Ellen Hartmann

Psychological Measures As Predictors of Military Training Performance

The predictive validity of 7 ability tests, the Big Five, and the Rorschach method administered to 71 male applicants at the Naval Special Forces (NSF) of Norway was evaluated based on pass/fail results in training. The findings showed: (a) small correlations between the ability tests, the Big Five scales, and the success criterion; (b) Rorschach variables measuring stress tolerance, reality testing, cognition, and social adjustment correlated significantly (r = .25 to .48) with pass/fail results in training, and (c) logistic regression analysis revealed that 3 of the Rorschach variables accumulated incrementally in the prediction of training completion when entered after the ability tests and the Big Five scales, thus supporting the merit of using Rorschach variables for predicting NSF training performance.

The role of maternal attachment in children's attachment and cognitive executive functioning: A preliminary study

The influence of maternal attachment on childrens attachment and executive functioning skills through maternal sensitivity and decentered tutoring were studied in 40 middle-class mother–child dyads. Infant attachment security in the Strange Situation Procedure was related to maternal attachment security, evaluated with the Adult Attachment Interview. When the children were six–seven months of age, maternal sensitivity was evaluated. When the child was six years old, maternal decentered tutoring and the childrens executive functioning were evaluated. Regression analyses indicated that maternal tutoring accounted for the association between maternal attachment and child cognitive functioning, whereas maternal sensitivity accounted for the association between maternal and child attachment.

Psychopathic and Nonpsychopathic Violent Offenders on the Rorschach: Discriminative Features and Comparisons With Schizophrenic Inpatient and University Student Samples

We examined discriminant and convergent validity of theoretically relevant Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS) variables (Exner, 2003) and Meloy and Gaconos (1992) aggression variables in distinguishing between imprisoned violent offenders (VO) who were psychopathic (P–VO) and nonpsychopathic (NP–VO) under psychiatric treatment, schizophrenic inpatients (ISs), and university students (USs). A total of 7 of 12 variables discriminated significantly between P–VO and NP–VO, which suggests more aggressive, cognitive, and interpersonal disturbances among P–VO. We also found significant differences between VOs, ISs, and USs. Logistic regression analyses revealed that AgPast accumulated incrementally in the classification of P–VO versus NP–VO, and AgC accumulated incrementally in the classification of VO versus IS when entered after CS variables. The findings support the view that psychopathy is a distinctive form of antisocial personality disorder (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) organized at a more severe pathological level.

Rorschach Variables and Big Five Scales as Predictors of Military Training Completion: A Replication Study of the Selection of Candidates to the Naval Special Forces in Norway

We tested 140 male candidates at the Naval Special Forces (NFS) of Norway on the Rorschach (Exner, 2003; Rorschach, 1921/1942) and the Norwegian version of the Big Five personality dimensions (Engvik & Føllesdal, 2005). Rorschach variables significantly correlated with training completion (effect sizes of r e = .14–.25), whereas none of the Big Five factors or facets did. The combination of Rorschach and Big Five variables framed in the illusory mental health concept provided strong predictive ability. Testing under stress produced slightly higher predictive validity coefficients between the Rorschach variables and pass–fail than under calm testing. The findings support the results of Hartmann, Sunde, Kristensen, and Martinussen (2003), indicating that Rorschach variables and indications of good mental health may be valid predictors of NFS training.

Depression and Vulnerability As Assessed by the Rorschach Method

We examined clinically depressed (CD; n = 16), previously depressed (PD; n = 19) and never depressed (ND; n = 18) individuals on 13 theoretically selected Rorschach (Exner, 1993; Rorschach, 1942) variables and on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979). The group assignment was made according to the criteria of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). We tested 2 contradictory models for depressive vulnerability, Becks (Clark & Beck, 1999) and Miranda and Personss (1988; Persons & Miranda, 1992), in a planned comparison design with focused contrasts. The CDs significantly contrasted the combined group of NDs and the PDs in a pathological direction on 8 of the 13 Rorschach variables and on the BDI. However, the combined group of CDs and PDs also significantly contrasted the NDs in a pathological direction on 3 of these Rorschach variables and on the BDI. In addition, logistic regression analyses indicated that Rorschach indexes significantly improved the prediction of major depression above and beyond that achieved by the BDI. The findings show that the Rorschach method was able to identify (a) cognitive and aggressive disturbances that are present in individuals who are actively depressed but not in individuals who have been depressed in the past or never been depressed and (b) affective and coping disturbances that are present in depressed individuals and to some degree in PD individuals but not in individuals who have not experienced depression. We discuss the scanty evidence of psychological disturbances in PD individuals, as measured with the Rorschach, in relation to the mood-state dependent hypothesis of Miranda and Persons (1988; Persons & Miranda, 1992).

The Impact of Exposure to Internet-Based Information About the Rorschach and the MMPI–2 on Psychiatric Outpatients’ Ability to Simulate Mentally Healthy Test Performance

To examine the impact of Internet-based information about how to simulate being mentally healthy on the Rorschach (Exner, 2003) and the MMPI–2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989), 87 psychiatric outpatients completed the tests under 4 conditions: uncoached and Internet-coached outpatients under faking healthy instructions (faking patients and Internet-faking patients) and patients and nonpatients under standard instructions (standard patients and standard nonpatients). On the Rorschach, faking patients and Internet-faking patients did not manage to portray healthy test performance and, like standard patients, revealed a significantly greater number of perceptual and cognitive disturbances than standard nonpatients. Faking patients scored in the psychopathological direction on most variables. Internet-faking patients produced constricted protocols with significantly higher F% (57%) and lower use of provoking and aggressive contents than the other groups. On the MMPI–2, faking patients and Internet-faking patients were able to conceal symptoms and, like standard nonpatients, scored in the normal range on the clinical scales. The validity scale L successfully detected the faking patients and the Internet-faking patients, whereas the F scale only distinguished the Internet-faking patients and K only the faking patients. We conclude that Internet-based information could threaten test validity.

