Deviant Responses in the Measurement of Personality Characteristics.

Transcription

1 Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1960 Deviant Responses in the Measurement of Personality Characteristics. Henry Earl Adams Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: Recommended Citation Adams, Henry Earl, "Deviant Responses in the Measurement of Personality Characteristics." (1960). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact

2 This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received Mic ADAMS, H enry E a rl. DEVIANT RESPONSES IN THE MEASUREMENT O F PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS. L ou isian a State U n iv e r sity, P h.d., 1960 P sy ch o lo g y, gen eral University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan

3 DEVIANT RESPONSES IN THE MEASUREMENT OF PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS A D iss e rta tio n Subm itted to the Graduate Faculty of the L ouisiana S ta te U n iv ersity and A g ric u ltu ra l and Mechanical C ollege in p a r t i a l fu lfillm e n t of the requirem ents fo r the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Psychology by Henry Earl Adams.A., U niversity of C a lifo rn ia, B erkeley, 1957 M.A., L ouisiana S ta te U n iv e rsity, 1959 August, 1960

4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The w r ite r expresses h is a p p re c ia tio n to D rs. Irw in A. Berg and Robert N. V id u lic h fo r t h e i r guidance and encouragement during th e course o f t h i s p r o je c t. Thanks a re due to the S ta te Department o f H o sp ita ls and th e East Baton Rouge P a rish School Boards fo r p ro v id in g s u b je c ts. The w r ite r also w ishes to express h is a p p re c ia tio n to Mrs. Vera M."~ F o il for her typing of th e com pleted d i s s e r ta tio n. S pecial acknowledgment i s made to the a u th o r s w ife, June E. Adams, w ithout whose help and encouragement the d i s s e r ta tio n could not have been com pleted.

5 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE TITLE PAGE... i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS... i i LIST OF TABLES... iv ABSTRACT... v CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION... 1 I I METHODS S u b jects. * D ata A n a l y s i s I I I RESULTS IV DISCUSSION V SUMMARY REFERENCES VITA... 47

6 TABLE LIST OP TABLES PAGE 1 Mean, Standard D ev iatio n, and Range o f Age and Education fo r D iffe re n t G ro u p s R e lia b ility C o e ffic ie n ts Obtained fo r P er-. s o n a lity C h a ra c te ris tic s A nalysis o f V ariance o f S t a t is t i c a l R ig id ity 16 4 Means and Mean D ifferen ces of S t a t i s t i c a l R ig id ity S c o r e s A nalysis of V ariance o f A c q u ie sc e n c e Means and mean D iffe re n c e of A cquiescence A nalysis o f V ariance o f N e g a tiv ism Means and Mean D ifferen ces of N egativism S c o r e s A nalysis o f V ariance o f P e rse v e ra tio n Means and Mean D ifferen ces of P e rse v e ra tio n Scores A nalysis of V ariance o f A ffect Constancy Means and Mean D iffe ren c es of A ffect Constancy s c o r e s A nalysis o f V ariance o f A ffect S h ifts A nalysis o f V ariance o f A ffect S h ift Scores A nalysis o f V ariance o f A ffect R atio Means and Mean D ifferen ces o f A ffect R atio Scores « C o rre la tio n M atrix fo r P e rso n a lity Charact e r i s t i c s F actor A nalysis o f P e rs o n a lity C h ara cteri s t i c s iv

7 ABSTRACT I t was p o s tu la te d th a t th e D ev iatio n H ypothesis could be used as th e o r e ti c a l b a s is fo r th e d e s c rip tio n of p e rso n a l i t y c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s. I t was then s p e c i f i c a ll y hypothesiz e d th a t d ev ian t responses could be used to measure o p e ra tio n a lly d efin e d p e rs o n a lity c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s and th a t th e se p e rs o n a lity c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s could be v a lid a te d through th e u t i l i z a t i o n o f c r i t e r i o n groups and fa c to r a n a ly tic te c h n iq u e s. The groups s e le c te d for in v e s tig a tio n were c h ild re n, a d o le sc e n t, a d u lt norm al, n e u ro tic, and sc h izo p h re n ic subj e c t s. There were 50 male and 50 fem ale s u b je c ts in each group; a t o t a l o f 500 s u b je c ts. A ll s u b je c ts were adm iniste r e d th e P e rc e p tu a l R eaction T est which c o n s is te d of 60 a b s tr a c t d esigns used as t e s t ite m s. The p e rs o n a lity c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s were a l l derived from t h i s t e s t and scored in term s of th e fo llo w in g o p e ra tio n a lly d e fin e d c h a r a c te r i s t i c s : s t a t i s t i c a l r i g i d i t y, p e rs e v e ra tio n, acq u iescen ce, n e g ativ ism, a f f e c t constancy, a f f e c t s h i f t s, and a f f e c t r a t i o. The s t a t i s t i c a l a n a ly s is re v e a le d s i g n i f ic a n t d i f f e r ences fo r th e p e rs o n a lity c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f c r i t e r i o n groups. The sc h iz o p h re n ic, n e u r o tic, and a d u lt s u b je c ts v

8 were s i g n i f ic a n t l y d if f e r e n t in a l l p e rs o n a lity c h a r a c te r i s t i c s except th a t n e u ro tic and a d u lt normal s u b je c ts were vi s im ila r in term s o f acquiescence and n e g ativ ism. The adole s c e n t su b je c t d id not d i f f e r from th e a d u lt s u b je c ts. The ad o lescen t and n e u ro tic su b je c ts were s im ila r in term s of acquiescence and p e rs e v e ra tio n w hile c h ild re n were sim i l a r to n e u ro tic su b je c ts in term s o f n e g ativ ism, p e rs e v e r a tio n, and a f f e c t constancy. C hildren and schizophrenic s u b je c ts were s im ila r in term s of n eg ativ ism and a f f e c t - - r a t i o. These groups were s i g n i f i c a n t l y d if f e r e n t in a l l o th e r p o s s ib le comparisons of p e rs o n a lity c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s. A f a c to r a n a ly s is y ie ld e d four f a c t o r s. The f i r s t was a General V a r ia b ility f a c to r, the second was A cquiescence, th e th ir d was N egativism, and the fo u rth fa c to r was one of H o s ti l it y E x p ressio n. These r e s u l ts give c o n stru c t v a l i d i t y to th e p e r s o n a lity c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s measured by dev ian t resp o n ses and in d ic a te th a t th e D eviation H ypothesis can be u t i l i z e d as a t h e o r e t i c al b a s is fo r th e measurement of p e rs o n a lity c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s.

