Sacks Sentence Completion Test Report
Sacks Sentence Completion Test Report
BACKGROUND
Establishment
Since the Sentence Completion Test (SCT) is a variation of the word association
method, the two techniques have been compared frequently, generally to the advantage of the
SCT. It is claimed that the SCT cuts down. The multiplicity of associated evoke by a single
word; that it s better able to suggest context, feeling tones, qualities of attitudes, and specific
objects or areas of attention; that it allows greater individual freedom and variability of
response; and that it taps a larger area of the subject’s behavioral world.
The sentence completion method has its origins in the work of Ebbinghaus (1897), Kelly
(1917), and Traube (1916), there have been more recent attempts to be used primarily in recent
years s a device or personality assessment Payne (1928), and Tendler (1930) is generally
credited with being the first to use sentence completion measures developed slowly during the
thirties, but because of the pressures of ar and the demands of group personality assessment,
many investigators developed n interest in the technique, thus sulting a considerable literature
dealing test and its application. Since that time, sentence completion methods have become
increasingly more popular and sentence completion has become a regular part of standard
clinical test batteries.
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Sacks Sentence Completion Test Report
These two features of flexibility and economy seem to have been of paramount
importance in gaining sentence completion and the popularity it enjoys. Tundberg (1961) found
that, of. In all the psychological tests and instruments, sentence completion marked 13th in
frequency of use, and among the group personality instruments, the sentence was second only to
HNPI.
The flexibility and popularity of the test have led to the initiation of sentence
completion forms, the original of which are often obscure. The sentence completion method
toward Negroes (Brown and Shirley, 1950) old people (Golde and Kogan, 1959), school life
(Castin and Eigner, 1949), peers and parents (Harrin and Tseng, 1957), mental hospitals
(Souleaz, 1955), and attitudinal change (Lindgren, 1954).
The sentence completion method has often been used to predict achievement for the
specialized group. Murray and Mckinnon 1946, used a sentence completion form to evaluate
candidates in the classic 058 studies. The. sentences completion has been used to edict e
success of graduate students in clinical psychology (Kelly and Fiske, 1950) and to predict the
success of the flight cadets (Hotman and Sells) 1954.
In the bulk of thin studies, the sentence completion methods used are “custom” tests,
devised specifically for the particular research project. In the case of constructing construction
nets of stems, the content which bears a prima facie relationship to the variable under
investigation has encouraged a wide variety of research.
There have been, however, several attempts to construct and resent “standard” forms.
Special standard sentence completion forms for use in the armed services were developed by
Bijeu (1947), Flanagan (1947, Trites, Holtman, and sells (1953), and Willingham (1958). The
attempt of standardizing a sentence completion form, which has been most probably n righteous
had the most impact and provided the most stimulation for further research has been that of
Ratter and his associates.
Theoretical Framework
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Sacks Sentence Completion Test Report
Such a projective attitude of the individual was regarded frame of reference for this
Ego functioning. Adler equated his style of life with self or ego, the unit of the personality
individuality, the method of facing problems of life, and the whole attitude ward fe. Adler’s
view was elaborated by Sullivan who preferred the term “self-system.” One of the most
amazing things about the ego is the relation of stability. It changes slowly. Sullivan formulated
the theory of stability and anxiety-gating theory; by selective attention, a person tends to
recognize only what is in accord with the recently existing self-system; thus, his age is his
frame. Of reference. The reason s that, discordant observations are anxiety-producing and a
major purpose of the self-system is to avoid or minimize anxiety. Fingarette referred to the
failure to integrate observation into one’s current frame of reference as anxiety.
Thus, this search for coherent meanings in experience is the essence of the age or of
the ego functioning, rather than just one of the many equally important age functions. The ego
maintains its stability, its identity, and coherence by selectively getting out its current state.
Those theoretical conclusions are the foundations for use of sentence completion as a method of
measuring age development.
The first methodological decision is that only a projective technique that requires
the subject to project his frame of reference will suffice to measure ego development. There were
several works that closely, although independently, with the development of the self-system.
All of the conceptions project an abstract continuum that is both a normal development sequence
and a dimension of individual differences in any given range of ages; all see holistic views of
personality and all see behavior in terms of purposes; all are more or less concerned with
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Sacks Sentence Completion Test Report
impulse control and character deve pment, with interpersonal relations, and the cognitive
preoccupations.
