EntranceMethods of general psychodiagnostics and their classification. Introduction
Topic 3. Classification of methods and techniques of psychodiagnosticsPlan
1.
2.
Classification of psychodiagnostic methods (A.A. Bodalev,
V.V. Stolin)
3.
Classification
psychodiagnostic
methods
And
techniques
(J. Schwanzer)
4.
Classification
psychodiagnostic
methods
And
techniques
(V.K. Gaida, V.P. Zakharov)
5.
Classification of psychodiagnostic methods according to criterion
formality
6.
Categorization of card index descriptions of methods
Currently, there are several fairly substantiated classifications of psychodiagnostic methods and techniques.
1.
Classification of psychodiagnostic methods (B.G. Ananyev)
In 1977, B.G. Ananyev’s monograph “On the Problems of Modern Human Knowledge” was published, in which a classification was proposed that corresponded to the state of psychology in 1950–1970.
It was based on the stages of psychological research.
The classification includes methods necessary for organizing and directly conducting research, processing experimental data and their interpretation. It combines four large groups of methods: organizational; empirical; methods for processing experimental data; interpretive methods.
Classification of psychodiagnostic methods
(B.G. Ananyev)
Classification Criteria –
stages of psychological
research
Methods
Organizational
(determination of research strategy)
1) comparative
2) longitudinal
3) complex
Empirical
(collection of information)
1) observational (observation and self-observation)
2) experimental (natural, laboratory, field, formative)
3) psychodiagnostic
(standardized and non-standardized)
4) praximetric (analysis of activity products: qualitative assessment of products and work performed, chronometry, cyclography, professionography, etc.)
5) modeling (mathematical)
6) biographical (analysis of dates, events, documents, life path)
Data processing
(processing of the obtained primary empirical data)
1) quantitative (mathematical and statistical methods for processing psychological information)
2) qualitative (description of cases that most fully reflect the types and variants of mental phenomena, and those that are exceptions or violations of general rules)
Interpretive
(establishing connections between the characteristics under study)
1) genetic method (criteria for the development of phases, stages);
2) structural method (types of connections between indicators).
2. Classification of psychodiagnostic methods (A.A. Bodalev,
V.V. Stolin)
When systematizing methods, the authors focus on two key features:
1) on the methodological principles underlying the psychodiagnostic method, and
2) on the extent of the psychologist’s involvement in the psychodiagnostic procedure.
(A.A. Bodalev, V.V. Stolin)
Classification criteria
Methods
Methodological principles underlying
based on the psychodiagnostic method
1) objective texts
2) standardized self-reports
- questionnaire tests
- scale techniques
- projective techniques
- dialogical techniques
Engagement measure
diagnostic psychologist
into the procedure
research
Minimum
involvement
- objective methods
- tests
- questionnaires
- scale techniques
Maximum
involvement dialogical techniques
3.
Classification
(J. Schwanzer)
Czech psychologist
J. Schwanzer offers a simpler classification, which is why it is more often used in the practical activities of psychologists.
The author identifies groups of psychodiagnostic methods based on the following grounds: the material used, the number of indicators obtained, the correctness of decisions, the mental activity of the subjects, the form of answers.
Classification of psychodiagnostic methods
(J. Schwanzer)
Criteria
classifications
Methods
Material used
-verbal
-non-verbal
Paper and Pencil Tests
Number of indicators received
-simple
-complicated
Correctness of decisions
-tests with “correct solutions”
-tests with the possibility of different answers
Mental activity of subjects
-introspective (questionnaire, conversation)
-extraspective (observation)
-projective (projection of internal conflicts onto stimulus material)
-executive (the subject carries out some action)
Answer form
-oral
-written
4. Classification
psychodiagnostic methods and techniques
(V.K. Gaida, V.P. Zakharov)
More clear signs of the classification of psychodiagnostic methods were proposed by V.K. Gaida and V.P. Zakharov.
The authors use the following reasons.
Classification of psychodiagnostic methods
(V.K. Gaida, V.P. Zakharov)
Criteria
Methods
Quality
-standardized
-non-standardized
Purpose
-general psychodiagnostic (personality questionnaires, general intelligence tests)
-aptitude tests
- tests of special abilities
- achievement tests
Stimulus
material
- blank
-subject (cubes, figures, pictures)
-hardware (devices)
Quantity
surveyed
-individual
-group
Answer form
-oral
-written
Presenter
orientation
-speed tests (time limit)
- power tests (assessment of success and solutions)
Degree
uniformity
tasks
- homogeneous (similar tasks for assessing one mental formation)
-heterogeneous
Complexity
-isolated
-test batteries
Type of responses to
tasks
-tests with prescribed answers
-tests with free answers
Mental
education
-intellectual
-personality tests
Type
mental
actions
-verbal
-non-verbal
5. Classification of psychodiagnostic methods according to criterion
formality
The means available to modern psychodiagnostics can be divided into two groups based on their quality:
1) formalized methods;
2) the methods are poorly formalized.
Classification of psychodiagnostic methods
Classification criteria
Methods
Formalized
(characterized by a certain regulation, standardization, reliability, validity; they allow collecting diagnostic information in a relatively short time and in a form that makes it possible to quantitatively and qualitatively compare individuals with each other)
-tests
-questionnaires
-projective techniques
-psychophysiological techniques
Slightly formalized
(are labor-intensive, largely based on the professional experience of the psychodiagnostician himself; indispensable for extremely variable content of mental processes and phenomena)
-observation
-conversation
-content analysis
6. Categorization of card index descriptions of methods
2.
Name of the technique.
3.
Author of the methodology.
4.
Contingent of subjects.
5.
Diagnostic subject:
In rubricator terms;
- in terms of the authors of the methodology.
6.
Operational status of the technique.
7.
Psychometric indicators of the method.
8.
Associated practical problems (areas of use).
9.
Competence of the performer.
10.
Completeness, composition of the methodology.
11.
Equipment.
12.
Theoretical provisions.
13.
Progress.
14.
Processing the results.
15.
Interpretation of results.
Topic 4. Psychodiagnostic activity as a direction
activities of the social psychological and pedagogical service
Plan
directions
practical
activities
social
psychological
pedagogical service
2. Psychodiagnostic examination
3. Psychological diagnosis
to the client
6.
Application
data
psychodiagnostic
examinations
V
1. The concept of psychodiagnostic activity as one of
areas of practical activity of social psychology
pedagogical service
As is known, among the main activities of the SPPS there is education, prevention, counseling, diagnostics, and correction.
Preventive work is a little-developed activity of a psychologist, although its importance is recognized by all scientists and practitioners related to SPPS education.
1.
Preventive activities– involves the formation of a general psychological culture among teachers, children, parents or their substitutes, the desire to use psychological knowledge in working with children or in the interests of their own development; creating conditions for the full development of the child at each age stage in the form of
timely prevention of violations in the development of personality and intelligence.
Preventive activities are presented
2 types: educational, preventive.
Advisory activities
This is an essential area of work for a psychologist. Consultations are held for educators, teachers, institution administration, students, parents: they can be individual or group.
A generalization of the experience of psychologists shows that educators and teachers most often turn to a psychologist for the following reasons: reasons for difficulties in children’s assimilation of the curriculum, material in individual academic subjects, children’s reluctance and inability to learn, emotional and personality disorders, conflictual relationships with other children and adults , ineffectiveness of one’s own pedagogical influences, children’s communication of different ages with peers and the formation of a children's team, ways to expand one's own professional skills, opportunities to identify and develop interests, abilities and inclinations of students, methods of career guidance work with schoolchildren.