9 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION When responding to stim u li of no p a r t i c u l a r meaning, human su b je c ts commonly rev e al p a tte rn s of b ias in th e ir resp o n ses. R e ttig, Jacobson, Despres, and Pasamanick (1958) have d escrib ed two forms of such b ia se s which they d esig n ate as ab so lu te and r e l a t i v e response s e ts. An a b so lu te re sponse s e t re p re se n ts a s ig n if ic a n t d e p artu re from chance. For example, in a coin flip p in g s i t u a tio n, 80 p e r cent of th e s u b je c ts w ill respond nheadsrt where chance i s 50 per cent (Goodfellow, 1940). A r e l a ti v e response s e t i s a s ig n if ic a n t d e v ia tio n from th e perform ance of a s p e c ific group.. For example, 80 per cent of a group of normal subje c ts may respond "heads" in a coin flip p in g s itu a tio n w hile only 40 per cen t of a n e u ro tic group might make t h is response. Berg (1955, 1957) has r e fe r r e d to th e s e biased resp o n ses, re s p e c tiv e ly, as b iased and deviant responses. Cronbach (1946, 1950) has c a lle d a tte n tio n to a la rg e number of th ese response b ia s e s in t e s t s and has d escrib ed them in d e t a i l. Berg (1955, 1957) was the f i r s t re s e a rc h e r to form ulate a h y pothesis which sought to account f o r the s i g n ific a n c e and p a tte r n of such resp o n ses. This fo rm u latio n was th e D eviation H ypothesis which he s ta te d as follow s

10 (Berg, i9 5 7, p. 159): "Deviant response p a tte r n s tend to be g eneral; hence those deviant behavior p a tte rn s which a re s ig n if ic a n t fo r abnorm ality (a ty p ic a ln e s s ) and thus are r e garded as symptoms (earm arks o r sig n s) a re a sso c ia te d w ith o th e r deviant response p a tte r n s which a re in n o n c r itic a l a re as of behavior and which a re not regarded as symptoms of p e rs o n a lity a b e rra tio n (nor as in d ic a to r s, s ig n s, earm ark s). Numerous t e s t s of th e D eviation H ypothesis have supported i t s fundamental p ro p o s itio n s (B arnes, 1955, 1956a, 1956b, Engen, 1959, H a rris, 1958, H e ste rly and Berg, 1958, and R oitzsch and Berg, 1959). Barnes (1955) was able to c o n stru c t sc a le s fo r th e P e rcep tu al R eaction Test (PRT) (Berg, Hunt, and B arnes, 1949) which d i f f e r e n t i a t e norm al, sc h izo p h re n ic, general psyc h o tic, and c h a ra c te r d iso rd e r su b je c ts by means of deviant responses. H e ste rly and Berg (1958) found th a t deviant r e sponses could be used to measure m atu rity as defined by chronological age. They also found th a t young c h ild re n and schizophrenic su b je c ts were h ig h ly s im ila r in t h e i r deviant response p a tte r n s. R oitzsch and Berg (1959), in an extension of t h i s work, found th a t the deviant response frequency and p a tte r n of n e u ro tic s were very s im ila r to those of adolescent s u b je c ts. A r e l a te d aspect of the D eviation H ypothesis is th e th e s is th a t t e s t item content i s unim portant in p e rs o n a lity assessm ent (Berg,. 1955, 1957, 1959a). T his hypothesis

11 has been s ta te d (Berg, 1957, p. 160) as follow s, Stim ulus p a tte rn s of any type and o f any sense m odality may be used to e l i c i t deviant response p a tte rn s ; thus p a r tic u la r stim u lu s content is unim portant fo r m easuring behavior in term s of the D eviation H y p o th e sis. In an experiment designed to te s t t h i s fac et o f the D eviation H ypothesis, Adams (1959) co n stru cted a t e s t composed of ambiguous a u d ito ry stim u li and found th a t a u d ito ry s tim u li could be used to e l i c i t deviant responses which would s ig n if ic a n tly d i f f e r e n t i a t e schizophrenic and normal s u b je c ts. Berg (1959) in an a n a l y sis o f t h is to p ic has contended th a t not only i s p a r tic u la r item content unim portant b u t th a t emphasis upon t e s t item content o fte n produces confusion with resp ect to te s t v a lid ity. I t is too fre q u e n tly fo rg o tte n th a t a c ru c ia l v a ria b le i s how th e c r i t e r i o n and d ev ian t groups respond to the stim u lu s p a tte r n re g a rd le s s of th e item c o n te n t. Thus i t would be p o ss ib le to c o n stru c t a p e rs o n a lity inventory using Strong V ocational I n t e r e s t Blank (Strong, 1935) and a in te r e s t t e s t u sin g the M innesota M u ltip h asic P e rs o n a lity Inventory (Hathaway and McKinley, 1943). This a s s e rtio n has been supported by th e re se a rc h of Garman and Uhr (1958) who were indeed able to c o n stru c t an a n x ie ty sc ale based upon the Strong V ocational I n t e r e s t Inventory and of Holland (1958) who developed a p e rs o n a lity inventory by employing o ccupational t i t l e s as t e s t item s. I t seems apparent th a t

12 th e s e te s ts c o n ta in l i t t l e s tr u c tu r e which i s m eaningful fo r p e rs o n a lity assessm ent in term s o f th e ir content'. There i s a -Close re la tio n s h ip between th e contro v ersy over th e im portance o f item c o n ten t and th e co n tro v ersy over s tru c tu re d and p ro je c tiv e tech n iq u es. H utt (1945) has q u estio n ed many of th e assum ptions involved in th e use of c r y s ta llis e d, conven tio n al q u e stio n s w ith fix e d a lte r n a t i v e s. These assum ptions, according to H u tt, in c lu d e th e statem en t th a t each q u e stio n h as the same meaning fo r each s u b je c t and t h a t the s u b je c t w ill answer t r u th f u lly. Meehl (1945) s ta te s i n r e b u tta l th a t th e re a re r e a lly two types o f s tru c tu re d p e r s o n a lity t e s t s. The f i r s t type i s c o n stru c te d on an a p r io r i b a sis which assumes th a t th e p sy ch o lo g ist has in s ig h t into v e rb a l beh av io r and i s ab le to p re d ic t what p eople of v a rio u s modes o f adjustm ent w ill say about thems e lv e s. Meehl agrees w ith Hutt th a t t h i s procedure i s laden with p i t f a l l s o f in v a lid ity * The second procedure i s an emp i r i c a l one w hich den ies the above assum ptions and s e le c ts item s merely on the b a s is of t h e i r power to d isc rim in a te v a rio u s c r ite r io n groups* Meehl s ta te s (1945, p. 297), "Not only i s th is approach f r e e from th e r e s t r ic tio n s th a t the s u b je c t must b e able to d e sc rib e h is own behavior a c c u ra te ly, b u t a c a r e f u l study o f s tru c tu re d p e rs o n a lity t e s t s b u ilt on th is b a s is shows th a t such a r e s t r i c t i o n would f a l s i f y the a c tu a l r e la tio n s h ip s th a t h o ld s between what a man sa y s and w hat he i s. 1'

