1. PSYCHOLOGICAL / PERSONALITY
DEVELOPMENT & THEORETICAL
PERSPECTIVES
prepared by : RN Aljina Rawat

2. Personality
• It is derived from the Latin word " persona" which means "
mask" used by the actors to change their appearance.
• It is the combination of an individual thoughts, characteristics,
behaviors, attitude, idea and habits.
• Personality is the total sum of all the behavioural & mental
characteristics by means of which an individual is recognized
as being unique.
• It also refers to the habits, attitudes as well as physical traits of
a person which are not same but have vary from group to
group & society to society.

3. • Personality is the most characteristics integration of an
individual structure , modes of behaviour , interests, attitudes
& abilities , especially from the point of adjustment in social
situation.
( MUNN)
• Personality is the impression an individual makes on others. It
refers to his/her social skills, charismatic qualities & the like.
( Hall, Calvin & gardener, 1985)

4. • Personality is a patterned body of habits, traits, attitudes &
ideas of an individual as these are organized externally into
roles & statuses, and as they relate internally to motivation,
goals & various aspects of selfhood.
( K. young )
• Personality is the sum of activities that can be discovered by
actual observations over a long enough period of times to give
reliable information.
( Watson )

5. • Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual
of the psychosocial system that determines the unique
adjustment to environment.
( G. W All port )
• Personality refers to deeply ingrained patterns of behaviour,
which include the way one relates to, receives & thinks about
the environment & oneself.
( American psychiatric Association ,1987)

6. Characteristics of personality
• It is something which is unique in each individual.
• Personality is greatly influenced by social interactions.
• Personality represents a dynamic orientation of an organism to
the environment.
• Personality does not just influence how we move & respond in
our environment , it also causes us to act in certain ways.
• Personality can also be seen in our thoughts , feelings, close
relationships & other social interactions.

7. Types of personality
• Extrovert personality : These type of individuals has the
tendency to live mostly outside & are highly socialized & have
contact with outside people in the society.
• Introvert personality : These type of individuals always live
alone in their rooms & have their own imaginary world. For
example : scientists, thinkers & philosophers.
• Ambivert personality : These type of individuals enjoy both
groups & attend them. They have middle mind & want to live
in both parties.

8. Factors affecting personality
1. Heredity :
• Heredity refers to those factors that are determined to
conception.
• Heredity is another factor determining human personality.
• Physical structure, facial attractiveness, gender, temperament
, muscle composition & reflexes, energy level & biological
rhythms are characteristics that are generally considered to be
either completely or substantially influenced by the parents.

9. • It has been established through research that those
psychological characteristics can be transmitted through
hereditary through it has not proven.
• Person tends to resemble his parents in physical appearance &
intelligence.
• Heredity does not mould human personality alone & unaided
there are other factors too which determine the individual's
personality , but there are some traits which seem to be more
directly affected by heredity than others.

10. • Manual skills , intelligence & sensory discriminates are some
of the abilities which appear more highly developed in some
family lines than others.
• But other traits such as one's beliefs , loyalties , prejudices &
manners are for the most part, the result of training &
experience.

11. 2. Physiological factors:
• Physiological factors refers to all the physical & chemical
processes that take place in organism in order for them to
perform all the functions & activities associated with living.
• Physiological factors like gender, hormone level, functioning
of endocrine glands like thyroid, parathyroid, pituitary gland,
adrenal gland, gonads e.t.c. will affect personality of a
person. This determines how an individual behaves in certain
situations.

12. • Individual's physiology is controlled by central nervous
system which includes brain & spinal cord which has
important role in determining behaviour of a person.
• Brain & spinal cord play an important role in person's reaction
& adjustment to a situation.
• Thus, growth & functioning of nervous system affects
personality of a person.

13. • For example : when individual's body's chemistry is off due to
unbalanced nutrition, dehydration, alcohol e.t.c the
neurotransmitters that control thinking process can be affected.
• Physiological factors also include changes to the brain's
structure due to injuries, extended periods of inactivity or
physical stress.