The main problems for which parents turn to a psychologist: how to prepare children for school, lack of interests in children, reluctance to study, poor memory, increased absent-mindedness, disorganization, lack of independence, laziness, aggressiveness, increased excitability or, conversely, timidity, timidity; career guidance, the child’s attitude towards adults in the family, towards younger (older) sisters or brothers.
Students themselves can turn to a psychologist, mainly on issues of their relationships with adults and peers, self-education, professional and personal self-determination, culture of mental work and behavior, etc.
2. Advisory activities– providing psychological assistance to teachers, children, parents or their substitutes, in the form of answers to problematic questions, resolution of conflict situations, diagnostic assessment of various aspects of the psyche and determination of further ways of their correction.
The psychological meaning of consultation is to help a person solve the problem himself. Only in this way will he be able to accumulate experience in solving similar problems in the future.
Corrective activities
3. Corrective activities– involves the development of correction programs aimed at eliminating deviations in mental development and psychological assistance programs for children and adolescents who find themselves in extreme and difficult life situations.
It is important to note that psychological correction is carried out in cases where deviations and disorders are not the result of organic damage to the central nervous system or mental illness.
Developmental activities
5.
Developmental activities– involves the active influence of a psychologist on the formation of the personality of a child, parent, teacher, determined by the orientation of the educational system to ensure compliance of development with age standards, assistance to teaching staff in individualizing the education and upbringing of children, and developing their abilities.
Diagnostic activities
The competence and responsibilities of a psychologist include identifying the characteristics of the child’s mental development, the formation of certain psychological neoplasms, the correspondence of the level of development of skills, knowledge, personal and interpersonal characteristics age guidelines, requirements of society, etc. Therefore, it is psychodiagnostics, as an activity to identify the psychological causes of problems, difficulties in teaching and raising individual children, to determine the characteristics of the development of their interests, abilities, formation personal formations, is in the spotlight
SPPS education has its own specifics.
The task of psychodiagnostics is to provide information about individual mental characteristics children, which would be useful to them and those who work with them - teachers, educators, parents.
5. Diagnostic
activity
– psychological and pedagogical examination of children throughout their development, identification of individual characteristics of their development, determination of the causes of personality and intellectual disorders.
Features of diagnostic work in practical psychology
Psychodiagnostics in the SPPS education system has its own fundamental features.
1. The difference between scientific research psychodiagnostics and scientific-practical one is that the task of the first is to establish certain patterns of mental development, and the second is to answer a specific question, to identify the cause of a specific mental phenomenon. At the same time, diagnosing the causes is not an end in itself; it is always subordinated to the main task - developing recommendations for the development of certain abilities of the child, overcoming difficulties and developmental disorders.
2. Psychodiagnostics in an educational institution is closely related to pedagogical issues. Defining psychodiagnostics as psychological and pedagogical, its main tasks are identified:
– monitoring the dynamics of the mental development of children studying and brought up in an educational institution, and correction of development in order to create optimal opportunities and conditions for development for weak and strong students, bringing them to a higher level, as well as establishing the correct direction of development of children who exhibit special abilities;
– comparative analysis of the developmental effect of various systems of education and training in order to develop recommendations for improving their developmental function.
3. The specificity of psychodiagnostics is also that we cannot accept it in the traditional sense as “a discipline about methods of classifying and ranking people according to psychological and psychophysiological characteristics.” The practical psychologist is faced with the task of studying how a particular child learns and perceives complex world knowledge, social relationships with others and oneself, how the individuality of a particular child develops. The basis of practical psychodiagnostics is a holistic study of the child’s personality in its interaction with the environment.
A scientific analysis of problems and a generalization of the work experience of practical psychologists shows that within the framework of SPPS education, we cannot talk separately about diagnostics, separately about development or correction. There should be unity of diagnostic-corrective, diagnostic-developmental areas of work.
A psychologist does not just make a diagnosis and develop a program further development certain aspects of the student’s personality and abilities, but also monitors the implementation of the recommendations given to him and, to a large extent, carries out part of the correctional and developmental work himself.
Diagnostics requires the ability to identify a psychological problem, ask the right question, obtain the necessary information from the immediate environment and the children themselves, analyze this information and formulate a conclusion.
Taking into account the information presented, it is possible to assume a certain sequence or stages of implementation of diagnostic-developmental, diagnostic-corrective activities.
Stages of implementation of diagnostic-developmental, diagnostic-
correctional activities
1) study of a practical request;
2) formulation of a psychological problem;
3) putting forward hypotheses about the causes of observed phenomena;
4) choice of research method;
5) use of the method;
6) the formulation of a psychological diagnosis, which must necessarily contain a prognosis for the child’s further development, and
forecast in two directions: provided that timely work is carried out with the child, and provided that such work is not carried out with him in a timely manner;
7) development of recommendations, programs of psycho-correction or developmental work with students;
8) implementation of this program, monitoring its implementation.
2.
Psychodiagnostic examination
A psychodiagnostic examination is the activity of a psychologist, the end result of which is a psychological diagnosis. This activity includes the following steps:
1.
Preliminary preparation.
- Distinguishing between client and customer.
- Formulating the purpose of the survey. Difficulties in formulating for the customer.
- Conclusion of an agreement.
- Organization and standardization of conditions: room, tables, pens, reproduction of forms, time, equal conditions for several groups. - absence of noise, music, strangers.
- Storage of results. Selection of methods. Processing the results.
2.
Establishing contact and motivating subjects.
- An atmosphere of friendliness and efficiency, creating a serious and responsible attitude towards work in the subject. Be natural and at ease, answer all questions, do not fall into a mentoring tone and do not turn friendliness into familiarity.
- Motivation can be different, the main goal is to interest subjects in testing.
Guaranteed confidentiality if necessary.
- The most complete instructions. Write on the board. Cut off unnecessary questions (“ask later”).
-
Requirements for the personal and professional qualities of a psychodiagnostician: the ability to win people over, inspire confidence in them and achieve sincerity in their answers.
3.
Collection of data in accordance with the research objective (own survey).
4.
Processing, interpretation and analysis of data. Diagnosis and prognosis.
Recommendations.
5.
Presentation of the result. Presentation form in accordance with the research objective. From certificate to report. Features of writing a conclusion.
Problems arising when planning a psychodiagnostic
examinations
Any psychodiagnostic examination is not an end in itself for a psychologist. Psychological activity is always included in a wide range of professional tasks and therefore the knowledge obtained during the diagnostic process should not be useless or simply interesting.
The main problem that the psychologist faces is the correct planning of this examination, and the planning must take into account the tasks and the real conditions of their implementation.
When planning a psychodiagnostic examination, it is necessary to answer a number of questions.
Questions on the solution of which the planning of the survey depends
1.
Why is an examination necessary (what can this examination provide).
2.
What knowledge should be obtained as a result of the survey. The word “what” hides the depth of knowledge.
3.
How to diagnose. This is a question about the choice of diagnostic tools and methods. The answer to this question is related to the factors that determine the inclusion of techniques in the survey program.
Factors determining the inclusion of techniques in the examination program
1.
The focus of the technique is on diagnosing exactly those features that the diagnostician is interested in studying (the subject of diagnosis).
2.
Quality of psychometric measures: validity and reliability.
3.
Suitability of the methodology for working with a specific population and in specific conditions.
4.
Labor intensity in terms of costs for preparation, implementation, processing and interpretation of results.
5.
Level of qualifications of the researcher and support staff.
Requirements for the psychodiagnostic examination program
In the system of complex psychodiagnostics, special attention is paid to the problem of creating a program of techniques.