13 The assum ption th a t item content or s tr u c tu r e i s unim portant appears to be j u s t i f i e d in terms o f the a v a ila b le evidence. Moreover, i t can be m aintained t h a t item content in th e assessm ent o f p e rs o n a lity is not only unim portant but a c tu a lly h in d ers the development o f m eaningful response m easures. A p e rs o n a lity th e o r i s t i s seldom in te r e s te d in the s p e c ific response an in d iv id u a l makes to a p a rtic u la r stim u lu s. Rather he is in te r e s te d in the mode or c la s s of response. The c h a r a c te r is tic s ty le o f behavior of th e in d i vid u al is th e c ru c ia l v a r ia b le. For example, i t is more imp o rta n t to know th a t an in d iv id u a l a c ts in a dependent fashion than to know whether he chooses the s p e c ific v erb al response, r,i feel d ependent. To draw a p a r a l l e l in th e area of le a rn in g, a p sy c h o lo g ist would not attem pt to exp la in the laws of le a rn in g by the apparatus he uses. W ithin lim its the process o f le a rn in g is id e n tic a l in any ap p aratu s. The c h a r a c te r is tic s of behavior a re the param eters which a l l t e s t s purp o rt to measure. These param eters are known by such terms as t r a i t s, system s, dimensions of p e rs o n a lity and the lik e. In other words, t e s t s attem pt to measure th e h a b it fam ily h iera rch y of response ten d en cies. If item s with d e f in ite s tr u c tu r e are u t i l i z e d in c o n stru ctin g a t e s t, the stre n g th of p a r tic u la r response tendencies w ill be confounded w ith the stre n g th of th e s p e c ific response le a rn e d fo r the s tru c tu re d o r m eaningful item. This confounding can

14 be e lim in a te d by th e use o f ambiguous s tim u li ak in to th o se which have been u se fu l in th e development of v a rio u s p ro je c tiv e te c h n iq u e s. Thus, when a s u b je c t i s p re se n te d w ith ambiguous s tim u li w ith which he has had l i t t l e o r no p rio r ex p erien ce, th e response e l i c i t e d w ill be th a t which i s f o r e most in th e h a b it fam ily h ie ra rc h y. T his phenomenon has been c a lle d " s e t" and may be reg ard ed as id e n tic a l to th e parame te r s of p e r s o n a lity c a lle d t r a i t s, a t t i t u d e s, d efen ses, or l i f e s ty le when s e t i s d e fin e d as th e tendency to respond in a given d ir e c tio n. In t h i s c o n te x t, i t may be noted th a t p r o je c tiv e tech n iq u es u s u a lly do not employ fix e d a lte r n a t i v e s. Thus p r o je c tiv e tec h n iq u e s do not i s o l a t e the c la s s o f response in th a t a g lo b al and o b se rv a tio n a l approach i s used in l i e u o f o b j e c t i v e response m easures. T his global approach and th e d isre g a rd o f more m olecular m easures c re a te s a number o f problems o f r e l i a b i l i t y and v a l i d i t y. Perhaps th e su c c e ssfu l a p p lic a tio n o f th e D ev iatio n H ypothesis can be a tt r ib u t e d to th e emphasis upon th e unim portance of item c o n ten t and th e use o f s t a b l e, m o lecu lar, response, m easures. Thus i t i s p o s s ib le to c o n stru c t p e rs o n a lity measures which use c la s s e s of responses ra th e r than item c o n te n t. The use o f fix e d a lt e r n a t iv e s p ro v id es a means o f o b je c tiv e e v a lu a tio n o f response r e l i a b i l i t y and v a l i d i t y and the D eviation H ypothesis appears to o f f e r a th e o r e tic a l

15 j u s t i f i c a t i o n fo r u t i l i z i n g t h i s approach to p e rs o n a lity assessm ent. T h e re fo re, th e gen eral h y p o th e sis of th e p re se n t stu d y i s th a t m eaningful p e rs o n a lity c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s can be m easured by th e use of d ev ian t resp o n se s. F u rth e r, th e re w ill be in d iv id u a l d iffe re n c e s in th e p e rs o n a lity c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s thus m easured. Some p e rtin e n t evidence in support o f t h i s has been p re se n te d by Adams* (1960) study o f s t a t i s t i c a l r i g i d i t y, B arn es' (1956a, 1956b) re s e a rc h w ith p o s itiv e and n e g a tiv e response s e t s, Bass* (1955, 1956, 1957) re s e a rc h w ith acq u iescen ce, th e H e ste rly and Berg (1958) and R oitzsch and Berg (1959) s tu d ie s o f m a tu rity, A sch's (1958) in v e s tig a tio n of n eg ativ ism, and the G rigg and Thorpe (1960) stu d y of adjustm ent as measured by deviant resp o n ses. The s p e c if ic hypotheses are th a t th e follow ing seven o p e ra tio n a lly d e fin e d response c la s s e s can be used to des c rib e p e rs o n a lity c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s. These hypotheses w ill be te s te d by a ttem p tin g to dem onstrate th a t th e se respo nse c la s s e s w ill have d i f f e r e n t i a l fu n c tio n s in v a rio u s c r i t e r i o n groups which appear to d i f f e r in term s of p e rs o n a lity c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s. T his i s a c o n stru c t v a l i d i t y approach as des c rib e d by Cronbach and Meehl (1955), using group d iffe re n c e s as a tech n iq u e fo r v a lid a tio n. A fa c to r a n a ly s is w ill also be perform ed fo r th e p re s e n t in v e s tig a tio n in order to give a d d itio n a l c o n stru c t v a l i d i t y to th e response c la s s e s. The