14. 3. Psychological factors :
• Psychological factors refers to the thoughts , feelings & other
cognitive characteristics that affect the attitude , behaviour &
functions of the human mind.
• These factors can influence how a person thinks & later affect
the decisions & a relation in daily life.
• This specific style which is different foe each individual
actually gets determined through the accumulative
characteristics of mental trends, emotions, sentiments, thought
patterns & complexes.

15. • Some of the psychological factors like : motives, acquired
interests ,attitudes, character, intellectual capacities, mental
conflicts, wishes & aspirations , feelings of repression ,
sublimation & emotional well- being.
• Beyond the influence of these factors, the relative contribution
of each factor to personality varies with character or
personality process involved & with the individual concerned.

16. 4. Social factors :
• The things that occur around a person on a regular basis
determines how that person will behave & perceive
themselves.
• A person's social factor includes co-ordination, co-operation ,
family relationships, organizational relationships, workplaces
relationships, involvement in communities e.t.c.
• Parents & other family members have a strong influence on
the personality development of the child.

17. • Parents have more effect on personality development as
compared to other members of the family.
• Friends, neighbor, relatives, traditional practices , norms,
customs, rules & regulations, values are also highly influential
determinants of personality as these factors are the elements of
society.
• Many other social factors like environment, group life, family,
media which an individual interact in his/her society daily life
mold their personalities.

18. PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
THEORIES
1. Psychoanalytic theory by Sigmund Freud :
• Sigmund Freud ( 1856 to 1939) was the founding father of
psychoanalysis, a method for treating mental illness and also
theory which explains human behaviour.
• Freud explored on the structure of the mind, & developed a
therapeutic framework that intends to understand & treat
disturbing mental issues.
• Freud thought of personality as being based upon a structure
of three parts like : Id, ego, superego.

19. 1. The Id :
• It is present since birth.
• It functions on pleasure principle & demands immediate
fulfillment of needs & wants.
• It does not consider the environment , the needs of other or
reality but demands immediate complete self satisfaction.
• Id is very important during early years of life as it ensures
that an infant's needs are immediately met or he/she would
cry until the demands are met.

20. • Id is completely selfish, concerned with immediate
gratification & composed of biological instincts.
• When the Id achieves its demands, we experience pleasure
when it is deprived of we experience unpleasure or tension.
• For example : one start eating before the formal program
starts.

21. 2. Ego :
• Ego functions on reality principle which deals with reality.
• It begins to develop between ages 4 to 6 months.
• Sometimes ego has a hard time resolving the conflict & has to
build defenses. They are called defense mechanism.
• Ego waits for the right moment for the satisfaction of a desire.
• Ego weights costs & benefits before deciding on an action.
• Ego acts as a mediator or balancer between demands of id &
wishes of superego.

22. 3. Superego :
• It is based on perfection principle or moral principle.
• It develops between ages of 3 to 6 years.
• Superego is the moral part of personality & is a product of
socialization.
• It is the sense of right & wrong.
• It is developed through cultural environment & learning from
social contacts such as parents, family, teachers & authority
members.

23. • It includes rules & standards for good/ standard behaviour
which is approved by parents & other authoritative figures of
society .
• For example : If a student have a strong presence of superego
in his/her personality , he/she would decide to study for the
next day's exam & abandon sleep or movie.

24. Stages of psychoanalytic theory
a. Oral phage ( birth to about 18 months ) :
• The infant's primary source of interaction occurs through the
mouth. So the child drives pleasure through mouth by
sucking , biting & swallowing e.t.c.
• Child also develops a sense of trust & comfort because child
is entirely dependent upon caretakers, mothers.
• Infants derives pleasure from oral stimulation through tasting
& sucking.

25. • Primary conflict at this stage is weaning process- the child
must become less dependent upon caretakers.
• If fixation ( addiction) occurs at this stage, the individual
would have issues with dependency or aggression.
• Oral fixation can result in problems with drinking, eating ,
smoking or nail- biting.