1. The program of techniques must be highly specialized (i.e. aimed at solving a specific problem), but versatile, i.e. aimed at objectively measuring the state of an individual (or group) at a specific moment.
2. The program of methods should consist of the following elements:
-instructions for the subject;
– the content of the test itself or a group of tests;
– the key to deciphering the results obtained;
– instructions for interpreting test results;
– training methodology for a testologist or related specialist;
3. Criteria. When selecting methods for a program, first of all, it is necessary to select criteria by which to judge the effectiveness
examinations. You can choose several non-labor-intensive methods that are adequate to the selected initial criteria.
4. To study a specific individual, it is often necessary to change not only the composition of the methods in the psychodiagnostic program, but also to adjust the methodology for conducting the test itself or to develop a new one.
This new technique needs to be tested for validity, reliability, etc.
Thus, the choice of examination program (optimally 4 to 5 tests) is determined by the goals and objectives, taking into account the intellectual level of development of the subject, his mental state and the attitude of the subject to the testing process itself.
To solve a highly specialized problem, the program consists of 4-5 techniques.
When compiling techniques into a program, the subsequent effect of using the techniques should be taken into account. You should not use methods of a high degree of openness at the first stages because this causes negativism in the client and psychological defense mechanisms are triggered. It is necessary to gradually increase the depth of dialogue with the subject, strengthen trust and establish feedback.
Requirements for the correlation of methods in the examination program
A very difficult problem is the relationship between standardized measurement techniques and expert (clinical) examination techniques.
To correctly solve this problem, you need to imagine the advantages or disadvantages of certain techniques in a specific situation.
The effectiveness of the survey results depends on the correlation of methods in the survey program.
It is necessary to select methods in such a way that:
1. Gain the opportunity for deep qualitative interpretation of the results.
2.Get the ability to quantitatively process the received data.
Therefore, the examination program should include standardized measurement techniques that make it possible to obtain information about the client quickly enough and do not require highly qualified psychologists. On the other hand, clinical methods are indispensable, which are especially good in individual interaction with the client.
Planning organizational support for the survey
The final stage of planning a psychodiagnostic examination is associated with solving technical issues of conducting the examination.
– what tools will be used;
– is it available;
– is it possible to reproduce it (forms);
– is there room and is it suitable?
– is there enough time;
– sample preparation;
– drawing up a clear program.
Thus, it is necessary to carry out work on reproducing stimulus material and survey forms, prepare a room for the survey, prepare technical means and equipment, if they are necessary for the survey, and draw up a schedule for the survey. It should be convenient for the client and for the diagnostician.
3. Psychological diagnosis
Psychological diagnosis is the final result of a psychologist’s activity, aimed at describing and clarifying the essence of individual psychological characteristics individuals in order to assess their current state, forecast further development and develop recommendations determined by the task of a psychodiagnostic examination.
The subject of psychological diagnosis is the establishment of individual psychological differences in normality and pathology. The most important element of a psychological diagnosis is the need to clarify in each individual case why these manifestations are found in the behavior of the subject, what their causes and consequences are.
L.S. Vygotsky identified three levels of diagnosis:
1. The diagnosis is symptomatic (empirical). It is limited to stating certain features or symptoms on the basis of which practical conclusions are drawn; the researcher is deprived of the opportunity to indicate their causes and place in the personality structure. L.S. Vygotsky notes that such a diagnosis is not strictly scientific, since the establishment of symptoms never automatically leads to a diagnosis.
2. Etiological diagnosis. It takes into account not only the presence of certain features (symptoms), but also the reasons for their occurrence.
3. The highest level is a typological diagnosis. It consists in determining the place and meaning of the data obtained in a holistic, dynamic picture of the personality, taking into account its complex structure.
The diagnosis is inextricably linked with the prognosis. According to L.S. Vygotsky, the content of the prognosis and diagnosis coincides, but the prognosis is based on the ability to understand “the internal logic of the self-movement of the development process so much that a path of development is outlined on the basis of the past and present.”
L.S. Vygotsky recommended dividing the forecast into separate periods and resorting to long-term repeated observations.
There are also two types of diagnosis:
1. Diagnosis based on stating the presence or absence of any sign. The test subject’s data can be correlated with some norm
(for example, when determining developmental pathology) or with a criterion.
2. A diagnosis that allows one to find the place of a subject or group of subjects on a scale of the severity of certain qualities. For this
it is required to make comparisons of the obtained diagnostic data within the examined sample, ranking the subjects according to the degree of representation of certain indicators, introducing indicators of high, medium and low level development of the studied features by correlation with the criterion.
A detailed psychological diagnosis involves:
1) study of the general level of human mental development;
2) study of the balance of the personal structure, as well as the predominance of certain psychological characteristics in it;
3) identification of conscious or unconscious psychological problems;
4) clarifying the subjective attitude of the individual to the problems experienced;
5) assessment of the general adaptive potential, on which positive psychological correction or psychotherapy could rely.
4. Reporting the results of a psychodiagnostic study
to the client
Psychodiagnostics tries to answer three questions:
- What's happening?
- What caused this?
- What will happen next?
The psychologist must prepare the client for the perception of psychodiagnostic information by establishing contact with him and clarifying the task of interaction. When solving a psychodiagnostic task, the psychologist clearly focuses on its content and the adequacy of the client’s perception of this content.
When transmitting psychological information, the psychodiagnostician seeks to obtain from the client feedback, according to the content of which he determines the client’s attitude to the information and to himself as a source of information. To this end, the psychodiagnostician may ask the client to repeat the information conveyed to him or ask a direct question about how clear the information is.
One of the main points of transmitting psychodiagnostic information is its non-judgmental nature. To do this, the psychologist conducts a preliminary conversation with the client, during which he tries to show him the difference between the social or ethical task and the psychological task that the psychodiagnostician solves.
One of the forms of reporting the results of a psychodiagnostic examination is psychometric data, expressed in certain points, scales and other metric values. In this case, the client's individual results can be represented as a point on a scale of possible results. Thus, the client receives criteria for assessing his
of the results obtained by the psychodiagnostician using the method, he can carry out the assessment actions himself.
In most cases, users of psychological information tend to evaluate it. It is important for a psychologist to form an adequate perception of information. For example, you can introduce the context of age or individual norms of mental development. Do everything to divert the client from independent interpretation of psychodiagnostic information. Otherwise, you need to find out how he does it. It is especially necessary to control the dissemination of psychodiagnostic information among children and adolescents and not to disseminate evaluative psychological information among them.
So, the basic norms of interaction with a client regarding psychological information:
- communicate information rather than evaluate it;
- communicate in an adequate form, receive feedback on the degree of understanding by the client.
Ethical principles for interpreting test results:
- do not form unnecessary expectations;
- speak to a person in his language;
- do not assert what you are not sure of;
- speak only in such a way that you are clearly understood; do not leave the client any reasons for incorrect speculation.
5. Requirements for the final conclusion
A written (or oral) conclusion is the final stage of psychodiagnostics. The content of the conclusion includes all data available to the diagnostician, both test and others (from other sources).
Principles of drawing up a conclusion (A. Anastasi)
1.
The content and style of the conclusion depend on the theoretical principles and specialization of the diagnostician. Therefore, they do not have a single standard form and writing rules. It is important that it corresponds to the interests, needs and level of preparation of those who receive it. For example, teachers prefer reports with specific recommendations, while psychiatrists like reports that explain the main findings but do not provide specific recommendations. In the conclusion, designed for specialists and ignorant people, there should be brief summary meaningful in nature, and then given more detailed description specific data.
2.