16 8 o p e ra tio n a l d e f in itio n s of response c la s s e s a re d eriv ed from th e type o f beh av io r th a t th e su b je c t e x h ib its when responding to th e P e rc e p tu a l R eactio n T est (PRT) (B erg, H unt, and B arnes, 1949) which c o n s is ts of a s e r ie s o f 60 a b s tra c t d esig n s which are used as item s. The s u b je c ts respond to each item by s e le c tin g one of fo u r a lte r n a tiv e s. The o p tio n s fo r each design are l i k e much (LM =1), lik e s lig h tly (LS - 2 ), d is lik e s lig h tly (3>S» 3 ), and d is lik e much (DM = 4 ). The in s tru c tio n s a re th a t th e PRT i s a t e s t o f design p re fe re n c e and th a t they a re to in d ic a te whether they lik e o r d is lik e th e d e sig n s. The o p e ra tio n a l d e f in i tio n s o f response c la s s e s which a re h ypothesized as measu rin g p e rso n a lity c h a r a c te r is tic s a re as follow s: 1. S t a t i s t i c a l R ig id ity ; S t a t i s t i c a l r i g i d i t y i s defin e d as th e decreased v a ria n c e o f resp o n ses in stim u lu s s itu a tio n s fo r which no p a r tic u la r r e sponse or responses are re q u ire d o f th e in d iv id u a l (Adams, 1960). In o rd e r to o b ta in a m easure o f s t a t i s t i c a l r i g i d i t y, th e LM, LS, DS, and DM o p tio n s of th e PRT were a r b i t r a r i l y assig n ed v alu es from one to four re s p e c tiv e ly. Then th e v araian ce fo r each su b je c t was computed u sin g s in g le item resp o n ses se p a ra te ly as sc o re s. Thus th e v a ria n c e o f a t e s t in d ic a te s how much th e s u b je c t v a rie d from item to item in h is choice of th e s e

17 o p tio n s. The v a ria n ce was then m u ltip lie d by 100 to elim in a te decim als and i s h enceforth c a lle d a v a ria n ce score (VS). The th e o r e tic a lly expected" range of th ese VSs is from 0 ( s t a t i s t i c a l l y r ig id ) to 225 ( s t a t i s t i c a l l y f l e x i b i l i t y ). A cquiescence: T his response b ias i s the tendency to respond in th e p o s itiv e d ir e c tio n (Bass, 1955, 1956, 1957). The response measure w ill be the frequency of th e lik e much o p tio n s. Like s l i g h tl y op tio n s were not used in o rd er to reduce the c o rre la tio n w ith o th e r response c la s s e s. Barnes (1956a, 1956b) has found th a t t h is response c la s s i s a s so c ia te d w ith psychoticism on the MMPI. N egativism : T his response c la s s i s o p e ra tio n a lly defined as th e tendency to respond in the n e g ativ e d ir e c tio n. Barnes (1956a, 1956b) and Asch (1958) found th a t th e re was a s ig n if ic a n t re la tio n s h ip between t h i s mode of responding and n eu ro ticism. The response m easure w ill be th e frequency with which d is lik e much options a re chosen. P e rs e v e ra tio n ; T his response c la ss i s the tendency to repeat th e p rev io u s resp o n se. The response measure i s the number of ru n s in th e t o t a l t e s t where a run i s a s e rie s of one or more rep eated

18 resp o n ses w ithout changing o p tio n s. A ffect Constancy: This i s th e tendency to mainta in one type o f em otional tone in responding to d i f f e r e n t types o f PRT s tim u li. The response m easure i s the h ig h e s t frequency of any given o p tio n. Thus t h i s response c la s s is a measure of the frequency o f the most c h a r a c t e r i s t i c emotional resp o n se. I t i s the mode of th e o p tio n ch o ices. A ffect S h i f t s : T h is response c la s s i s th e tendency to s h i f t from one extreme of th e a f f e c t continuum to a n o th e r extrem e. The response measure i s th e frequency of s h i f t s from one o p tio n to an other optio n a t le a s t two u n its or a lte r n a tiv e s from the o r i g in a l o p tio n. For example, i f a su b je c t s e l e c t ed LM on one o p tio n and DS on th e next o p tio n t h is would c o n s titu te one s h i f t. A ffect R a tio : T h is response c la s s i s d e fin e d as the sq u a re root o f th e r a t i o of acquiescence to n eg ativ ism m u ltip lie d by 100 (1 0 0 ^ 7 a+ i/n + i). The value o f acquiescence or n eg ativ ism i s never le s s than one fo r purposes o f computing the a f f e c t r a t i o.

19 CHAPTER II METHOD S u b je c ts. A ll su b je c ts (Ss) were given th e PRT which re q u ire s le s s than ten m inutes to a d m in ister. The Ss were te s te d in groups of 10 to 25 in d iv id u a ls. The p e rs o n a lity c h a r a c te r is tic s were a l l d eriv ed from th e PRT resp o n ses, scored as d e scrib e d e a r l i e r. The p re se n t study employed 500 Ss. This included 50 male and 50 female sch izo p h ren ic s, 50 male and 50 female n e u ro tic Ss, 50 male and 50 female c h ild re n, 50 male and 50 female ad o lescen t Ss, and 50 male and 50 fem ale a d u lt normal Ss. The means, stan d ard d e v ia tio n s, and ranges of age and education are shown in T able 1. The ad o lescen t Ss and c h i l dren were s e le c te d from th e p u b lic school system in East Baton Rouge P a ris h, L o u isian a. The a d u lt Ss were s e le c te d from n ig h t c la s s e s, housewives, n u rse s, and school te a c h e rs. The n e u ro tic Ss were s e le c te d from v a rio u s s t a t e guidance and o u tp a tie n t treatm ent c e n te rs. Some o f th ese Ss were also o b tain ed from th e p r iv a te p ra c tic e o f a lo c a l psychiat r i s t. The schizophrenic Ss were o b tain ed from Southeast and E ast L ouisiana S ta te H o sp ita ls in L o u isian a. The average le n g th of h o s p ita liz a tio n was 5.3 years w ith a range from th re e months to f i f t e e n y e a rs. The n e u ro tic and sc h iz o phrenic Ss had been diagnosed by the p ro fe s s io n a l h o s p ita l 11

20 TABLE 1 Mean, Standard D ev iatio n, and Range of Age and Education fo r D iffe re n t Groups Group Mean Age in Years S td. D eviation Range Mean Educ. in Years S td. D eviation Range Adult Ss Male Female N eurotic Ss Male Female Schizophrenic Ss Male Female A dolescent Ss* Male Female Children* Male Female *Means and S td. D eviations fo r the ad o lescen ts and c h ild re n s groups are not p re se n te d because of th e r e s t r i c t e d range of th e se sam ples.