26. b. Anal phage (18 months to 3 years) :
• During this stage, the primary focus was on controlling
bladder & bowel movements.
• Major conflict at this stage is toilet training- the child has to
learn to control their bodily needs.
• Anus is associated with pleasure.
• If parents are too strict or begin toilet training too early, anal-
retentive personality develops in which the individual is
rigid, obsessive in his/her adulthood.

27. • According to Freud , inappropriate parental responses can
result in negative outcomes.
• Positive experiences during the toilet training stage serve
individual to become competent, productive & creative adults.

28. c. The phallic stage( 3 to 6 years ) :
• During the phallic stage, the primary focus is on the genitals.
• Child begins to discover the differences between males &
females.
• At this stage, children frequently plays with their genitals in
order to explore them.
• In this stage, a boy is more attracted towards his mother &
daughter is attracted towards his father & both dislike the
same sex partner.

29. • Oedipus complex & Electra complex can occur.
• Oedipus complex : It describes boy's sense of competition with
his father for the affection of his mother.
• Electra complex :It describes girl's sense of competition with
her mother for affection of her father.

30. d. The latency stage( 6 years to puberty) :
• This stage begins around the time that children enter into
school & become more concerned with peer relationships,
hobbies & other interests.
• Sexual energy is repressed or hidden.
• This stage is important in development of social &
communication skills & self- confidence.

31. • Develops social skills, values & relationships with peers &
adults outside of the family.
• Children become fixated in this stage which can result in
immaturity and an inability to form fulfilling relationships as
an adult.

32. e. The genital stage ( Puberty to 20 years ) :
• In this stage, individual develops a strong sexual interest in
the opposite sex.
• This stage begins during puberty but last through out the rest
of a person's life.
• This phase represents the reappearance of sex drive in
adolescence & more specific focusing of pleasure in sexual
intercourse.
• If other stages have been completed successfully, individual
will be well-balanced, warm & caring.

33. 2. Psychosocial theory by Erik Erikson :
• Erik Erikson (1902-1994) was a German American
developmental psychologist & psychoanalyst known for his
theory on psychological development of human beings.
• Erikson's psychosocial theory explores that personality
develops in pre determined order through eight stages of
psychosocial development, from infancy to adulthood.
• According to the theory, successful completion of each stage
results in a healthy personality & failure to complete further
stages can result in unhealthy personality & reduce sense of
self.

34. Stages of psychosocial theory
a. Infancy ( trust vs. mistrust ):
• This stage begins at birth & continues to 18 months of age.
• During this stage, the infant is not certain about the world in
which they live, & looks towards their primary care giver for
stability & consistency of care.
• If the care provider gives constant , predictable & reliable
care, infant will develop a sense of trust which will carry
with them to other relationships.

35. • If the care is inconsistent , unpredictable & unreliable , then
the infant may develop a sense of mistrust, suspicion &
anxiety.
• By developing a sense of trust infant can have hope that as
new crisis arise, there is a real possibility that other people
will be there as a source of support.
• Failing to acquire trust will lead to the development of fear &
mistrust which may result in anxiety, heightened insecurities &
an over feeling of mistrust in the world around them.
• Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of hope.

36. b. Toddler ( Autonomy vs. shame & doubt ) :
• This stage occurs between the age of 18 months to 3 years.
• At this stage children focused on developing a sense of
personal control over physical skills & a sense of
independence.
• If children are encouraged & supported they increased
independence, become more confident & secure in their own
ability to survive in the world.

37. • If children are criticized , overly controlled , or not given
opportunity to assert themselves , they became dependent upon
others, lack self- esteem, begin to feel inadequate in their
ability to survive & feel sense of shame or doubt in their
abilities.
• In this stage, child develop physically & become more
independent & discovers many skills & ability. Such skills
demonstrate the child's growing sense of independence &
autonomy.

38. • So, the parents need to encourage the child to become more
independent.
• Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of will.

39. c. Preschool age ( Initiative vs. guilt ) :
• This stage occurs between the age of 3- 5 years.
• In this stage, primary feature involves child regularly
interacting with other children at school , focused on play, as
it provides opportunity to explore their interpersonal skills
through initiating activities, directing play & other social
interaction.
• Children begin to plan activities , make up games & initiate
activities with others.