The content of the conclusion should indicate the purpose of the diagnostic study: whether the task was to give any specific recommendations, or whether a simple consultation was required.
3.
The conclusion is usually action-oriented, i.e. it makes recommendations regarding training programs, type of treatment, choice of profession, etc.
4.
The conclusion is effective if it reflects the distinctive properties of a particular individual, i.e. traits whose survey results were either significantly below or significantly above average. Those. the conclusion should apply only to this person, and not to people whose age, gender, education, socio-economic level and other factors are close to those of the subject.
5.
The content of the conclusion consists of the interpretation of the data and conclusions; Test records and other data may be included separately to illustrate or explain the approach.
6.
Any descriptive assessment of an individual's actions and the assessment system itself must be clear. Whether the assessment is criterion-oriented or norm-oriented, it must be indicated with which norms the individual’s indicators are compared.
Each conclusion is usually drawn up as an answer to a question posed by the customer.
Approximate conclusion algorithm
1.
Description of the individual’s problems, complaints (for example, about the state of mental performance, memory, attention, fatigue).
2.
Description of the diagnostic plan and program.
3.
Brief description of the specifics of the subject’s work with the techniques
(level of resistance, defensive reactions, interest in research, criticality in self-esteem). The more intact the personality, the more deeply expressed the emotional reaction to the diagnosis as a whole is usually expressed.
An indifferent attitude towards the fact of testing is observed in cases of deep depression and significant deviations from the norm.
4.
Answer to a specific customer question. This part of the conclusion is presented in the form of separate provisions that prove or disprove the original hypothesis, and is illustrated by testing data.
5.
At the end, the conclusion summarizes the most important data obtained from testing. In no case should the summary contain a judgment about the diagnosis, because a psychotherapeutic diagnosis can only be the result of a general clinical study of the subject.
There are 3 types of psychological conclusions.
Types of psychological conclusions
1.Descriptive conclusion - contains a description of the personality without defining the direction, corresponds psychological characteristics.
2.Evaluative conclusion - in accordance with the specified criteria, the psychologist expresses his professional attitude towards the personality of the subject.
3. Advisory opinion - based on an analysis of the subject’s personality, recommendations are offered aimed at correcting or developing his personality.
Depending on the nature of the activity of a practical psychologist, his conclusion based on the results of a diagnostic examination has its own specifics (in the field of occupational psychology, in the field of clinical psychodiagnostics, etc.).
6.
Application of psychodiagnostic examination data in
pedagogical and social practice
Psychological diagnostics is an applied branch of psychology, therefore, a diagnostician, using his methods, helps solve those practical problems that arise in different spheres of human life.
The use of psychodiagnostics to optimize training and education.
The use of psychodiagnostics in medical institutions.
The use of psychodiagnostics in psychological counseling.
The use of psychodiagnostics to solve problems related to the field of work.
The use of psychodiagnostics in forensic psychological examination.
Federal Agency for Education and Science of the Russian Federation
TEST
Bydiscipline:
« Psychodiagnostics»
on this topic: “Classification of psychodiagnostic methods, their advantages and disadvantages”
Introduction.
1. Classification of psychodiagnostic methods.
2. Classification of psychodiagnostic methods according to J. Shvancar; V.K. Gaide, V.P. Zakharov; A.A. Bodalev, V.V. Stolin
Conclusion.
Introduction
Psychology is a very young science. Official registration scientific psychology received a little over 100 years ago, namely in 1879. The emergence of psychology was preceded by the development of two large areas of knowledge: natural sciences and philosophies; psychology arose at the intersection of these areas, so it is still not determined whether to consider psychology natural science or humanitarian. From the above, it appears that none of these answers are correct.
This is the science of the most complex thing known to mankind. After all, the psyche is “a property of highly organized matter.” If we keep in mind the human psyche, then to the words “highly organized matter” we need to add the word “most”: after all, the human brain is the most highly organized matter known to us. Getting to know any science begins with defining its subject and describing the range of phenomena that it studies. What is the subject of psychology? The answer involves considering various points of view on the subject of psychology - as they appeared in the history of science; analysis of the reasons why these points of view replaced each other; acquaintance with what ultimately remained of them and what understanding has developed to date. The word “psychology” translated into Russian literally means “the science of the soul” (Greek psyche - “soul” + logos - “concept”, “teaching”).
PSYCHODYAGNOSTICS is a field of psychological science and at the same time the most important form psychological practice, which is associated with the development and use of various methods for recognizing individual psychological characteristics of a person. The term “diagnosis” itself is derived from the well-known Greek roots (“dia” and “gnosis”) and is literally interpreted as “discriminating knowledge.” Psychodiagnostics is not only a direction of practical psychology, but also a theoretical discipline.
1. Classification of psychodiagnostic methods
The classification of psychodiagnostic methods is intended to make it easier for the practitioner to choose a technique that best suits his task. Therefore, such a classification should reflect the connection of methods, on the one hand, with the diagnosed mental properties, and on the other hand, with the practical problems for which these methods are developed. The criteria for solving these problems should predetermine the choice of properties to be diagnosed, and subsequently the methods aimed at these properties and best suiting the existing conditions.
Of course, there is no one-to-one correspondence between tasks and techniques. The most valuable techniques have versatility - they can be successfully used to solve different problems. In mastering these techniques and in the procedures for their implementation, there are technological features that deserve independent consideration. Based on these characteristics, the methods are grouped into an independent operational and technological classification.
Basic research and diagnostic methods.
One of the most accessible and widely used in social psychology research methods is observation. Observation is a scientifically targeted and in a certain way recorded perception of the object under study. The advantages of observation include: naturalness, independence from the ability of the subjects to evaluate their actions, the ability to assess the long-term consequences of educational influences, etc. The disadvantages are: passivity, the presence of elements of subjectivity, the inaccessibility of certain hidden manifestations (experiences, thoughts, motives) to this method, etc. .P.
The most typical situations in which observation is effective are the following:
Getting information about mental phenomenon in “pure” form;
Collection of primary information that does not require a large sample of objects under study;
Evaluation of facts obtained using other methods (for example, surveys);
Another effective research method is experiment. An experiment is the active intervention of a researcher in the life activity of a subject in order to create conditions under which any socio-psychological fact is discovered. The advantages of the experiment are: an active position of the observer, the possibility of repetition, strictly controlled conditions. The disadvantages include: artificial conditions, high costs for controlling significant factors.
Experiments are natural, laboratory, and emergent. A natural experiment is characterized by minor changes in the usual conditions of training and education. In this type of experiment, they try to minimally change the conditions and context in which the mental phenomenon of interest to the diagnostician occurs. A laboratory experiment is distinguished by strict standardization of conditions, allowing maximum isolation of the phenomenon under study and abstraction from changing conditions environment. The formative experiment involves the introduction into teaching practice research results with subsequent study of the changes that arise as a result of such innovations.
Widely spread survey. A survey is the process of obtaining information contained in the verbal messages of the subject. There are the following types of survey: questionnaire, interview, conversation. During the survey process, information is received in the form of written answers from those surveyed (respondents). An interview involves obtaining information through respondents' oral responses to questions asked orally. The conversation method is based on obtaining information in the process of bilateral or multilateral discussion of an issue of interest to the researcher.
Modeling. This is a research method based on the construction of models of the phenomenon being studied. A model is a copy of an object of interest to the researcher or a phenomenon in some aspect. A model is always a simplification (reduction) of the phenomenon under study. It is intended to highlight the most important (from the point of view of research goals) in the object being studied. This simplification facilitates the process of qualitative and quantitative analysis
Testing. Tests provide a systematic enumeration of various symptoms associated with a hypothetical latent factor. A TEST in psychodiagnostics is a series of the same type of standardized short tests to which the test subject, the carrier of the alleged hidden factor, is subjected. More strictly defined: a test is an objective and standardized measurement of a sample of behavior.
