skill or set of responses such as the ability to speak of language, to produce music.

Characteristics

1.      It is an indicative of one’s ability for a particular work or job.

2.      It indicates more than potential ability in performance and implies fitness and suitability for the activities in question.

3.      It is a present condition with a forward reference.

4.      It is the result of heredity and environment

5.      It is a capacity to learn

6.      It brings excellence in the job performance.

Purpose of Aptitude Testing

1.      To help in the proper choice of courses and careers

2.      To predict future success

3.      To help the students in the development of special traits

4.      To supplement other psychological tests.

Types of aptitude testing

1.      General Aptitude test battery

2.      Differential aptitude test

3.      Special Aptitude test

General Aptitude test battery

This battery developed by the united states of employment services has proved occupationally significant. it consists of 12 tests which measure nine aptitudes important for success in a wide variety of occupations.

Differential aptitude test

It was developed by George K. Bennett, Harold G. Seashore and Alexander G. Wesman in 1947 to provide an integrated, scientific and well-standardised procedure for measuring the abilitiesof boys and girlsin grades eight through twelve for purposes of educational and vocational guidance.the battery includes eight tests: They are

Ø  Verbal reasoning

Ø  Numerical ability

Ø  Abstract reasoning

Ø  Clerical speed and accuracy

Ø  Mechanical reasoning

Ø  Space relations

Ø  Language Usage I : Spelling

Ø  Language Usage II : Sentences

Verbal reasoning

It is a measure of ability to understand concepts framed in words. It aimed at the evaluation of the student’s ability to abstract or generalise and to think constructively.

Example

______ is to night as breakfast is to ____________

_______ is to one as second is to ___________

Numerical Ability

It is a measure of the student’s ability to reason with numbers, to manipulate numerical relationships and to deal intelligently with quantitative materials.

Abstract reasoning

It is intended as a non-verbal measure of the student’s reasoning ability.

Clerical speed and accuracy

It is intended to measure speed of response in a simple perceptual task.

Mechanical reasoning test

It is a measure of one’s ability to apply mechanical or scientific principles.

Space relations test

It measures the ability to deal with concrete materials through visualisation.

Language Usage Test: Spelling and Sentences

It measures the ability to use the English Language. Both the forms- spellings and sentences taken together provide a good estimate of a student’s ability to distinguish correct from incorrect English usage.

Special Aptitude Test

They attempt to concentrate on ability in a particular area. They reveal aptitudes in smaller areas or specific areas.

Eg .. Mechanical aptitude test, clerical aptitude test , Musical aptitude test, Art aptitude test, Military aptitude test,, Teaching aptitude test etc..

INTEREST

Interest is a generalized behaviour tendency of an individual to be attracted to a certain class of incentives or activities that are vocational in nature and to those whose broad meanings exceed vocations.

Characteristics

·         Interests are shaped by heredity and environment

·         They are fairly stable traits of personality

·         They never become permanently fixed. There is a constant shaping of the detailed pattern.

·         They vary with age and differ among individuals

Interest testing-Purpose

·         To provide teachers and counsellors with information about student’s preferences and aversions which will help them acquire better understanding of students and their problems.

·         To help the students to identify and clarify their interest in terms of the demands of varied courses and careers and choose work and experiences consistent with his interests

·         To help channelise the energies of the youth in different directions

·         To help in the selection of the right person for the right work and thus save individuals from frustration, unhappiness and disappointment

Methods of measuring interests

Ø  Observation: we may observe manifest interests. what an individual actually does is a good indication of what his interest are.

Ø  Claims of the counsellee: we can know the interests by knowing the expressed interests of the individual in a subject, activity, object or vocation. verbal claim can be an indicator of his interest.

Ø  Use of instruments: we may assess interests using an instrument like Michigan Vocabulary test on that if individual is really interested in something, he will know the vocabulary involved in that area.

Ø  Use of inventories : we may determine the pattern of an individual’s interest from his response to lists of occupations and activities.interest inventories provide information about student’s preferencs which are more stable than the verbally claimed interst.

Interest inventories

1. Kuder Interest Inventories :Kuder vocational preference record- 10 interest scales. It includes outdoor, mechanical, computational, scientific, persuasive, artistic literary, musical, social service and clerical.

2.Strong-Campbell interest inventory

3. Vocational Interest Inventory- Badami

INTEGRATED PERSONALITY

Integrated personality is one in whom various aspects of personality are working in a harmonious and effective manner. The integration of personality is the integration of all psycho-physical traits of personality.

According to Guilford, Integrated personality emerges from the synthesis of seven traits – psychology, needs, interests, attitude, temperament, aptitude and morphology.

In wood worth's opinion, an integrated personality is one in which the several traits, interests, and desires are combined in an effective harmonious unity.

CHARACTERISTICS OF INTEGRATED PERSONALITY
1.In an Integrated personality, mind and emotions, desire and determination, and all mental activities work in an organized way.
2. There are no conflicts in an integrated personality.
3. In such a person, his ambitions and aspirations are in accordance with his mental capacities and his objectives are realistically attuned to the required physical energy.
4. An integrated personality is flexible, strong, and organized as well as balanced.
5. Such a person has realistic assessment of himself , his strength, and weakness, has stable concept involving higher level of self esteem and fewer feelings of inadequacy and fewer evidence of compensatory behavior and accept himself , leading to himself being accepted by others.
6. Integrated personality implies harmony between five important aspects of personality:
Harmony between one's abilities and capacities.
Harmony among one's interests.
Harmony between one's abilities and interests.
Harmony between one's self concept and social constraints.
Harmony between one's life goal and social codes of conduct.