21 13 s t a f f or by a p s y c h ia tr is t in p r iv a te p r a c tic e. A r a tin g of ward behavior was o b tained fo r 69 of the 100 schizophrenic Ss. The ra tin g s were made by a ward nurse who had been employed on th is ward fo r approxim ately four y e ars. The r a tin g c o n sisted of the follow ing q u e stio n about each of the Ss which was answered e ith e r yes or no, " Is th is p a tie n t a s s a u ltiv e, r e s i s t a n t, or d i f f i c u l t to manage?" Data A n a ly sis. Each S in each group was randomly a s signed to e it h e r an A or a B group (50 Ss from each sample in a sub-group) and a double c ro s s -v a lid a tio n was conducted as described by K a tz e ll (1951). T his procedure provides two samples which p erm its a comparison o f th e mean o f th e A samp le with the mean of th e B sample and a comparison o f the mean of the B sample with the mean of th e A sample. A th ree dim ensional a n a ly s is o f v arian ce was used to analyze the d ata for each response measure with c r i t e r i o n groups, sample, and sex as th e fix e d f a c to rs. A fa c to r a n a ly sis was conducted using a p rin c ip a l axis r o ta tio n to determ ine which of th e response m easures c lu s te re d to g e th e r. The confidence le v e l req u ire d fo r s t a t i s t i c a l t e s t s of s ig n ific a n c e was the.01 le v e l.

22 CHAPTER III RESULTS S p l i t - h a l f m easures of r e l i a b i l i t y were computed for the t o t a l group on each response m easure and c o rre c te d by th e Spearman-Brown form ula. As shown in T able 2, th e se r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f ic ie n ts a re a t an a cc ep tab le le v e l and range from.93 f o r acquiescence to.83 fo r a f f e c t r a t i o. T able 3 shows th e a n a ly s is o f v a ria n ce fo r s t a t i s t i cal r i g i d i t y which re v e a ls th a t only th e F t e s t fo r c r i t e r i o n groups was s i g n i f ic a n t beyond th e.01 le v e l o f confidence. The t - t e s t s between means, as may be seen in Table 4, were s i g n i f ic a n t l y d if f e r e n t beyond th e.01 le v e l of confidence fo r th e d if fe re n c e s between the means of c h ild re n and adole s c e n t S s, c h ild re n and sc h izo p h re n ic Ss, a d o le sc e n t and n e u ro tic Ss, a d o le sc en t and sch izo p h ren ic Ss, a d u lt and n e u ro tic Ss, a d u lt and sch izo p h ren ic jss, and n e u ro tic and sch izo p h ren ic S s. The most s t a t i s t i c a l l y f le x ib le ( l e a s t r i g id ) group appears to be ad u lt and ad o le sc en t Ss w ith sc h izo p h re n ic and n e u ro tic Ss f a l l i n g on th e o th e r end of th e continuum. These r e s u l ts in d ic a te th a t d is tu rb e d groups m an ifest a lack o f b e h a v io ra l v a r i a b i l i t y. C h ild ren also seem to be more s t a t i s t i c a l l y r i g i d than a d u lts which suggests th a t t h i s v a ria b le may be r e la te d to ch ro n o lo g ica l age. 14

23 15 TABLE 2 R e li a b i l i ty C o e ffic ie n ts O btained for P e rso n a lity C h a ra c te ris tic s S p lit-h alv es Spearman-Brown C o rrectio n S t a t i s t i c a l R ig id ity Acquiescence Negativism P e rse v era tio n A ffect Constancy A ffect S h ifts A ffect Ratio

24 16 TABLE 3 A nalysis o f V ariance of S t a t i s t i c a l R ig id ity Source d f MS F C r ite r io n Groups Sex ns Sample ns Groups x Sex ns Groups x Sample ns Sample x Sex ns Groups x Sample x Sex ns W ithin e rr o r T o ta l 499

25 1 TABLE 4 Means and Mean D ifferences of S t a t i s t i c a l R ig id ity Scores Group Mean^ C hildren Adolescence Adult N eurotic Schizophrenic C hildren * * Adolescence * 53.68* Adult mm mm 24.68* 48.47* N eurotic mm mm mm mm 23.79* Schizophrenic m mm mm ^A la rg e r score in d ic a te s s t a t i s t i c a l f l e x i b i l i t y w hile a sm aller score in d ic a te s s t a t i s t i c a l r i g id i t y confidence 'Jc A d iffe re n c e o f y ie ld s a t - t e s t s ig n ific a n t at the.01 le v e l of

26 18 As s e t fo rth in T able 5, th e a n a ly sis o f v a ria n c e fo r acquiescence y ie ld e d an F t e s t s ig n if ic a n t a t th e.01 le v e l o f confidence fo r c r ite r io n groups. Table 6 shows th e t - t e s t s between means. The only d iffe re n c e s between means which were not s ig n if ic a n t were th o se between th e ad o lescen t and a d u lt S s, th e ad o lescen t and n e u ro tic S s, and th e a d u lt and n e u ro tic S s. S chizophrenic Ss and c h ild re n appear to be most acq u ie scen t; however a d u lt, n e u ro tic and ad o lescen t Ss were not found to be s ig n if ic a n tly d if f e r e n t from each o th e r s t a t i s t i c a l l y. T able 7 d isp la y s the a n a ly s is o f v aria n ce fo r n e g a tiv ism* The F t e s t fo r th e c r ite r io n groups was s ig n if ic a n t a t th e.01 le v e l o f confidence in d ic a tin g th a t only group d iffe re n c e s were a s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n if ic a n t fa c to r. Table 8 shows th a t th e d iffe re n c e s between means o f c h ild re n and ad o lescen t S s, c h ild re n and a d u lt S s, ad o lescen t and neurotic S s, ad o lescen t and sch izo p h ren ic S s, and a d u lt and sch iz o p h ren ic Ss were s ig n if ic a n t a t th e *01 le v e l o f confidence as determ ined by t - t e s t s. A dolescent Ss appear to be th e most n e g a tiv is tic group as h e re in measured w h ile sc h iz o p h ren ic Ss and c h ild re n were th e le a s t n e g a tiv e. As s e t fo rth in Table 9, th e a n a ly s is o f v aria n ce fo r p e rse v e ra tio n y ie ld s an F t e s t s ig n ific a n t a t th e.01 le v e l o f confidence fo r th e c r ite r io n groups in d ic a tin g th a t th ese groups were s ig n if ic a n tly d if f e r e n t. As shown in T able 10,