Various test tasks are designed to reveal in the test subject various symptoms associated with the latent factor being tested. The sum of the results of these short tests indicates the level of the factor being measured (here, for greater clarity, we mean the simplest scheme for calculating the test score).
Behind the external simplicity of scientific tests lies a lot of research work on their development and testing. Refers to diagnostic methods that, unlike research methods, are characterized by an emphasis on the measurement (i.e., numerical representation) of some psychological variable. The testing procedure can be carried out in the form of a survey, observation or experiment.
A number of special requirements are imposed on tests as methods of accurate psychodiagnostics. This:
1. Sociocultural adaptability of the test – compliance test tasks and assessments of the cultural characteristics that have developed in the society where this test is used, having been borrowed from another country.
2. Simplicity of formulation and unambiguousness of test tasks - in verbal and other test tasks there should not be such moments that can be perceived and understood differently by people.
3. Limited time for completing test tasks - the total time for completing tasks of a psychodiagnostic test should not exceed 1.5-2 hours, since beyond this time it is difficult for a person to maintain his/her working capacity for a sufficiently long time. high level.
4. Availability of test norms for a given test - representative average scores for a given test, - i.e. indicators representing a large population of people with whom the indicators of a given individual can be compared, assessing the level of his psychological development.
The test norm is the average level of development of a large population of people similar to the given subject in a number of socio-demographic characteristics. To be confident in the reliability of the results of psychodiagnostic research, it is necessary that the psychodiagnostic methods used be scientifically substantiated, i.e., meet a number of requirements. These requirements are
1. Validity – “completeness”, “suitability”, “compliance”.
There are several varieties of validity. Validity: theoretical, empirical, internal, external.
The validity of the methodology is checked and clarified during its rather long use.
2. Reliability – characterizes the possibility of obtaining stable indicators using this technique. The reliability of a psychodiagnostic technique can be established in two ways:
By comparing the results obtained using this technique different people
By comparing the results obtained using the same technique under different conditions.
3. Unambiguousness of the method – characterized by the extent to which the data obtained with its help reflect changes in precisely and only the property for which the method is used to evaluate.
4. Accuracy – reflects the ability of the technique to subtly respond to the slightest changes in the assessed property that occur during a psychodiagnostic experiment. The more accurate the psychodiagnostic technique, the more subtly it can be used to evaluate gradations and identify shades of the quality being measured, although in practical psychodiagnostics a very high degree of accuracy of assessments is not always required.
2. Classification of psychodiagnostic methods according to J. Shvancar; VC. Gaide, V.P. Zakharov; A.A. Bodalev, V.V. Stolin
Psychodiagnostic methods are grouped for different reasons. Here are some of the most common classifications of psychodiagnostic methods.
1. Classification of methods according to J. Shvancar.
J. Shvantsara combines psychodiagnostic methods into groups on the following grounds:
1. according to the material used (verbal, non-verbal, manipulative, “paper and pencil” tests, etc.);
2. by the number of indicators obtained (simple and complex);
3. tests with the “correct” solution and tests with the possibility of different answers;
4. according to the mental activity of the subjects:
· introspective (subject's report about personal experience, relationships): questionnaires, conversation;
· extrospective (observation and assessment of various manifestations);
· projective. The subject projects unconscious personality traits ( internal conflicts, hidden drives, etc.) to poorly structured, ambiguous stimuli;
· executive. The subject performs any action (perceptual, mental, motor), the quantitative level and qualitative features of which are an indicator of intellectual and personal traits.
2. Classification of psychodiagnostic methods according to V.K. Gaide, V.P. Zakharov.
1. by quality: standardized, non-standardized;
2. by purpose:
· general diagnostic (personality tests like questionnaires by R. Cattell or G. Eysenck, tests of general intelligence);
· professional aptitude tests;
· tests of special abilities (technical, musical, tests for pilots);
· achievement tests;
3. according to the material with which the subject operates:
· blank;
· subject (Koos cubes, “addition of figures” from the Wexler set);
· hardware (devices for studying the characteristics of attention, etc.);
4. by the number of subjects: individual and group;
5. according to the form of the answer: oral and written;
6. By leading orientation: speed tests, power tests, mixed tests. In power tests, the problems are difficult and the solution time is not limited; the researcher is interested in both the success and the method of solving the problem;
7. according to the degree of homogeneity of tasks: homogeneous and heterogeneous (they differ in that in homogeneous tests the tasks are similar to each other and are used to measure well-defined personal and intellectual properties; in heterogeneous tests the tasks are varied and are used to assess various characteristics of intelligence);
8. By complexity: isolated tests and test kits (batteries);
9. by the nature of answers to tasks: tests with prescribed answers, tests with free answers;
10. by area of mental coverage: personality tests and intellectual tests;
11. by the nature of mental actions: verbal, non-verbal.
3. Classifications of psychodiagnostic methods according to A.A. Bodalev, V.V. Stolin
1. according to the characteristics of the methodological principle that is the basis this technique:
· objective tests (in which the correct answer is possible, that is, the correct completion of the task);
· standardized self-reports:
· questionnaire tests, open questionnaires
· scale techniques (C. Osgood’s semantic differential), subjective classification
· individually oriented techniques (ideographic) such as role repertoire grids
· projective techniques
· dialogical techniques (conversations, interviews, diagnostic games);
2. according to the involvement of the psychodiagnostician himself in the diagnostic procedure and the degree of his influence on the result of psychodiagnostics: objective and dialogical. The former are characterized by a minimal degree of involvement of the psychodiagnostician in the procedure for conducting, processing and interpreting the result, the latter are characterized by a high degree of involvement. The measure of involvement is characterized by the influence of experience, professional skills, the personality of the experimenter and his other characteristics, and the diagnostic procedure itself. Below is a scale on which the entire continuum of psychodiagnostic methods is located from the objective pole to the dialogic pole.
Conclusion
Modern psychological diagnostics is defined as a psychological discipline that develops methods for identifying and studying individual psychological and individual psychophysiological characteristics of a person. Psychodiagnostics also refers to the field of psychological practice, the work of a psychologist to identify various qualities, mental and psychophysiological characteristics, and personality traits.
There are several classifications of psychodiagnostic methods. However, the leading basis for the methodological classification of psycho diagnostic techniques is the measure of “objectivity-subjectivity” that its results possess. In the case of objective methods, the influence of the performer (diagnostic psychologist) on the results is minimal. In the case of subjective techniques, the results, on the contrary, depend on the experience and intuition of the performer. When carrying out objective and subjective methods, the performer is required to perform completely different technological operations. Therefore, this classification is called “operational”.
There is no hard boundary between the two classes - objective and subjective methods. Between the extreme options, there are a number of intermediate options for methods that have both certain signs of objectivity and certain signs of subjectivity.
Bibliography:
1. Stolyarenko L.D. Psychology. Rostov n/d: Phoenix", 2003
2. Shevandrin N.I. introduction to personality psychodiagnostics Rostov n/d, 1996
3.Abramova G.S. Practical psychology: a textbook for university students - 4th ed., revised. And additional - Ekaterinburg, 1999
4. General psychodiagnostics / Ed. A.A. Bodaleva, V.V. Stolina. – M.: Moscow State University Publishing House, 1988. P. 10-13.
