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Roberto, Mikhail, and Nat are college friends and all want to be police officers. Roberto is
quiet and shy, lacks self-confidence, and usually follows others. He is a kind person, but
lacks motivation.
Mikhail is loud and boisterous, a leader. He works hard, but is impulsive and drinks too
much on the weekends. Nat is thoughtful and well liked. He is trustworthy, but sometimes he
has difficulty making quick decisions.
Of these three men, who would make the best police officer? What qualities and personality
factors make someone a good police officer? What makes someone a bad or dangerous
police officer?
A police officer’s job is very high in stress, and law enforcement agencies want to make sure
they hire the right people.
Personality testing is often used for this purpose—to screen applicants for employment and
job training. Personality tests are also used in criminal cases and custody battles, and to
assess psychological disorders.
Psychological testing or assessment provides objective information and has many goals.
These goals can be:
to help clarify diagnosis, determine the severity of a problem,
screen for risks for future problems,
make predictions of future behaviors, and
aid in treatment recommendations.
This in part occurs because a person's response patterns are compared to others who are
known to have certain traits or disorders.
The information gained is powerful and can lead to a more accurate clinical picture and the
potential creation of special accommodations.
Key Terms
validity: The extent to which a concept, conclusion, or measurement is well-founded and
corresponds accurately to the real world.
projective measure: A personality test that is used to identify underlying personality traits;
responses are highly subjective.
apperception: The mind’s perception of itself as the subject or actor in its own states,
unifying past and present experiences; self-consciousness; perception that reflects upon
itself.
clinical: Of or pertaining to a medical facility.
reliability: The overall consistency of a measure; the likelihood that a measure can be
repeated.
Schizophrenia: a long-term mental disorder of a type involving a breakdown in the relation
between thought, emotion, and behaviour, leading to faulty perception, inappropriate actions
and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy and delusion,
and a sense of mental fragmentation.
OBJECTIVE VS. PROJECTIVE TESTS
Objective tests are psychological tests that measure an individual's characteristics in a way
that is independent of rater bias or the individual's own beliefs. Objective tests are often
contrasted with subjective tests which are sensitive to rater or examinee beliefs. They can
also be contrasted with projective tests which are based on Freudian Psychology
(Psychoanalysis) , and seek to expose the unconscious perceptions of people. Objective tests
tend to be more reliable and valid than projective or subjective tests.