Rorschach Assessment of Traumatized Refugees: An Exploratory Factor Analysis

Fifty-one multitraumatized mental health patients with refugee backgrounds completed the Rorschach (Meyer & Viglione, 2008), Harvard Trauma Questionnaire, and Hopkins Symptom Checklist–25 (Mollica, McDonald, Massagli, & Silove, 2004), and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF questionnaire (WHOQOL Group, 1998) before the start of treatment. The purpose was to gain more in-depth knowledge of an understudied patient group and to provide a prospective basis for later analyses of treatment outcome. Factor analysis of trauma-related Rorschach variables gave 2 components explaining 60% of the variance; the first was interpreted as trauma-related flooding versus constriction and the second as adequate versus impaired reality testing. Component 1 correlated positively with self-reported reexperiencing symptoms of posttraumatic stress (r = .32, p < .05). Component 2 correlated positively with self-reported quality of life in the physical, psychological, and social relationships domains (r = .34, .32, and .35, p < .05), and negatively with anxiety (r = –.33, p < .05). Each component also correlated significantly with resources like work experience, education, and language skills.

Assessment of substance abusers on the MCMI‐III and the Rorschach

We examined 60 substance abusers (SA) on the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III; Millon, 1994) and on eight Rorschach variables from the Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2003). On the MCMI-III, SA scored above the cutoff for clinical significance (M > or = BR 70) on Drug Dependence (94.77), Antisocial (82.95), Depressive (74.33), Self-Defeating (71.48), and Alcohol Dependence (70.70). On seven of the CS variables (M+,o,u, XA%, X-%, WSum6Lv2%, M-%, SumT%, and Pure H%) the scores of the SAs suggested significant more psychopathology compared to the scores of 60 university students, whereas the SAs scores on six of these variables (M+,o,u, XA%, X-%, WSum6Lv2%, SumT%, and Pure H%) suggested significantly less psychopathology compared to the scores of 36 schizophrenics. The effect sizes for the significant differences were in the small, medium and large range (d= 0.31 to d= 1.87).

The Norwegian perspective on issues of quality in day care

Since 1953, Norwegian national standards regulate ratios of children to staff, training requirements, group sizes, leadership and subsidies. Both national and local subsidies support the management and quality level of day care centers. In Norway a current viewpoint on quality in day care is to stimulate innovation in day care activities by rewarding local initiative and creativity. Outdoor activities and giving the children freedom to learn are highly valued. Preschool teacher education, which is three years at college, shares a common frame of a governmental curricular guideline as well as a nationwide curriculum for day care. A responsive and warm interaction between staff, children and parents is a definite moral value of the preschool teacher profession. Current issues of quality are related to the shortage of highly qualified directors and leaders in public day care as well as the expansion of private centers with questionable quality. Quality control of day care centers is now discussed as a necessary surveillance system of the quality of contexts and interactions in children’s daily life.RésuméDepuis 1953, en Norvège, de nouvelles normes nationales définissent les caractéristiques des établissements d’accueil pour jeunes enfants: taux d’encadrement, formation des personnels, effectifs des groupes d’enfants, direction des établissement et subventions accordées. Le fonctionnement et le niveau de qualité des centres d’accueil dépendent des subventions nationales et locales. Le point de vue actuel en Norvège est que la qualité d’accueil peut être développée si on stimule l’innovation dans les activités des centres en récompensant les initiatives locales créatives. Les activités extérieures et la création d’environnements favorables au libre apprentissage sont très valorisées. La formation des personnels chargés de l’enseignement préscolaire, qui dure trois ans à l’Université comporte un enseignement spécifique à cet égard. La recherche d’ interactions ouvertes et chaleureuses entre éducateurs, parents et enfants représente une valeur essentielle pour les enseignants de ce secteur. Les problèmes actuellement rencontrés en ce qui concerne la qualité sont dus à l’insuffisance de directeurs très qualifiés dans les centres publics et à la prolifération de centres privés dont la qualité est discutable. Le contrôle de la qualité des centres pour jeunes enfants passe nécessairement par l’évaluation de la richesse des contextes et des interactions dans la vie quotidienne des enfants.

Rorschach variables and dysfunctional attitudes as measures of depressive vulnerability: a 9-year follow-up study of individuals with different histories of major depressive episodes.

Forty-six individuals with different histories of major depressive episodes (MDEs) completed the Rorschach (Exner, 2003) and the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS; Weissman & Beck, 1978) at 2 assessment points (T1, T2) over a 9-year follow-up. At T1, history of MDE and the Rorschach variable MOR (associated with negative self-image) emerged as significant predictors of number of MDEs over the follow-up. At T2, Rorschach markers of depressive vulnerability and scars were identified (i.e., WSum6, related to illogical thinking; X+%, related to conventional perception and social adjustment; X–%, linked to erroneous judgments; MQ–, associated with impaired social relations; and MOR). Test–retest analyses displayed significant temporal stability in Rorschach variables, with r ranging from .34 to .67 and in the DAS, r = .42. Our findings highlight MDE as a recurrent and serious disorder, number of MDEs as a risk factor for future depressions, and Rorschach variables as markers of depressive vulnerability and scars.