The reliability and validity of Rorschach test are subject to significant psychological dispute. According to Parker (1983), the reliability of Rorschach test scores lies between low and middle .80s; this conclusion was done basing on the analysis of 39 papers which included more than 530 statistical procedures (Parker, 1983). The use of the Comprehensive System for Rorschach assessment showed even greater reliability of the test: 50% of the categories had reliability higher than .81, and 30% of the categories had reliability between .60 and .81 (Groth-Marnat,2012). Interesting conclusions regarding the reliability of Rorschach tests were obtained by Meyer (2001): if the scorers receive appropriate training, interscorer reliabilities are in the range between .82 and .97. At the same time, the test showed low reliability for children during medium or long-term periods; during short-term periods, the assessment demonstrated a reasonable stability of the results (Groth-Marnat, 2012).

The validity of Rorschach test is a complex phenomenon because the results of the test might be influenced by interpersonal variables (e.g. rapport, gender, etc.) and situational variables (convenience of the environment, clarity of instructions, etc.). Different scoring formulas used for Rorschach test also have different validity associated with each of them.

Rorschach assessment can be applied for diagnostic purposes with certain limitations. It was identified that Rorschach test can be used for predicting psychotherapy outcome, detecting psychosis and dependent behavior (Garfield, 1947). The study of Garfield (1947) indicates that Rorschach test is effective for diagnosing psychoneurotic disorders and schizophrenia.

The test proved to be efficient for detecting the signs of schizophrenia, and showed reasonable validity for identifying schizotypal personality disorder and bipolar personality disorder (Wood et al., 2000). Deviant verbalizations score can also be used for identifying the signs of borderline personality disorder (Wood et al., 2000). At the same time, identification of other types of disorders (according to DSM-IV classification) using Rorschach test is not recommended because of the lack of associations of Rorschach test results with other diagnoses (Wood et al., 2000).

Therefore, there exists numerous evidence which illustrates the validity and reliability of Rorschach personality assessment. It should be noted that Rorschach test should not be viewed as a test allowing to identify formal diagnosis, but should rather be combined with other types of personality assessment in order to provide information about the patient’s personality to the psychologist. Further research is needed to identify additional areas where Rorschach assessment can be used to gain more insight. Provided that the scorers are properly trained and the test is used for identifying the relevant areas (such as neurosis or schizophrenia), Rorschach test can be viewed as reasonably reliable and valid assessment of personality.

References

Garfield, S.L. (1947). The Rorschach Test in Clinical Diagnosis. In Journal of Clinical Psychology, 56 (2000), 387-393.

Meyer, G. J. & Archer, R.P. (2001). The Hard Science of Rorschach Research: What do We

Know and Where Do We Go? Psychological Assessment, 13: 486-502.

Groth-Marnat, G. (2012). Handbook of Psychological Assessment. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Parker, K. (1983). A Meta-Analysis of the Reliability and Validity of the Rorschach. Journal Of Personality Assessment, 47(3), 227-231.

Rose, T., Kaser-Boyd, N., & Maloney, M. P. (2001). Essentials of Rorschach Assessment. John Wiley& Sons, Inc.

Wood, J.M. et al. (2000). The Rorschach Test in Clinical Diagnosis: A Critical Review, with a Backward Look at Garfield (1947). Journal of Clinical Psychology, 56: 395-430.

The post Psychological Assessment Essay first appeared on Essay Writing Blog.

Basically, communication skills help me to serve as a third party to others. Well-developed communication skills contribute to the improvement of the effective interpersonal relations and prevent interpersonal conflicts. On the other hand, I have to develop my organizational skills because often I face a problem of the proper organization of my relationships with other people, when I fail to arrive in time, for instance, other people become uncertain in my reliability. They cannot rely on me and, therefore, in spite of my communication skills, it is sometimes difficult for me to become a third party.

Discuss times you have effectively helped others.

Nevertheless, I have managed to help other people several times. I cannot tell that I am always successful in preventing or resolving conflicts between people, I still reach positive outcomes from time to time (Frosh, 1991). To put it more precisely, I have managed to prevent the conflict between two friends of mine. They had a dispute on some political issue and they were about to quarrel, when I interfered into the situation and encouraged them to discuss the issue and to state clearly their positions. After that, I encouraged them to list their arguments and evaluate them carefully. On discussing both positions and their arguments, we came together to a consensus and my friends eventually came to agreement on the issue, which they discussed and which almost provoked a conflict between them.

List the times you have tried to help others and your efforts backfired.

However, sometimes, when I attempted to prevent a conflict between individuals all my efforts confronted the backfire from the part of the individuals I attempted to appease. For instance, when I was in a traffic jam, I witnessed a car accident. Although the damages to both cars were insignificant, just a couple of scratches, one of the drivers grew furious about the accident and was about to attack another driver. As I saw it, I attempted to interfere, but as I attempted to stop the aggressive driver, he shouted at me and started to threaten me. Nevertheless, I stayed cool and attempted to persuade him to be reasonable but he ignored me and grew even angrier. I understood that my tactics of the conflict management has failed because it was driven by mere emotions and desire to stop the conflict immideately.

How did the parties ask, directly or indirectly, for help?

As I attempted to resolve conflicts, I often was engaged in the resolution of the conflict, when either party asked me to assist to find a solution of the conflict. For instance, when I helped to resolve conflicts between my friends, some of them asked me to help them to negotiate with other friend or friends of us and to negotiate and to prevent the conflict. At the same time, some friends of mine were embarrassed to ask me for help and they were just telling me about their problems and I interfered into the conflict and attempted to negotiate the problem to resolve the conflict (Zimbardo, et al, 2005).