Description of Test
A sentence completion test is a semi-projective test designed to obtain
significantly clinical material in four representative areas of adjustment developed by Joseph M.
.Saks and other psychologists of the New York Veterans Administration Mental Hygiene Service
The four areas covered by the test are :
i. Family
ii. Sex
iii. Interpersonal relationship
iv. Self-Concept
It is felt that the items included in these areas resent the subject with sufficient
opportunities to express his attitudes so that a clinical psychologist may infer his dominant
personality trends. Such information is useful in screening patients for therapy and it offers the
.therapist significant clues to the content and dynamics of the patient's attitudes and feelings
,The family area includes three sets of attitudes, those toward the mother, father
and famil nit. Each of these is represented by four sentence completion items that stimulate the
subject to express attitudes toward his parents individually and toward his family as a whole.
“My mother and I…”, “If my father would only…”, and “My family treats me like…” are
examples of these items designed to elicit these attitudes. It s hoped that ven the subject tends to
be cautious and he will reveal significant material in response to at least one of the items.
Sex includes attitudes toward women and heterosexual relationships. The eight
items in this area. Allow the subject t express himself about women as social individuals,
toward marriage, and concerning the sexurelationshipship themselves. “I think most girls…” and
“If I had sex relationships…” are typical items in this area.
Self-concept involves fears, guilt feelings, goals, and attitudes toward one’s
own abilities, past, and future. The attitudes expressed in this area give the psychologist a picture
of a subject’s concept of himself as he is, as he was, as he hopes to be, and as he thinks he
actually will be. Among the twenty-four items n this area is “I wish I could lose the fear of…”
and “My greatest mistake was…”, “I believe I can…”, “When I was a child…” and “Someday
I…” and “What I want most out of my life...
Three psychologists rated the degree of disturbance of one hundred subjects in each of
the fifteen categories based on the subjects’ sentence completion responses. The psychiatrist who
treated these subjects made an independent rating of their degree of disturbance in each of the
fifteen categories, based on their clinical impressions of the subjects. Reliability of the
psychologist's judgement of the degree of disturbance is indicated by the agreement of two out of
three psychologists on 92 percent of 1500 rating.
The psychiatrist did not know the SSCT responses. When the rating of the
Psychologists were correlated with those of the psychiatrist, contingency coefficients .48 to .57
were found, with standard error of .02 and .03. these figures indicate that the rating of error
psychologists had a significant, positive relationship with those of psychiatrists.
For fifty subjects, psychologists wrote interpretive summaries that were submitted to the
psychiatrist, who rated them concerning their agreement with clinical findings. Some 77 percent
of the statements were rated the these lose lost agreement or partial agreement with clinical
findings. These results of the SSCT compare favorably with those found in validation studies of
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Sacks Sentence Completion Test Report
such other methods of personality study as the Rorschach Test and the Thematic Apperception
Test (23, 40, 52). Experience with the test thus developed has demonstrated the need for minor
revisions in the wording of some items to allow great freedom of responses, and for the
substitution of new items for those which tended to elicit stereotypes and clichés.
II. METHOD
Aim
To assess the personality, attitude, and adjustment of the subject using Sacks’ Sentence
Completion Test.
Materials Required
Pencil, Eraser, Manual, Questionnaire, Response Sheet
Precautions:
The precautions which need to be taken care of are as follows:
A. The test site should be comfortable, and have good lighting, ventilation, and handicap
accessibility.
B. The test subject should not face any interruption or distraction such as excessive noise.
C. The responses of the participant should not be influenced by the 3rd person.
D. Other miscellaneous distractions should be minimized if not eliminated.
Rapport Formation
The following aspects were kept in mind to build rapport with the test subject.
1. Good appearance.
2. Basics of Communication skills.
3. Finding common ground.
4. Creating shared experiences.
5. Being empathic
6. Mirror and match mannerisms and speech appropriately
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Sacks Sentence Completion Test Report
Instructions
partly completed sentences are given. Read each one and finish it by writing the first thing that
comes to mind. Work as quickly as you can. If any item cannot be completed at that particular
moment, circle the number and return to it later.
Administration
Following things were kept in mind while administering the conduction of test.
- The time period of 20-40 minutes was provided to finish the test which was completely
utilized by the test subject.
- The test subject was allowed to clarify all the doubts regarding instructions of the test.
