1st Edition

Personality Assessment A Critical Survey

By Philip E. Vernon Copyright 1963
    346 Pages
    by Routledge

    346 Pages
    by Routledge

    Originally published in 1964, the aim of this book was to analyse the psychological processes involved in understanding personality, and to consider how the psychologist could help in making more accurate assessments.

    Professor Vernon discusses in detail the scientific status of psychoanalytic and other ‘depth’ theories of motivation, the value of different types of psychotherapeutic treatment and counselling, the influence of upbringing on the development of personality, and the effectiveness of projective techniques. He also examines the reasons for the highly variable results obtained with personality tests and questionnaires.

    As well as providing a balanced review of theories of personality and of various types of test, this work made a fresh contribution to developing improved techniques of assessment.

    Foreword.  1 Introduction and General Summary  Part 1. Naïve Interpretations of Personality  2 Perceptions and Misperceptions of People  3 Theoretical Considerations  4 Experimental Investigations of Personality Judgments  Part 2. The Clinical Psychologist’s Understanding of Personality  5 Reliability and Validity of Depth-Psychological Interpretations  6 Fundamental Concepts of Depth Psychology  7 Self-Theories as an Alternative Approach to Explaining Personal Behaviour  8 The Effectiveness of Psychotherapy and Counselling  9 The Scientific Status of Clinical Methods and Depth Psychology  10 Projective Techniques  Part 3. Objective Approaches to Personality  11 Measurement of Traits and Factors  12 Test-taking Attitudes and Spurious Factors  13 The Concept of Validity, and Other Technical Considerations  14 The Personality System  Part 4. Practicable Methods of Assessment  15 Tests and Observations of Behaviour  16 Self-Report Tests  17 The Study of Personal Concepts.  Bibliography.  Subject Index.  Author Index.

    Biography

    Philip E. Vernon