40. • If this opportunity is given , children develop a sense of
initiative & feel secure in their ability to lead others & make
decisions.
• If this tendency is stopped through criticism or control ,
children develop a sense of guilt.
• At this stage, the child will begin to ask many questions as
child eagerness to get knowledge grows.

41. • If parents treat the child's question as insignificant, a nuisance
or embarrassing then the child may have feeling of guilt for
"being a nuisance"
• Too much guilt can make child slow to interact with others &
may inhibit their creativity.

42. d. School age ( Industry vs. inferiority) :
• It occurs between the age of 5-12 years.
• In this stage children will start to learn, to read & write , to
do sums, to do thing on their own.
• Teachers begin to take an important role in the child's life as
they teach the child specific skills.
• At this stage, child's peer groups helps to develop own self –
esteem.

43. • The child now want to win approval from the society & begin
to develop a sense of pride in their accomplishment.
• If children are encouraged & reinforced for their initiative,
they begin to feel competent & confidence in their ability to
achieve goals.
• If this initiative is not encouraged, restricted by parents or
teacher, then the child begins to feel inferior, doubt his own
abilities & may not reach his/her potential.

44. e. Adolescence ( Identity vs. Role confusion) :
• This stage occurs between the age of 12- 18 years.
• During this stage, adolescents search for a sense of self &
personal identity through an intense exploration of personal
values, beliefs & goals.
• This is major stage of development where child has to learn
roles that is to be adopted as an adult.
• Individual wants to belong to a society & fit in & become
more independent & begin to look at the future in terms of
career , relationships, family , housing e.t.c.

45. • Adolescents may feel uncomfortable about their body for a
while until they can adapt & grow into the changes.
• During this period, they explore possibilities & begin to form
their own identity based upon the outcome of their
explorations.
• Failure to establish a sense of identity within society can lead
to role confusion.
• In response to role confusion or identity crisis, an adolescent
may begin to experiment with different lifestyles.

46. f. Early adulthood ( Intimacy vs. isolation) :
• This stage occurs between the age of 18 to 40 years.
• In this stage major conflicts centers are on forming intimate ,
loving relationships with other people.
• An individual begin to share oneself more intimately with
others.
• People explore relationships leading toward long term
commitments with someone rather than family members.

47. • Successful completion of this stage can result in happy
relationships, & a sense of commitment, safety & care within a
relationship.
• Avoiding intimacy , fearing commitments & relationships can
lead to isolation, loneliness & sometimes depression.

48. g. Middle adulthood ( Generativity vs. stagnation) :
• This stage occurs between the age of 40 to 65 years.
• Generativity refers to " making your mark " on the world
through creating or developing thing that will last longer than
an individual .
• An individual give back to society through raising children,
being productive at work , & becoming involved in
community activities & organizations.

49. • Through Generativity an individual develop a sense of being a
part of the bigger picture.
• If an individual fails to contribute the person become stagnant
& feel unproductive & also may feel disconnected &
uninvolved with their community & with society as a whole.
• Success leads to feelings of usefulness & accomplishment.

50. h. Late adulthood/ old age ( Ego integrity vs. despair ) :
• Final stage of psychosocial development begins at 65 & ends
at death.
• During this time person consider own accomplishments &
can develop integrity if a person see oneself as leading a
successful life.
• When the individual become senior citizens they tend to slow
down own productivity & explore life as a retired person.

51. • If we see our lives as unproductive , feel guilt about our past or
feel that we did not accomplish our life goals , we become
dissatisfied & develop despair , leading to depression &
hopelessness.
• Thus, wise people are not characterized by continuous state of
ego, integrity but they experience both ego integrity & despair.
Thus , late life is characterized by both integrity & despair as
alternating states that need to be balance.

52. 3. Cognitive theory by jean piaget :
• Jean piaget ( 1896-1990) was born in Switzerland , &
developed cognitive development theory.
• He states that children sort the knowledge they acquire through
their experiences & interactions into groupings known as
schemas.
• Piaget supported for the idea that children think differently
than adults.
• According to piaget , children are born with very basic mental
structure on which all subsequent learning & knowledge are
based.