5. Workshop on psychodiagnostics: differential psychometrics / Ed. V.V. Stolina, A.G. Shmeleva. – M.: Moscow State University Publishing House, 1984. P. 16-17.
6. Electronic library Gumer.
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Currently, psychodiagnostic methods have been created and are practically used, which cover all psychological processes, properties and conditions of a person known to science.
Most of the practical psychodiagnostic techniques created and used are the so-called blank methods - those in which the subject is presented with a series of judgments or questions to which he must respond orally or in writing. Based on the responses received by the subject, in turn, the psychology of the person who offered these answers is judged. The widespread use and practical interest in blank methods is explained by the fact that they are relatively simple both to develop and to use and process the results obtained.
The second place in frequency of occurrence is occupied by survey techniques , in the process of applying which a human psychology researcher asks the subject verbal questions, notes and processes his answers. These methods are good because they do not require the preparation of special forms and allow the psychodiagnostician to behave quite flexibly towards the subject. Disadvantage Survey methods include subjectivity, which manifests itself both in the selection of the questions themselves and in the interpretation of the answers to them. In addition, survey techniques are difficult to standardize and, therefore, to achieve high reliability and comparability of the results obtained.
Third place in terms of frequency of use is occupied by pictorial psychodiagnostic techniques. In them, to study the psychology and behavior of the subjects, the drawings they created are used, which can have both a thematically specified and a spontaneous character. Sometimes the technique of interpretation by subjects of standard, ready-made images is used. Often the content of these images visually presents problems that the subject must solve (for example, the Raven's matrix test).
A special place among psychodiagnostic techniques is occupied by projective, which, in turn, can be forms, surveys and drawings. The frequency of their practical use is also quite high and increases from year to year for the reason that the methods of this group are the most valid and informative.
The next group of techniques is objective-manipulative. In them, the tasks to be solved by the subjects are presented to them in the form of real objects with which they have to do something: assemble from given materials, manufacture, disassemble, etc.
Based on the presented attempt to divide psychodiagnostic methods into groups, we will try to propose a more detailed classification of them, first highlighting general criteria, according to which further psychodiagnostic methods will be divided into specific groups. Such criteria are the following:
1. Type of test tasks used in the methodology.
2. The recipient of the test material used in the technique.
3. Form of presentation of test material to subjects.
4. The nature of the data used to draw conclusions about the results of psychodiagnostics.
5. Availability of test standards in the methodology.
6. Internal structure of the technique.
1) By type of test tasks used survey(they use questions addressed to the subjects), approvers(they use some judgments or statements with which the subject must express his agreement or disagreement), productive(here one or another type of the subject’s own creative production is used: verbal, figurative, material, spontaneously created or reproduced according to instructions by the subject himself), effective(the subject receives the task to perform a certain set of practical actions, the nature of which is used to judge his psychology), physiological(in this case, psychodiagnostics is carried out on the basis of an analysis of involuntary physical or physiological reactions of the human body).
For example, to assess the psychology of a person, you can use his answers to direct or indirect questions, his agreement or disagreement with certain judgments, the results of his oral, written, visual, technical or other activities, his voluntary and involuntary actions and reactions in response for some incentives and much more. The same purpose can also be served by an electroencephalogram, electrocardiogram, electromyogram, galvanic skin response (GSR) and other reflexes, including cardiovascular reflexes and reflexes of the respiratory system.
2) By recipient of the test material psychodiagnostic techniques are divided into conscious, appealing to the consciousness of the subject, and unconscious, aimed at unconscious human reactions. An example of methods of the first type is questionnaires, and an example of the second is projective methods.
3) By psychodiagnostic techniques for subjects are divided into blank(represent test material in written or some other symbolic form: drawing, diagram, etc.), technical(present test material to the test subject in audio, video or film form, as well as through other technical devices and machines), sensory(present material in the form of physical stimuli directly addressed to the senses).
4) By the nature of the data, used for psychodiagnostic conclusions, techniques are divided into objective(indicators are used that do not depend on the consciousness and desire of the subject or experimenter) and subjective(data is used that depends on the desire and consciousness of the experimenter or subject, related to their internal experience and dependent on it). An example of objective type methods are tests that include analysis of physiological, reflexive indicators or practical results of the test subject’s activity, in the use of which subjectivity in assessments is reduced to a minimum. On the other hand, the classic example of a subjective type technique is one that relies mainly on introspection and conclusions drawn from intuition and inner experience.
5) By Psychodiagnostic techniques are divided into those that have similar norms and those that do not.
6) Finally, by internal structure psychodiagnostic techniques can be divided into monomeric And multidimensional. The first are characterized by the fact that they diagnose and evaluate a single quality or property, and the second by the fact that they are intended for psychodiagnostics and assessment of several similar or different types of psychological qualities of a person. In the latter case, the psychodiagnostic technique is divided, as a rule, into several private techniques - sub-scales that assess individual psychological qualities. For example, the famous Spielberger-Hanin test for assessing anxiety - this is a monomer technique, and personality test Kettela - multidimensional technique.
The same psychodiagnostic technique can simultaneously be considered and qualified from different angles, according to different criteria. Therefore, almost any technique can be classified not into one, but into several classification groups at once. In this regard, the criteria for the classification of psychodiagnostic methods highlighted and described above should not be regarded as mutually exclusive, but as complementary to each other in the characteristics of different methods, as possible aspects of their analysis and division into classes.
Psychodiagnostic techniques based on quality And quantitative analysis of experimental data. In the first case, the property being diagnosed is described in known scientific concepts, and in
in the second case - through the relative degree of its development in this person compared to other people. Sometimes quantitative and qualitative characteristics are combined within the same methodology, so that as a result the property being studied receives a double, quantitative and qualitative characteristic. For example, in test A.E. Lichko, intended for diagnosing character accentuations in adolescents, each of the studied character traits has a double characteristic: both quantitative and qualitative at the same time.
| Criterion | Techniques |
| 1) By type of test tasks used | - survey - approvers - productive - effective - physiological |
| 2) By recipient of the test material | - conscious, - unconscious, |
| 3) By form of test material presentation | - blank - technical - sensory |
| 4) By the nature of the data used for psychodiagnostic conclusions | - objective - subjective |
| 5) By criterion for the presence of test standards | - having similar norms - not having them. |
| 6) Based on their internal structure, psychodiagnostic techniques can be divided into: | - monomeric - multidimensional |
All psychodiagnostic methods can also be divided into scientific And practical, although this division is arbitrary: most of the well-known psychodiagnostic methods are used both in practical psychodiagnostics and in scientific research experimentation. However, there is still a difference between them, which lies in the fact that research methods are mainly focused on identifying and subsequently studying one or another psychological quality for the purpose of its purely scientific knowledge, and practical - to assess the degree of its development and use for practical purposes. In addition, a scientific methodology can be unique, labor-intensive, expensive and used only within the framework of scientific research, being, due to its indicated qualities, unsuitable for broad practical psychodiagnostics. A practical technique, on the contrary, should be universal, simple and relatively cheap.
The existence of many psychodiagnostic techniques is explained not only by the large number of properties that have to be assessed with their help, but also by the fact that almost all techniques have limitations in application, due to which it is necessary to create and use other techniques that do not have such limitations.
In this regard, let us consider the advantages and disadvantages of certain types of techniques. The advantage of techniques that address consciousness , in that they allow one to judge the psychology of a given person directly on the basis of what he says about himself or the people around him about him. However, the subject may not answer the questions addressed to him sincerely or uncritically enough, including under the influence of subjectively perceived instructions, a biased attitude towards the psychodiagnostician or the psychodiagnostic situation. In short, deliberate subjective distortion of testing results is one of the most serious shortcomings of this group of methods. True, some special techniques used by the designers of such techniques, in particular the introduction to its structure test questions, judgments that specifically assess the degree of sincerity of the respondent can significantly reduce the level of subjectivity of the results obtained. At the same time, we note once again: it is almost impossible to completely avoid this drawback in this type of method, which makes them not always a valid, reliable and unambiguous measuring tool.