What role did you negotiate ahead of time?

I tend to take an arbitrary position and to take into consideration the position of both parties involved in conflicts. In such a way, I can find the solution to the conflict.

To whom were you closest? Whom did you know the best?

Basically, I knew pretty well my friends, their interests and needs. Therefore, when I was involved in the conflict between them as the third party, I was conscious of their expectations, their strengths and weaknesses. As a result, I have managed to help my friends to negotiate and resolve the conflict.

What process did they agree to before you intervened?

Before I intervened my friends agreed that they need to solve the problem objectively. They came to the point, when they needed a third party to make objective judgments concerning the position of either party (Armesto, 2005). In such a way, they agreed to resolve the conflict through the involvement of the third party.

How could you tell that your “help” was actually making things worse?

However, when I just attempted to interfere, my friends were skeptic about my ability to resolve the conflict because they knew that I am not proficient in political issues and they believed I am incompetent.

What did you learn from those experiences about serving as an informal third party?

Nevertheless, my experience proved to be helpful for the development of my conflict management skills. I learned that conflicts are difficult to resolve.

REFERENCES:

Armesto, F. F. 2005. The World History. Vol. 1. New York: Allyson and Bacon.
Elliot, A. 1992. Social Theory and Psychoanalysis in Transition: Self and Society. New York: Allyson and Bacon.
Frosh, S. 1991 Identity Crisis, Modernity: Psychoanalysis and the Self. Boston: St. Martin Press.
Harvey, D. 1995. The condition of Post Modernity New York: Routledge.
Zimbardo, L.J. et al. 2005. Psychology: Key Concepts. New York: Allyson and Bacon.

The post Essay on Resolving Intrapersonal Conflict first appeared on Essay Writing Blog.

The advantages of group decision making compared to individual include:

1. More complete information. It is known that one head is good, but two are better. The group brings to the decision-making process varied experiences and perspectives that are impossible if the decision is made by one person (Tropman, 1996).
2. Development of more options. Since the groups have at their disposal a greater volume and greater variety of information, they can bring more options to the discussion than an individual person. This advantage is especially evident when the group contains the representatives of different professions. For example, a group which includes representatives of the project, accounting, manufacturing, and marketing and personnel departments is able to provide different options, which reflect the diversity of directions of their activities. Such a multiplicity of ideas and proposals can often produce more useful options than each of the experts can imagine, acting individually (Saaty, 2008).
3. It is more likely that the taken decision will be approved by other employees. It is known that most decisions failed at the last stage of their development, because people refuse to accept and fulfill. Moreover, if workers who are directly related to any decision and who will have to implement it are taking part in the process of adoption, they will make others to approve it also.
4. Greater legitimacy. The process of group decision-making is coordinated with the democratic ideals of humanity. Therefore, the decisions taken by the group are often accepted better than those that are taken by one person. Due to the fact that the person who takes decision alone, has full power and does not consult with others, often gives the impression of dictator or despot (Ho, 1999).

Group decisions also have some disadvantages:

1. Significant time spent. Gathering a group requires time. In addition, the interaction of people immediately after the formation of a group, tend to be ineffective. Therefore, teams almost always need more time to come to some decision, than when it is taken by one person.
2. The power of minority. The group members are never completely equal in positions. They usually have different statuses in the organization, different levels of experience and knowledge of the problem, different degrees of influence on other group members and self-confidence, different abilities to express their opinions and ideas. This inequality leads to the fact that one or several of the most influential members of the group enjoyed their advantage and influence the other. As a result, the dominant minority often performs too much influence on the final decision of the group (Schmoldt, 2000).
3. Pressure of the group. Working in groups, individual members are under the pressure as people tend to be “like others” (Castellan, 1993). This often leads to a phenomenon known as the group (or patterns) thinking, which means the absence or refusal of a person’s personal opinion for the majority opinion. It is a form of subordination, in which members of the group refuse from unusual or unpopular viewpoints in order to create a semblance of agreement with the majority. Group (template) thinking interferes with a critical approach, and consequently affects the quality of group decisions.
4. Unclear distribution of responsibility. Team members share responsibility for the decision, but who should be responsible for the final result? (Gunnarsson, 2009). If the decision is taken individually, the answer is obvious. In group decisions no one is responsible.

So, group decision making has both, advantages and disadvantages and every organization chooses which form of decision making is better for it.

References:

Castellan, N.J. (1993). Individual and group decision making: current issues. pp.48-51.
Gunnarsson, M. (2009). Group Decision-Making. pp. 23-25.
Ho, E.S.S.A., Lai, Y-J., Chang, S.I. (1999). An integrated group decision-making approach to quality function deployment. IIE Transactions, 31(6), 553-567.
Rosemarynoski, J. (2008). Group decision-making: best practices for enhancing the dialogue. p. 58.
Saaty, T.L., Peniwati, K. (2008). Group Decision Making: Drawing Out and Reconciling Differences. Pp. 256-258.
Schmoldt, L., Peterson, L. (2000). Analytical Group Decision Making in Natural Resources: Methodology and Application. Forest Science, 46(1), 62-75.
Tropman, J.E. (1996). Effective meetings: improving group decision making. p. 39.

The post Advantages and Disadvantages of Group Work Essay first appeared on Essay Writing Blog.