Projective Technique

Kolakowsky-Hayner, Stephanie A.

doi:10.1007/978-0-387-79948-3_2096

Projective Technique

Stephanie A. Kolakowsky-Hayner⁵

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Synonyms

Ambiguous personality assessment; Free-response measures; Unrestricted-response technique

Definition

Projective techniques are a subset of personality testing in which the examinee is given a simple unstructured task, with a goal of uncovering personality characteristics. Projective techniques are often the most recognizable yet the most psychometrically controversial psychological testing technique. Based on the projective hypothesis, projective stimuli are purposefully ambiguous with the goal of eliciting the examinee’s true feelings, desires, fears, motives, and other unconscious personality characteristics. While neuropsychologists typically use objective measures of analysis, most only utilize projective techniques if there is suspected psychiatric diagnosis, rather than simply a suspected or known neurological diagnosis (Sweet, Moberg, & Suchy, 2000). The most common projective techniques include the Rorschach Inkblot Test (also known as the Rorschach or simply The...

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References and Readings

Klopfer, W. G., & Taulbee, E. S. (1976). Projective tests. Annual Review of Psychology, 27, 543–568.
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Lilienfeld, S. O., Wood, J. M., & Garb, H. N. (2000). The scientific status of projective techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 1, 27–66.
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Sweet, J. J., Moberg, P. J., & Suchy, Y. (2000). Ten-year follow-up survey of clinical neuropsychologists: Part I. Practices and beliefs. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 14, 18–37.
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Watkins, C. E., Campbell, V. L., & McGregor, P. (1988). Counseling psychologists’ uses of and opinions about psychological tests: A contemporary perspective. The Counseling Psychologist, 16, 476–486.
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Authors and Affiliations

Director, Rehabilitation Research, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Rehabilitation Research Center, 751 South Bascom Ave., 95128, San Jose, CA, USA
Stephanie A. Kolakowsky-Hayner

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Stephanie A. Kolakowsky-Hayner
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Editors and Affiliations

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Professor of Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry Virginia Commonwealth University – Medical Center Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, VCU, 980542, Richmond, Virginia, 23298-0542, USA
Jeffrey S. Kreutzer
Kessler Foundation Research Center, 1199 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ, 07052, USA
John DeLuca
Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Neurology and Neuroscience, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey – New Jersey Medical School, New Jersey, USA
John DeLuca
Independent Practice, 564 M.O.B. East, 100 E. Lancaster Ave., Wynnewood, PA, 19096, USA
Bruce Caplan

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Kolakowsky-Hayner, S.A. (2011). Projective Technique. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79948-3_2096

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79948-3_2096
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-79947-6
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-79948-3
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