53. • Jean piaget states that , there are three basic components of
cognitive development :
a. Schemas :
 Schemas are an organized , repeatable action sequence
possessing component actions that are tightly interconnected
& governed by a core meaning.
 This means that we store these mental representatives &
apply them when needed.

54. b. Adaptation :
 Adaptation is the tendency to adjust to the environment.
 It is the process by which humans match the original
experience & the new experience and this may not fit
together.
 According to piaget there are three processes in cognitive
development. They are :

55. i. Assimilation :
 It is the cognitive process of making new information fit
with the existing understanding of the world.
 In early childhood , children are constantly assimilating new
information & experience into their existing knowledge
about the world.
ii. Accommodation :
 If new experiences cause the person to alter or completely
change their existing beliefs then it is known as
accommodation.

56. iii. Equilibrium :
 According to piaget, in the process of learning ,children
learn to strike a balance between the use of assimilation &
accommodation.
 This process, known as equilibration, allows children to find
a balance between applying their existing knowledge &
adapting their behaviour to new information.

57. c. Stages of development :
• Jean piaget's theory of cognitive development states that
children move through four different stages of intellectual
development which reflect the increasing difficulty of
children's thought.
• His theory focuses on understanding how children acquire
knowledge regarding fundamental concepts such as object,
number, categorization, quantity , justice e.t.c.
• Piaget's four stages of cognitive development include:

58. a. Sensory-motor stage ( Birth to 2 year)
• During this stage of cognitive development, infants & toddlers
acquire knowledge through sensory experiences &
manipulating objects.
• A child's entire experience occurs through basic reflexes ,
senses & motor responses.
• Children not only learn how to perform physical actions such
as crawling & walking, they also learn more about language
from the people with whom they interact.

59. • This stage has the following characteristics :
 Infants knows the world through their movements &
sensations.
 Children learn about the world through basic actions such as
sucking, grasping, looking & listening.
 Infants learn that things continue to exist even though they
cannot be seen.
 They realize that their actions can cause things to happen in
the world around them.

60. 6 Different subdivisions
i. Reflexive stage :
• In the first stage, newborn will tend to respond reflexively to
any kind of touch or other stimulation.
• This usually happens by grasping , sucking, or sometimes
even smiling.
• Eventually, these actions will become intentional rather than
reflexive.

61. ii. Primary circular reaction stage ( 1-4 months ) :
• During this period, the baby start to make precise
movements for their own pleasure.
• If they make a specific sound or movement without meaning
& they enjoy how it feels, then they will try doing it again &
again.
• For examples : kicking, thumb sucking, smiling intentionally
e.t.c.

62. iii. Secondary circular reactions stage ( 4-8 months) :
• By this period baby starts using objects to learn about their
worlds.
• They will start throwing or dropping things, shaking a rattle,
banging objects together to see what sounds they make &
they will also be able to make more sounds by themselves.
• For example : they will try to make speech-like sounds; they
will laugh , & even use certain noises to express their
happiness , unhappiness , or excitement.

63. iv. Coordinating secondary circular reactions stage ( 8 months –
1 year) :
• During this period , they will start crawling to pick up a toy
from across the room or begin to push aside toys that they
want & are blocked.
• The child is also able to co-ordinate & plan their actions in
response to their thoughts.
• Some other development seen in baby includes : enjoying
simple games, turns to look whenever they hear something,
start to recognize some words & respond to them & also
start saying a few words or try to irritate speech of others.

64. v. Tertiary circular reactions stage ( 12- 18 months ) :
• At this stage, child is able to explore their surroundings &
learn more about world through planning , experiments &
motor co-ordination.
• May also be able to take things apart in order to join them
back again .
• Child starts to carry out a series of planned steps for
completing a given task.
• Start understanding & responding to simple questions &
begin to speak simple phrases, listen to or show some
preference for certain songs or short stories.