27 19 TABLE 5 A nalysis of V ariance o f Acquiescence Source df MS F C rite rio n Groups Sex ns Sample ns Groups x Sex ns Groups x Sample ns Sample x Sex 1 00 ns Groups x Sample x Sex ns W ithin e rro r T o ta l 499

28 TABLE 6 Means and Mean D ifferen ces of Acquiescence \ Group Mean1 Mean D ifferences C hildren Adolescence Adult N eurotic Schizophrenic C hildren , 18.41* 20.31* 18.52* 9.18* Adolescence * Adult * N eurotic * Schizophrenic ^The la rg e r th e score the g re a te r th e acquiescence *A d iffe re n c e of 5.13 y ie ld s a t - t e s t s ig n if ic a n t a t the.01 le v e l o f confidence

29 21 TABLE 7 A nalysis o f V ariance of N egativism Source df MS F P C rite rio n Groups Sex * ns Sample ns Group x Sex ns Group x Sample ns Sex x. Sample ns Group x Sex x Sample ns W ithin e rr o r T otal 499

30 TABLE 8 Means and Mean Differences of Negativism Scores Group Mean^ Mean D ifferen ces C hildren Adolescence Adult N euroti c Schizophrenic C hildren * 3.69* Adolescence \ Adult mm m * N eurotic Schizophrenic 5.33 mm «^-The h ig h er the sco re th e g re a te r th e negativism A d iffe re n c e of 3.36 y ie ld s a t - t e s t s ig n if ic a n t a t th e.01 le v e l of confidence

31 23 TABLE 9 A nalysis o f V ariance of P e rse v e ra tio n Source df MS F p C rite rio n Groups Sex ns Sample ns Group x Sex ns Group x Sample ns Sex x Sample ns Group x Sex x Sample ns W ithin e rro r T o tal 499

32 TABLE XO Means and Mean Differences of Perseveration Scores Group Mean1 Mean D ifferen ces C hildren Adolescence Adult Neuro t i c Schizophrenic C hildren * * Adolescence * Adult * 19.64* N eurotic * Schizophrenic *-A la rg e r score in d ic a te s l i t t l e p e rs e v e ra tio n w hile a sm aller score in d i c a te s much p e rse v e ra tio n A d iffe re n c e of 4.53 y ie ld s a t - t e s t s ig n if ic a n t a t the ;01 le v e l of confidence

33 25 the t- te s ts between children and adult Ss, children and schizophrenic Ss, adolescent and schizophrenic Ss, adult and neurotic Ss, adult and schizophrenic Ss, and neurotic and schizophrenic Ss were sig n ifican tly d ifferen t a t the.01 level of confidence. The schizophrenic Ss exhibited the most perseveration and the adult Ss the le a st perseveratio n while children, adolescent, and neurotic Ss occupied an interm ediate po sitio n. As may be seen in Table 11, the analysis of variance for a ffe c t constancy y ield s an F te s t at the.01 lev el of significance for c rite rio n groups. Table 12 shows the means and the mean differences for c rite rio n groups. The d iffe r ences between the means a ll yielded sig n ifican t t - t e s t s at the.01 level of significance except the mean differences between children and neurotic Ss and between adolescent and adult Ss. A ffect constancy appears to be greatest for schizophrenic Ss and children and le a s t for adult and adolescent Ss while neurotic Ss occupy an interm ediate p o sitio n. As shown in Table 13, the analysis of variance for s h ifts of a ffe c t yields an F te s t sig n ific a n t at the.01 level of confidence for c rite rio n groups. As may be seen in Table 14, the t- te s ts yield sig n ifican t differences at the.01 level of confidence between the means obtained for the groups of children and for schizophrenic Ss, for adolescent and neurotic Ss, adolescent and schizophrenic Ss, adult and neurotic Ss, adult and schizophrenic Ss, and

34 TABLE 11 A nalysis o f V ariance of A ffect Constancy Source df MS F p C rite rio n Groups r-i o Sex # * «ns Sample ns Group x Sex ns Group x Sample ns Sex x Sample ns Group x Sex x Sample ns W ithin erro r Total 499

35 t*. TABLE 12 Means and Mean Differences of Affect Constancy Scores Group Mean^ Mean D ifferences C hildren Adolescence Adult N eurotic Schizophrenic * C hildren * * * Adolescence * * Adult * N eurotic o 9.89* Schizophrenic ^Higher th e score the g re a te r th e a ff e c t constancy A d iffe re n c e of 3.98 y ie ld s a t - t e s t s ig n if ic a n t a t the.01 le v e l of confidence to -3 L

36 28 TABLE 13 A nalysis of V ariance of A ffect S h if ts Source df MS F P C rite rio n Groups Sex ns Sample ns Group x Sex ns Group x Sample ns Sex x Sample ns Group x Sex x Sample ns W ithin e rro r T o ta l

37 \ TABLE 14 Analysis of Variance of Affect Shift Scores Group Mean^- Mean D ifferen ces C hildren Adolescence Adult N eurotic Schizophrenic C hildren Adolescence «M * Adult * 8.09* N eurotic * Schizophrenic *The g re a te r th e score the more frequent th e a ffe c t s h i f t s A d iffe re n c e of 2.97 y ie ld s a t - t e s t s ig n if ic a n t a t th e.01 le v e l of confidence \ v \