- The test was conducted at a convenient location to maintain decorum.
- The conduction of the test was administered by a trained proctor who maintained positive
atmosphere.
Introspective Report
The test appeared to be simple at first, but the client stated that some questions required
an honest response. The client responded affirmatively to the directions, but several of the
questions elicited a highly holistic spontaneous answer. They didn't even realise they could finish
some statements with such genuine reactions that had never been shared or acknowledged, as
they made plain. The client's overall experience was positive because they were able to provide
some accurate answers, but certain questions were tough to answer. There appeared to be some
unprocessed items that may have hampered the responses, and some questions were left
unanswered.
Observational Report
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Sacks Sentence Completion Test Report
The focus was not only on the immediate behaviour but also on the subtleties of client’s nature.
The way they approached the test, there were hints of enthusiasm and excitement because the
very fact that client’s curiosity was touching the sky regarding the idea of a ‘psychological
assessment’. While they were taking the test, for first 15-20 minutes, it seemed there is no
difficulty. But as the client progressed, one could easily spot them in an emotional turmoil. When
I mention emotional turmoil, I do not mean one with severe reactions but one with a dilemma.
The client wrote the answers with utmost honesty and reported to have heightened emotions
while taking the
Test.
RATIONALE
In contrast to the usual objective tests, the method has the distinct advantage of
providing freedom to respond instead of forcing the subject to answer Yes, No,”?”; he can
respond to the stimulus as he wants. In addition, the nature of the test is somewhat disguised and
it is less clear to the subject what constitutes “a good” or “bad” answer, even though the intent of
the test may be known r easily guessed. It s as easily administered in group form as the
subjected tests but does not have the potential advantage of machine scoring or scoring by
nonprofessional personnel.
Demographic Details
I. Name- XYZ
II. Age- 20
III. Educational Qualification- High School Graduate
V. Gender- Female
V. Occupation- Student
Scoring
- To get an overall rating in a category, an average of the scores on each item under a
category should be taken.
- That is if scores on 4 items under a category are-2,2,2,1 then the overall score will be
(2+2+2+1)/4=1.75=2. Hence 4 is the number of items.
- If any item is missing or it has insufficient evidence- for example, scores on 4 items
under a category are- 2,2,2, X then the overall score will be (2+2+2)/3=2.
Discussion
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Sacks Sentence Completion Test Report
The present test aimed to assess the personality, attitude, and adjustment of the subject
using the SACKS Sentence Completion Test. The interpretations drawn from the statements are
discussed below
In this domain, the items involved were 14,29,44,59. Using the individual scores
based on responses given by our test subject the final score calculated turned out to be 0. This
score indicates that our test subject positively relates to her mother. It can be predicted by one of
the responses of the client, “My mother and I get along exceptionally well.”
Also, there seems to be a good understanding between the two. And there is a general sense of
acceptance and support from her mother and receptiveness towards her needs.
In this domain, the items involved were 1,16,31,46. Using their scores based on
responses given by our test subject the final score calculated turned out to be
0. This score again signifies that the test subject also maintains good relations with her
father, as can be seen from her responses such as, “I feel that my father is the most amazing
person in this world”. Her father’s personality is quite compatible with hers and hence she
can maintain a good bond with her father. She has positive memories of her time with him.
Having a higher level of quality time with a healthy dad is imperative. The effects of a
father’s level of involvement can have a huge impact on the child’s development.
Again, the only thing she needs to take care of is to maintain this bond in the future.
In this domain, the items involved were 12,27,42,57. Again by using the
individual scores based on responses given by the test subject, the final score was calculated as 0.
This score just like in the above scenarios signifies the strong bond between the test subject and
her family. Even in case of instability in family domicile, her behavior towards the family is
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Sacks Sentence Completion Test Report
going to be minutely influenced negatively in a negative way may be due to her positive
childhood experience which is reflected by one of her responses, “my most vivid childhood
memory is having fun with family”. It also signifies that she has strong control over her emotions
.and does not get carried away easily if the situation demands it
In this domain items involved are 11,26,41,56. Based on the test subject’s responses,
the individual scores used gave a total score of 0. This score indicates that she has complete
satisfaction in this area. She has had a few negative experiences, which is indicated in the
statement, “the worst thing I ever did is loving and trusting blindly”, she remains confident and
excited about the prospect of marriage which is indicated through her desire to find “a perfect
life partner”.