65. vi. Symbolic thought stage ( 18 months ) :
• At this age, children starts understanding that symbols
represent objects, which refers to the knowledge that objects
continue to exists even when they cannot be seen or heard.
• Child should be able to remember & repeat actions or worlds
from previous days.
• Child's vocabulary will also begin to develop significantly.
• They will even start asking short questions & also make
requests with the use of one or two words.

66. b. Pre-operational stage ( 2- 7 years )
• During this stage, children begin to engage in symbolic play &
learn to manipulate symbols.
• Children do not yet understand concrete logic.
• Child is able to use an object to represent something else.
• Role- playing also becomes important as child often play the
roles of " mommy", "daddy", "doctor" & many other
characters.

67. Key features
a. Centration :
• It is the tendency to focus on only one aspect of a situation at
one time .
• During this stage child have more difficulties thinking about
more than one aspect of any situation at the same time.

68. b. Egocentrism :
• Egocentrism refers to the child's inability to see a situation
from another person's point of view.
• Children's thought & communications are typically
egocentric ( about themselves).
• Egocentric child assumes that other people see , hear & feel
exactly the same as the child does.

69. c. Play :
• At the beginning of his stage , child engages in parallel play.
• That they means they often play in the same room as other
children but they play next to others rather than with them.
• Child is absorbed in its own private world & speech is
egocentric.
• Main function of speech at this stage is to externalize the
child's thinking rather than to communicate with others.

70. d. Symbolic representation :
• In early pre-operational period (2-3yrs) child increases the
use of symbolic function.
• This is the ability to make one thing- a word or an object –
stand for something other than itself.
• Language is the most obvious form of symbolism that young
children display.

71. e. Pretend or symbolic play :
• Toddlers often pretend to be people they are not & may play
these roles with props that symbolize real life objects.
• Now, egocentrism declines & children begin to enjoy the
participation of another child in their games.

72. f. Animism :
• For the pre-operational child the world of nature is alive,
conscious & has a purpose.
• They believe that inanimate objects such as : toys , dolls have
human feelings & intentions.
• Piaget has given four stages of animism :
 Up to age of 4 or 5 yrs , child believes that almost everything
is alive & has purpose.

73.  During 5-7 yrs , only objects that move have a purpose.
 In 7-9 yrs , only objects that move spontaneously are thought
to be alive.
 In 9-12 yrs , the child understands that only plants & animals
are alive .

74. c. Concrete operational stage ( 7-11 years)
• Third stage of piaget's theory of cognitive development is
characterized by development of organized & rational
thinking.
• This stage is a major turning point in client's cognitive
development because it marks the beginning of logical or
operational thought.
• Child becomes mature enough to use logical thought or
operations.

75. • children gain the abilities of conservation ( number, area,
volume, & orientation ), reversibility e.t.c.
• Although children can solve problems in a logical fashion,
they are typically not able to think abstractly or hypothetically.
• Major developmental tasks are :
 Learning to apply logic to thinking.
 Develops understanding of reversibility & spatiality.

76.  Learning to differentiate & classify.
 Able to think about past & present events but not future.
 Child is able to acknowledge new points of others &
appreciate feelings.

77. d. Formal operational stage ( 11-15 years )
• Thinking becomes much more sophisticated & advanced.
• Children can think about abstract & theoretical concepts & use
logic to come up with creative solutions to problems.
• Skill such as logical thought, reasoning, systematic planning ,
mathematical calculation, think creatively, imagining the
outcome of particular actions emerge during this stage .
• Children can do mathematical calculations, think creatively ,
use abstract reasoning , & imagine the outcome of particular
actions.

78. • Major developmental tasks are :
 Learning to think & reason in abstract terms.
 Makes & tests hypothesis.
 Logical thinking & reasoning ability to expand are refined.
 Can think of future events & develops strategies for solving
complex problems.
 Cognitive maturity is achieved during this stage.

79. Methods of personality assessment
• Assessment of personality means judging, evaluation &
measurement of personality traits or the general personality
pattern possessed by an individual.
• Some of the methods of personality assessment are :

80. a. Interview :
• Interview is the most common method of judging personality.
• The interviewer questions or lets the individual speak freely
so as to get a clear picture of individual.
• From what he says , the interviewer knows about his
interests, problems , assets & limitations.