The advantage of objective methods, relying not on verbal answers, self-characteristics or self-esteem, but on involuntary actions and reactions that do not depend on a person’s consciousness, as well as the products of his activity, is that they allow one to avoid subjectivity, and in this regard are quite reliable. However, their validity and unambiguity, as well as accuracy, sometimes leave much to be desired. Let's explain what was said. Objective indicators do not always reflect in their changes exactly those psychological properties for which they are intended to assess. For example, physiological reactions do not always correspond to the psychological properties and conditions of a person. They, moreover, are associated with the momentary physical states of the body, and not just psychological processes, and in this sense are not entirely unambiguous. Finally, for indicators of this kind it is difficult to develop a subtle measurement scale that allows one to identify different degrees of manifestation of the diagnosed quality and evaluate their differentiation. In other words, objective indicators are not accurate measures of the strength of the property they reflect. Let us assume that to draw conclusions about whether a child has a certain attitude towards members of his family, the features of the family drawing made by the child himself are used. Such a drawing, as shown in numerous studies, can indeed reflect the relationships that have developed in the family, but, in addition, also the child’s artistic and visual abilities, his desire to draw, his desire to please the psychologist, his mood at the time of testing, and much more. Depending on all this, the nature of the drawing may change, including those signs by which the child’s relationship with individual family members is usually judged.
Projective techniques in comparison with all those already considered, they have one very significant advantage: they are, as a rule, valid and relatively reliable with a high level of professional training of the user. They are less subjective and less susceptible to random, situational influences. Their disadvantage is the labor intensity and significant time costs required to obtain the desired psychodiagnostic result.
Methods that allow obtaining quantitative data reflecting the degree of development of the property being studied make it possible to use measures and methods for quantitative processing of psychodiagnostic results. At the same time, with the help of such techniques it is impossible to distinguish from each other qualitatively different psychological properties that have the same quantitative indicators.
For example, if, using the methods of D. McKeleland, J. Atkinson and others, we assess the strength of motivation to achieve success, then, having received certain indicators, we are not able to judge whether the motivation to achieve success is different among those subjects who have quantitative the same data. Meanwhile, it can be qualitatively different. At one time, H. Heckhausen showed that in the general indicator of the strength of motivation to achieve success according to D. McKeleland and others, two qualitatively different motives are actually hidden: the motive is the desire for success and the motive is the desire to avoid failure. Two people who have identical motives for achieving success can differ significantly from each other in that they strive for success in completely different areas human activity: one is in business, another is in art, the third is in sports, etc.
On the other hand, methods that rely only on qualitative analysis experimental data do not allow the use of quantitative methods for processing results, judging the level of development of relevant properties and directly proving cause-and-effect relationships between the variables being studied.
Psychodiagnostic methods are grouped for different reasons. Here are some of the most common classifications of psychodiagnostic methods.
1. Classification of methods according to J. Schwanzar
J. Shvantsara combines psychodiagnostic methods into groups on the following grounds:
according to the material used (verbal, non-verbal, manipulative, paper and pencil tests, etc.);
by the number of indicators obtained (simple and complex);
tests with the “correct” solution and tests with the possibility of different answers;
according to the mental activity of the subjects:
introspective (subject's report about personal experience, relationships): questionnaires, conversation;
extrospective (observation and assessment of various manifestations);
projective (see Topic 5). The subject projects unconscious personality traits (internal conflicts, hidden drives, etc.) onto poorly structured, ambiguous stimuli;
executive. The subject performs any action (perceptual, mental, motor), the quantitative level and qualitative features of which are an indicator of intellectual and personal traits.
2. Classifications of psychodiagnostic methods according to V.K. Gaide, V.P. Zakharov
by quality: standardized, non-standardized;
by purpose:
general diagnostic (personality tests like questionnaires by R. Cattell or G. Eysenck, tests of general intelligence);
professional aptitude tests;
tests of special abilities (technical, musical, tests for pilots);
achievement tests;
according to the material with which the subject operates:
blank;
subject (Koos cubes, “addition of figures” from the Wexler set);
hardware (devices for studying the characteristics of attention, etc.);
by the number of subjects: individual and group;
by form of response: oral and written;
by leading orientation: speed tests, power tests, mixed tests. In power tests, the problems are difficult and the solution time is not limited; the researcher is interested in both the success and the method of solving the problem;
according to the degree of homogeneity of tasks: homogeneous and heterogeneous (they differ in that in homogeneous tests the tasks are similar to each other and are used to measure well-defined personal and intellectual properties; in heterogeneous tests the tasks are varied and are used to assess various characteristics of intelligence);
By complexity: isolated tests and test kits (batteries);
by the nature of answers to tasks: tests with prescribed answers, tests with free answers;
by area of mental coverage: personality tests and intelligence tests;
by the nature of mental actions: verbal, non-verbal.
3. Classifications of psychodiagnostic methods according to A.A. Bodalev, V.V. Stolin
according to the characteristics of the methodological principle that underlies this technique:
objective tests (in which the correct answer is possible, that is, the correct completion of the task);
standardized self-reports:
questionnaire tests, open questionnaires (see Topic 4);
scale techniques (C. Osgood's semantic differential), subjective classification (see Topic 4);
individually oriented techniques (ideographic) such as role repertoire grids (see Topic 4);
projective techniques (see Topic 5);
dialogical techniques (conversations, interviews, diagnostic games);
according to the involvement of the psychodiagnostician himself in the diagnostic procedure and the degree of his influence on the result of psychodiagnostics: objective and dialogical. The former are characterized by a minimal degree of involvement of the psychodiagnostician in the procedure of conducting, processing and interpreting the result, the latter – by a high degree of involvement. The measure of involvement is characterized by the influence of experience, professional skills, the personality of the experimenter and his other characteristics, and the diagnostic procedure itself. Below is a scale on which the entire continuum of psychodiagnostic methods is located from the objective pole to the dialogic pole.
"Each test can be characterized as a point in a multidimensional space of bases."
VC. Gaida
Bibliography
Anastasi A. Psychological testing. T.II. – M.: Pedagogy, 1982. P. 114-119.
Gaida V.K., Zakharov V.P. Psychological testing: tutorial. – L.: Leningrad State University Publishing House, 1982. P. 13-18.
General psychodiagnostics / Ed. A.A. Bodaleva, V.V. Stolina. – M.: Moscow State University Publishing House, 1988. P. 10-13.
Workshop on psychodiagnostics: differential psychometrics / Ed. V.V. Stolina, A.G. Shmeleva. – M.: Moscow State University Publishing House, 1984. P. 16-17.
Shvantsara J. Diagnosis of mental development. – Prague: medical publishing house Avicenum, 1978. P. 46.
O. V. Belova. Classifications of psychodiagnostic methods
Currently, there are several fairly substantiated classifications of psychodiagnostic techniques.
Firstly, it is possible to distinguish diagnostic methods based on tasks that require the correct answer, or on tasks for which there are no correct answers. The first group includes many intelligence tests, tests of special abilities, some personality traits (for example, the Raven test, diagnostic procedure for determining field dependence-field independence of Witkin, Luchins rigidity test, etc.). Diagnostic techniques of the second group consist of tasks that are characterized only by the frequency (and direction) of a particular answer, but not by its correctness. These are most personality questionnaires (for example, Cattell's 16PFP test):
Secondly, one can distinguish between verbal and non-verbal psychodiagnostic techniques.