The items involved in this domain are 8,23,38,53. A final score calculated using their
scores based on responses of the test subject came out as 0. This indicates that our test subject
has a tendency of expressing mutual relationships with others and herself. She is neither
suspicious of others nor waits for others to accept her first to get involved emotionally. This
mutualistic tendency is indicated in her response, “a real friend will bring you the greatest joys”.
In this domain, the items used were 6,21,36,51. Based on the test subject’s responses,
the individual scores used gave a total score of 0. It indicates that our test subject is comfortable
in accepting authority which also indicates that the subject has an idea as to what authority is all
about. Hence, there is no scope for resentment or mild disturbance in the test subject’s behavior
in adjusting as per the authority. This can be further supported by the response given by the
subject, “People who are my superiors are the coolest of all”.
Here the items are 13,28, 43, and 58. Based on the test subject’s responses, the
individual scores used gave a total score of 0. The total score indicates that the subject seems to
have a good understanding of her colleagues at school/ work which can be understood by her
response, “those whom I work with are pretty amazing”. She is an independent woman who
doesn’t rely on her colleagues for support when facing some difficulties with her work. More
importantly, she doesn’t feel rejected or abandoned by her colleagues.
Here the items are 7, 22, 37, and 52. Based on the test subject’s responses, the
individual scores used gave a total score of 1. The total score indicates that the subject has a fear
of self-assertion which is fairly common but not pervasive in nature. The influence of fear on her
behavior can be found in responses like, “fear of losing my loved ones” and “I’m afraid of failing
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Sacks Sentence Completion Test Report
all the time”. Hence, she probably has trouble expressing herself firmly but the fear is not
paralyzing and doesn’t keep her from forming close bonds.
In this domain, the items involved were 15,30,45,60. The final score calculated
using their scores based on responses of the test subject came out as 1. The score indicates that
the test subject has regret over the past and seems mildly disturbed by her lack of control. It is
indicated by her response, “the worst thing I ever did is loving and trusting blindly ”. It signifies
that she is aware of her guilty feelings but they are not disturbing enough to disrupt her daily
functioning or require external aid.
Here the items are 2,7,32,47. Based on the test subject’s responses, the individual
scores used gave a total score of 1. The indication it gives is that our test subject knows about her
potential and ability but still has some fears that hold her back when the time comes to face
difficulty. She struggles to face a problem in an effective manner which can be seen in her
response such as, “when the odds are against me, I start crying and get anxious”. When we
don’t have answers and cannot guarantee that our decisions will be sound, it is very seductive to
seek out experts or place our hope in another person who will be our “savior”. When we do this,
we abdicate our responsibility, betray our competence, and surrender agency. This is probably
what is keeping her completely fearless.
Here the items involved are 9,24,39,54. With the help of their scores again based on
the test subject’s responses the total score came out to be 0. This total score indicates that the test
subject holds no grudges against the past. She seems to be well adjusted overall and has not
experienced any significant disturbing events in the past. Instead, she recalls positive memories
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Sacks Sentence Completion Test Report
of her past such as her “most vivid childhood memory is having fun with family”. Hence feelings
of isolation and rejection do not seem to be present at all.
In this domain, the items involved were 5,20,35,50. Based on the test subject’s
responses,
the individual scores used gave a total score of 0. This score indicates that the test subject has
positive expectations for the future. She seems to be confident in achieving her goals shortly as
can be seen in one of her responses, “someday I will become successful”. Hence the scope of
pessimistic behavior is not at all present in our test subject.
Here the items are 3,18,49,53. A final score calculated using their scores based on
responses of the test subject came out as 0. It indicates that for our test subject achievement of
happiness and satisfaction is a top priority. It can be found in one of her responses where she
claimed, “What I want most out of life is to enjoy every moment”. She does not get influenced by
materialistic desires and wants to live life to the fullest and have authentic experiences.
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Conclusion
It could be elicited that in responding to the stimulus/ responses in the sentence completion test,
the client unconsciously revealed her true say since there is no way in which she could anticipate
the significance of her complaints for the personality study. The test causes little test anxiety
which gave the client nearly complete freedom in making her responses and expressing her
feelings in her own words. The sentence completion test gives a good deal of information about
the client which seems to have practical value. There is no element of threat in the test.
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Sacks Sentence Completion Test Report
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APPENDIX A
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