81. • The interviewer evaluates personality traits not only from the
content of the answers to questions asked , but also from
intolerance with which the news are expressed by the interest
shown by vocabulary which the subject employs
unintentionally show in his conversation & by observing his
hesitations, his emotionally e.t.c.
• The limitation of the method is that it is subjective & is less
valid than one believes it to be.

82. b. Observation methods :
• It is one of the method for collecting actual data of the
individual.
• It involves watching a participant & recording relevant
behaviour for later analysis.
• This method do not depend on the person's own statements
about himself but on his overt behaviour as revealed to others
who serves as observers , examiners or judges.

83. • The person is observed or studied in certain life situations
where his particular traits, habits, needs & other characteristics
are brought into play & can thus be observed directly by
examiner.
• This method has the advantage of providing direct evidence of
process that is being studied.

84. • This is more objective than other ways of collecting data for
examples: Interviewing the children or their teacher.
• For example : If we want to study how children manage
sharing of toys we could observe a group of children playing
in classroom & record what things they say or do that
determine their ways of thinking.

85. c. Projective technique :
• In this method, the examiner does not observe the overt
behaviour of the person as in observation technique , nor
does he ask the person to state his opinion of his own
behaviour or his feeling about certain experiences.
• Instead, person is requested to behave in imaginative way i.e.
by making up a story , interpreting ink-blots or constructing
some objects out of plastic & draw what he wants.

86. • The person is encouraged to ' project' or throw his thoughts ,
emotions, wishes & other reactions freely in some situations
which are provided.
• This method intend to reveal underlying traits, moods,
attitudes & fantasies that determine behaviour of individual in
actual situations.
• By this method , individual can reveal his innermost
characteristics or his personality.
• Some of the important projective techniques are given below :

87. i. Rorschach ink blot test :
• It was developed by a Swiss psychologist Herman
Rorschach (1921) consists of 10 inkblots having symmetrical
designs.
• Five of these cards are in black & white , two with splashes
of red & three in other colors.
• The test is usually administrated individually.
• When the card is shown or placed before client.

88. • At first he is asked to tell what he sees in inkblot or what is
means to him or what this might be.
• In second phase , called the enquiry the examiner ascertains
more fully not only what the person sees , but also what &
how he sees it.
• In third phase called " testing the limits" the examiner tries to
ascertain whether the subject responds to color , shading &
other meaningful aspects of the inkblots , or whether the whole
or parts of the blots are used by the subject in his response.

89. • All these responses are then subjected to a scoring system.
• The scoring categories of the test such as movement & color,
are interpreted as signifying different functions of personality:
intellectual creativity, outgoing emotionality, practical
mindedness e.t.c.
• Limitation of this method is it needs highly trained personnel
to administer & interpret Rorschach & it is also time
consuming.

90. ii. Thematic appreciation test :
• It is developed by Murry & Morgan (1935) consists of a
series of 20 pictures.
• The person is asked to tell the story that each one suggests to
him.
• These pictures are arranged in appropriate groups for male &
female & for children.
• On each picture , the subject tells the story by identifying the
characters explaining their relationship to each other ,
describing what preceded the situation shown in picture &
stating an outcome.

91. • The record of story is analyzed according to major theories :
the hero, sexual interests, vocational ambition, family conflict
& social status e.t.c.
• These theme projects implicit attitudes , habits of thought,
ideas, drives of subject, as well as characteristics of other
characters-father, mother, bother, sister, husband & wife.
• It throws light on functioning of personality.

92. d. Sentence – completion test :
• The sentence- completion technique may be considered a
logical extension of word- association method.
• In administering a sentence – completion test, the evaluator
presents the subject with a series of partial sentences that he
is asked to finish in his own words i.e. ( " I feel stressed
when ……………").
• This methods helps to analyze them in terms of what they
judge to be recurring attitudes , conflicts & motives reflected
in them.