38 30 neurotic and schizophrenic Ss. Adults, adolescents, and children appear to be very sim ilar in terms of a ffe c t s h ifts while the disturbed Ss show fewer s h ifts. The analysis of variance for affect ra tio summarized in Table 15 yields an P te s t for c rite rio n groups sig n ifican t at the.01 level of confidence. Table 16 shows the means and mean differences for each group. The differences between a l l the means were sig n ific a n t at the.01 lev el of significance as determined by t - t e s t s with the exception of the differences between means of children and schizophrenic Ss and adult and adolescent Ss. The affect ra tio was lowest among adult and adolescent Ss and highest among children and schizophrenic Ss with neurotic Ss occupying an interm ediate p o sitio n. The ra tin g of ward behavior was co rrelated with the a ffe c t ra tio by a b is e ria l correlatio n (the ward rating of p a tie n t management d iffic u lty was dichotomized) fo r 69 of the schizophrenic Ss. This co rrelatio n was.516 which is sig n ific a n t at the.01 level of confidence. Evidently a low affect ra tio in d icates some propensity for overt, impulsive, aggressive behavior. Table 17 shows the in terco rrelatio n s between the re sponse c h a ra c te ristic s for the to ta l group. Generally, these co rrelatio n s are q u ite high. This appears to be a function of the mechanics of scoring and the overlapping operational d e fin itio n s. However, these in terco rrelatio n s are probably

39 31 TABLE 15 A nalysis of Variance of A ffect R atio Source df MS P P C rite rio n Groups Sex ns Sample ns Groups x Sex ns Groups x Sample ns Sex x Sample ns Groups x Sex x Sample ns W ithin e rro r T otal 499

40 TABLE 16 Means and Mean D ifferen ces of A ffect R atio Scores Group Mean1 Mean D ifferences C hildren Adolescence Adult N eurotic Schizophrenic C hildren * 191.1* St* Adolescence * 205.8* Adult * 195.2* N eurotic mm m o \ 122.7* Schizophrenic ^The higher the score the more p o s itiv e the a ffe c t A d iffe re n c e of 68.8 y ie ld s a t - t e s t s ig n if ic a n t a t the.01 le v e l of confidence CO to

41 TABLE 17 C o rrela tio n M atrix fo r P e rs o n a lity C h a ra c te ris tic s S t a t i s t i c a l R ig id ity Acquiescence Negativism P e rse v era tio n A ffect Constancy A ffect S h ifts A ffect R atio S t a t i s t i c a l R ig id ity «mm wam _.. Acquiescence ammm Negativism mm ^ mm P e rse v e ra tio n A ffect Constancy A ffect S h ifts mm --- A ffect R atio

42 34 i n f l a t e d because they were c a lc u la te d fo r th e t o t a l group which i s very h eterogeneous. T able 18 o f f e r s a p r in c ip a l axes fa c to r a n a ly s is fo r th e response m easures. The f i r s t f a c to r appears to be a general fa c to r which i s h ig h ly loaded on s t a t i s t i c a l r i g i d i t y, p e rs e v e ra tio n, a f f e c t s h i f t s, and a ff e c t constancy. T his f i r s t f a c to r i s d e sig n ated as a General V a r ia b ility fa c to r and seems to pervade th e m a jo rity of resp o n se s. The second fa c to r is loaded p rim a rily on acquiescence w ith a sm a ller p o s itiv e lo ad in g on s t a t i s t i c a l r i g i d i t y and on a f f e c t s h i f t s. I t i s d e sig n ated as an A cquiescence fa c to r. F actor I I I i s loaded p rim a rily on n eg ativ ism w ith a sm aller n e g a tiv e lo ad in g fo r p e rs e v e ra tio n. I t i s d esig n ated as a N egativism f a c to r. F acto r IV i s loaded p rim a rily on a ff e c t r a t i o w ith a sm a lle r n e g a tiv e lo ad in g fo r acq uiescence. I t i s d e sig n a te d as a H o s ti l it y E xpression f a c to r. This f a c to r i s so d e sig n ated because o f th e high c o rr e la tio n o f a g g re s siv e ward behavior and th e n e g a tiv e lo ad in g on acquiescence.

43 35 TABLE 18 F actor A nalysis of P e rs o n a lity C h a ra c te ris tic s P e rs o n a lity C h a ra c te ris tic s Factors I II I I I IV S t a t i s t i c a l R ig id ity A cquiescence N egativism P e rse v e ra tio n A ffect Constancy A ffect S h if ts A ffect R atio

44 CHAPTER IV DISCUSSION In term s o f c o n stru c t v a l i d i t y (Cronbach and Meehl, 1955) i t seems th a t a number of dev ian t resp o n se p a tte r n s can be i d e n t i f i e d as p e rs o n a lity t r a i t s. F u rth e r, th e se p e rs o n a lity c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s or t r a i t s are r e l a te d to the b e h a v io ra l c l a s s i f i c a t i o n o f groups such as sc h iz o p h re n ic s, n e u ro tic s, and a d o le sc e n ts. These in te rv e n in g v a r ia b le s which a re i n i t i a l l y d e fin e d in term s of o p e ra tio n s a re conn e cted to such observ ab le events as group d if f e r e n c e s. The im p lic it assum ption of t h i s approach to p e rs o n a lity m easurement i s th a t th e stim u lu s c o n d itio n s o f th e t e s t p ro v id es a m in ia tu re model of beh av io r from which c e r ta in a sp e c ts of behavior may be a b s tra c te d fo r in v e s tig a tio n and c l a s s i f i c a tio n. The d a ta d e riv e d from th e p re se n t in v e s tig a tio n seem to in d ic a te th a t a h ig h ly a p p ro p ria te method o f a s s e s s in g p e rs o n a lity c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s i s th e fre e -re sp o n d in g, u n s tru c tu re d s i t u a t i o n where th e a n a ly s is o f th e, response i s no t contam inated by th e s p e c if ic co n ten t o f th e s tim u li. In o th e r words, a novel s i t u a t i o n w ith s tim u li which are ambiguous fo r th e su b je c t in term s o f h is p a st experience w ill e l i c i t a c h a r a c t e r i s t i c and b e h a v io ra lly s ig n if ic a n t manner of responding. I t i s p o s s ib le th a t p e rs o n a lity 36

45 37 c h a ra c te ristic s may be best observed and measured in those ambiguous, sometimes s tre s s fu l situ a tio n s where no apparent or correct response is involved. The adolescent Ss did not d iffe r sig n ific a n tly from adult Ss in the personality c h a ra c te ristic s investigated in the present study although there was an indication that the adolescents were more negative and perseverative in th e ir responses. This finding i s probably re la te d to the fact that most of the adolescent Ss used were in th e ir la te "teens and were beginning to acquire an adult p a ttern of behavior. However, adolescent Ss were sim ilar to neurotic Ss in terms of acquiescence and perseveration, a finding which supports the Berg and Roitzsch (1959) re s u lts. Children appear to d iffe r sig n ific a n tly from adult and adolescent Ss in that they are more s ta tis tic a lly rig id, acquiescent, exhibit more perseveration, affect constancy, and le ss negativism. Children also d iffe r from neurotic Ss in a l l the measured personality c h a ra c te ristic s of the present study except perseveration. The finding by H esterly and Berg (1958) that children are sim ilar to schizophrenics is supported by the present findings th at children are sim i la r to schizophrenic Ss in terms of acquiescence, negativism, and affect r a tio. It is in te re stin g to note that data from the present study reveal that children are actu ally more acquiescent than schizophrenic Ss. Hence, th is variable tends clearly to d iffe re n tia te these two groups from the other.

