Projective Technique

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 et al. 2000). The most common projective techniques include the Rorschach Inkblot Test (also known as the Rorschach or simply The Inkblot Test),...