Cognitive style and person-perception: the relationship between field dependence, empathey and social memory

In the area of personal assessment, three approaches to the measurement of personality have been established (Anastasi, 1968). The first is the self-report inventory or personality questionnaire. Woodworth's Personal Data Sheet, the prototype of this kind of test, was developed during World War I. The CPI, MI-IP I, Allport-Vernon Lindzey Study of Values are examples of this approach to personality measurement. A primary criticism often directed at this kind of test is its transparency, the ease with which a subject with a modicum of sophistication can "fake" his answers to create the desired impression. A second approach to assessment involves the use of performance or situational tests. In these tests, which attempt to simulate "real life" situations, the subject is asked to perform a task whose real purpose is disguised. Hartshorne and May were the first to use such tests extensively (1928). These tests are frequently criticized for their specificity which makes generalization difficult. Projective techniques represent a third approach to the study of personality. The free-association test mentioned previously is one of the earliest uses of a projective technique. The Rorschach and Thematic Apperception Test are probably the most well-known projective tests used currently. The subjectivity involved in scoring such tests is a major complaint of the critics.