46 groups which were not found to d iffe r sig n ific a n tly with respect to acquiscence. Thus, i t is possible th at acquiescence may re fle c t a generalized dependency or p assiv ity among individuals. However, i t should be noted, children also d iffe r sig n ific a n tly from schizophrenic Ss in terms of the four generalized v a ria b ility fa c to rs. In general, children appear to be more variable in th e ir behavior than e ith e r schizophrenic or neurotic Ss. A number of w riters have remarked th at schizophrenia is sim ilar to childishness but i t should be emphasized th at schizophrenia has many unique aspects (Cameron, 1939; Hanfman and Kasanin, 1942). Neurotic and schizophrenic Ss seem to d iffe r from normal, adult Ss in almost a ll of the investigated aspects of personality functioning. This seems to be especially true of schizophrenic Ss who appear to be a v irtu a lly unique group in th at they are sig n ific a n tly d iffe ren t from a ll the other groups with the exception of children on every v a riable investigated. However, despite th is finding, neurotic Ss do appear to be somewhat sim ilar to schizophrenic Ss inasmuch as they both always deviate in the same d irectio n from the normal group, at le a s t insofar as the present study is concerned. That is, the schizophrenic Ss merely deviate farth er from the normal group. The facto r analysis in Table 18 o ffe rs additional ev i dence for the construct v a lid ity of these personality

47 c h a r a c te r is tic s. The f i r s t fa c to r re v e a ls th a t the four o p e ra tio n a l d e fin itio n s o f s t a t i s t i c a l r i g i d i t y, p e rse v e r a tio n, a ff e c t constancy, and a ffe c t s h i f t s a re measuring the same phenomenon. T his phenomenon has been e a r l ie r defined as general b e h av io ral v a r i a b i l i t y, a fa c to r which may be a general c h a r a c te r is tic which in flu e n c e s many modes o f behavior. I t i s p o s s ib le th a t general b e h av io ral v a ria b i l i t y may be the b a sic phenomenon which i s described by numerous c li n i c a l a d je c tiv e s or d e sc rip tio n s such as emotional l a b i l i t y, mood changes, f la tte n e d a f f e c t, p e r se v e ra tio n, and r i g i d i t y, and the l i k e. Other c lin ic a l term s, such as egocentrism, may be secondary m a n ife sta tio n s of t h is c o n s tru c t. Thus a p a tie n t may appear a u t i s t i c because of a general i n a b i l i t y to change h is manner of r e sponding. S im ila rly, a s s o c ia tiv e blocking may occur in p a tie n ts because of th e r e s t r i c t e d range of th e ir responses. No u n q u a lifie d answer can be given to th ese in te r p r e ta tio n s u n t il fu rth e r resea rch y ie ld s th e necessary d ata. The acquiescence or second fa c to r tends to be a sso c ia te d w ith sch izo p h ren ia. The p resen t study supports the fin d in g s of Barnes (1956a, 1956b) th a t p o s itiv e responses are a s so c ia te d w ith psychoticism. However, neg ativ ism, th e th ir d fa c to r, was not a sso c ia te d with n e u ro ticism, a fin d in g which does not support the fin d in g s of Barnes (1956a, 1956b) and Asch (1958) th a t negativism i s a sso c ia te d with n e u ro ticism. Barnes id e n t i f i e d h is sample of n e u ro tic s u b je c ts on

48 the b asis of high neurotic tria d scores on the MMPI. Asch id e n tifie d his neurotic Ss on the basis of th e ir performance on the MMPI, the Rorschach, and the Draw-a-Person te s t. The present research u tiliz e d neurotic!s who were so designated on the basis of overt symptoms diagnosed in a c lin ic a l s e t ting by p sy c h ia trists. I t i s possible that these c o n flic t ing re s u lts could be explained on the b asis of the sampling procedures involved. It is also possible th at negativism is associated more with character disorders than with eith er neurosis or schizophrenia. The fin al fa c to r, affe c t ra tio, seems to be measuring some form of general, impulsive behavior. The present sample of schizophrenic p atie n ts who were assau ltiv e and res is te n t tended to have low affect ra tio scores. The affect ra tio appears to indicate whether the individual w ill reso rt to an activ e or a passive solution to his c o n flic ts. Thus i t seems feasib le to conceive of th is construct as a w ithdrawal versus aggression continuum. I t i s believed that the present research has indicated that the Deviation Hypothesis provides an adequate th eo retic a l b a sis for the in v estig atio n of personality characteri s tic s. These personality c h a ra c te ristic s have been operationally measured by the use of deviant responses and supported by construct v a lid ity. These re su lts and th e ir indications suggests a fu rth e r expansion of the Deviation Hypothesis into the area of personality functioning.

49 CHAPTER V SUMMARY I t was postulated th at the Deviation Hypothesis could be used as th eo retical b asis for the description and identif ic a tio n of certain personality c h a ra c te ristic s. It was hypothesized th at deviant responses could be used to measure operationally defined personality c h a ra c te ristic s and that these c h a ra c te ristic s could be v alidated by construct v a lid ity through the u tiliz a tio n of c rite rio n groups and factor analytic techniques. The groups selected for in v estig atio n were children, adolescent, adult normal, n eurotic, and schizophrenic Ss. There were 50 male and 50 female Ss in each group. All Ss were adm inistered the Perceptual Reaction Test (PRT) which consisted of 60 abstract designs used as te s t item s. The p ersonality c h a ra c te ristic s were a ll derived from responses to th is te s t and scored in terms of the following operatio n a lly defined c h a ra c te ristic s: s ta ti s tic a l rig id ity, perseveration, acquiescence, negativism, affect constancy, affect s h if ts, and affect ra tio. The s ta tis tic a l analysis revealed c le a rly sig n ifican t differences for a ll of the personality c h a ra c te ristic s associated with the c rite rio n groups. The schizophrenic, 41