Master's Theses

Document Type

Thesis - campus only access

Date of Award

Summer 1959

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

Advisor

Committee Chair

Abstract

This paper reports the research that was conducted in an attempt to evaluate a basic assumption underlying Szondi Test theory. This assumption is that similarity of personality characteristics of the subjects tested and person pictured in the test affects the choice of that picture. To evaluate this assumption, it was necessary to construct a situation in which similarity of personality characteristics of the subject and pictured individuals are known to exist. Thus the subject's own photographs were employed in order to achieve the highest similarity between the subject and pictured individuals. The following hypotheses were tested: (1) In a situation in which schizophrenics are presented with facial segments of themselves and others and required to select segments as either “liked" or "disliked”, they will choose their own segments as disliked beyond expectancy. (2) In a situation in which subjects are presented with non-self facial segments of both sexes, they will choose their own sex as "liked" beyond chance expectancy. The subjects were 20 white male and 19 white female schizophrenics between the ages of 20 and 45. Photographs of the subjects were taken and enlarged to the approximate size of those in the Szondi Test. Each picture was divided into four segments and pasted to cards. Two tests were devised. Each test consisted of sixteen facial segments. Test A was devised to test the first hypothesis. This test contained twelve non-self segments and four self segments. The twelve non- self segments remained unchanged throughout the testing period- -only four self segments were changed for individual subjects. For the male subjects, all non-self segments were males. Correspondingly, the twelve non-self segments used with the female subjects were female segments. Subjects were seen individually and required to pick out the four segments they liked the best and four they liked the least from the array of 16 segments. To test the second hypothesis, Test B. which consisted of eight male and eight female non-self segments, was devised. Test B was administered immediately following and in the same fashion as Test A. By readministering Test A. the degree of awareness that the subject was viewing his own photograph was tested. Results did not support the first hypothesis and only partially supported the second hypothesis. The results did, however, support the tested assumption.

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Rights

© 1959 Willis R. Wright

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