The former are in one way or another mediated by the speech activity of the subjects; the components of these task techniques appeal to memory, imagination, and belief systems in their language-mediated form. The latter include the speech ability of the subjects only in terms of understanding instructions, while the execution of the task itself is based on non-verbal abilities - perceptual, motor.
The third basis used for the classification of psychodiagnostic techniques is the characteristics of the basic methodological principle that underlies this technique. On this basis, they usually distinguish: 1) objective tests; 2) standardized self-reports, which in turn include: a) questionnaire tests; b) open questionnaires that require subsequent content analysis; c) scale techniques built according to the type of semantic differential of Charles Osgood; and classification techniques; d) individually oriented techniques such as role repertoire grids; 3) projective techniques; 4) dialogical
(interactive) techniques (conversations, interviews, diagnostic games) 1.
Objective tests are those methods in which the correct answer is possible, that is, the correct completion of the task.
Common to the entire group of standardized self-report methods is the use of the subject’s verbal abilities, as well as appeal to his thinking, imagination, and memory.
Questionnaire tests involve a set of points (questions, statements) regarding which the test taker makes judgments (as a rule, two or three alternative answer choices are used).
The same psychological variable is represented by a group of items (at least 6). Questionnaire test items can be direct, appealing directly either to the experience of the subject (for example: Are you afraid of the dark?), or to the opinions and judgments of the subject, in which his personal experience or experiences are indirectly manifested (for example: Are most people honest?) Questionnaires are constructed as unidimensional or multidimensional, including a range of psychological variables.
Open-ended questionnaires do not provide for a standardized response from the subject; standardization of processing is achieved by assigning random responses to standard categories.
Scale techniques involve the assessment of certain objects (verbal statements, visual material, specific persons, etc.) according to the expression of the quality specified by the scale (for example: “warm - cold”, “strong - weak”). Three-, five-, and seven-point scales are commonly used. A special version of scaling is a subjective classification, which involves identifying the subjective structuring of objects at the level of the naming scale.
Individually oriented (ideographic) techniques such as repertory grids can be similar in form to scale, survey methods, or resemble a conversation or interview. Their main difference from questionnaire tests is that the parameters that are assessed (axes, dimensions, constructs) are not set from the outside, but are identified on the basis of the individual responses of this particular subject. The difference between these methods and the interview method is that repertory grids allow the use of modern statistical apparatus and make reliable diagnostic conclusions regarding the individual characteristics of the subject.
Projective techniques are based on the fact that insufficiently structured material acting as a “stimulus”, with the appropriate organization of the entire experiment as a whole, gives rise to processes of fantasy and imagination, in which certain characteristics of the subject are revealed. In clinical use, projective techniques are often based on the intuition and theoretical training of a psychodiagnostician, which turn out to be necessary at the stage of data interpretation. Research use Projective techniques usually involve the use of content analytical procedures that standardize data processing.
Dialogical techniques take into account that the psychodiagnostician comes into contact with the subject and achieves the best diagnostic results due to the specific features of this contact that are relevant to the diagnostic task. Thus, confidential contact is necessary when diagnosing family difficulties, the nature of a child’s personal development, and in many other cases in which the diagnostician simultaneously acts as both a consultant and a psychotherapist. The situation of a diagnostic pathopsychological examination dictates the construction of communication on the principle of examination.
Dialogical techniques can be verbal (interviews, conversations) and non-verbal (for example, playing with a child can act as a non-verbal diagnostic procedure).
Various methodological techniques on the basis of which certain methods are built can be placed on the same scale if the measure of involvement of the psychodiagnostician himself in the diagnostic procedure and the degree of his influence on the examination result are taken as a single classification basis.
Instrumental methods and objective psychological tests have the least involvement of the psychodiagnostician in the psychodiagnostic procedure, minimal influence of the personality of the psychodiagnostician and his experience as a psychologist on the results of the examination. Some forms of standardized self-reports - many questionnaires and scale techniques - have almost the same low degree of involvement of the psychodiagnostician. We can say that in these methods the personal qualities of the psychologist were embodied at the stage of development of the method; the examination procedure itself, as well as the recording of its results, turns out to be a routine operation, which, in principle, can be performed with the help of a non-psychological laboratory assistant or using a computer program. Diagnostic techniques, on the contrary, are characterized by the maximum degree of involvement of the psychodiagnostician in the process of psychodiagnostics, the maximum influence of his experience, professional skills, and communication abilities on the results of the examination. These qualities have different kinds conversations, interviews, diagnostic games. For example, a pathopsychological experiment as a special psychodiagnostic method is characterized by a high degree of involvement of the psychodiagnostician: a “motive” for the examination must be created (the subject must understand that based on his answers an important diagnostic conclusion will be made for him), the results of individual tests are interpreted depending on how this motive is expressed (according to the psychodiagnostician). No less obvious is the influence of a psychodiagnostician on the results of a diagnostic conclusion made on the basis of a conversation with a psychological consultation client. With his reactions, responses, and demeanor, a psychodiagnostician can either create optimal conditions for obtaining diagnostically important information or completely distort this information and its meaning.
All other psychodiagnostic methods occupy an intermediate position between the two poles formed by objective tests and dialogic techniques.
Already multidimensional tests-questionnaires, which involve the analysis of a profile and the interpretation of individual scales depending on the values of others and the nature of the profile as a whole, require the clinical experience of a psychodiagnostician and, therefore, at the psychodiagnostic stage, whose conclusions are not free from the influence of the personality of the diagnostician. This influence is no less significant when it is necessary to encode examination results obtained using open questionnaires or projective techniques. In the latter case, the psychodiagnostician’s creation of an atmosphere that reveals the subject’s abilities for imagination and creativity is essential.
If we simultaneously introduce two grounds - the measure of involvement of the psychodiagnostician, his influence on the examination results, on the one hand, and the subject orientation of the instrument, on the other, then the currently known psychodiagnostic techniques can be arranged in a two-dimensional classification table.
The corresponding techniques will be located in the cells of the table, and the columns will be filled unevenly across the rows of the table. Thus, abilities and mental functions are diagnosed mainly by methods in which the influence of the psychodiagnostician is minimal - mainly by objective tests and questionnaire tests. Personality traits are predominantly diagnosed by questionnaire tests; cognitive organization, other individual properties are revealed primarily by medium-level techniques (according to the degree of influence of the psychodiagnostician on the diagnostic process) - repertoire lattices, projective techniques.
Motivation and attitude are diagnosed mainly by projective techniques. The role of dialogical techniques, which have the maximum degree of involvement of the psychodiagnostician, is especially important in the field of diagnosing relationships and communication (such properties, the actualization of which requires the recreation of real communication situations).
The classification given in this section reflects rather roughly only common features psychological diagnostic techniques - the issue of classifications is discussed more specifically in the relevant chapters of the book. However, even in this form, the proposed classification has heuristic value. If you fill in all the cells of the table. 1, it will become clear where there is a shortage of methods of a certain type. For example, there is clearly a lack of dialogic type methods for determining abilities (see Chapter 5), since “effective demonstration of abilities in some subjects significantly depends on the conditions of psychodiagnostics and the nature of contact with the psychodiagnostician. The user of psychodiagnostic methods, as well as their developer, can draw out and fill out a similar table for himself and enter the methods known to him in the cells. This will allow him to better imagine what methods need to be mastered and where the need arises for the search and scientific development of methods.