At a college counselling cell in Lucknow, a psychologist gives Ritika, a first-year student, a sheet with twenty items. Each item gives only the first few words, such as 'At home, I often...' and 'When I fail, I...'. Ritika is asked to write her own words to finish each item, as quickly as she can. The psychologist does not tell her how her answers will be scored, and says that there are no right or wrong answers. Later, the psychologist studies what Ritika wrote very carefully.
Identify the test used with Ritika and what her written responses are held to reflect.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Sentence Completion Test; her attitudes, motivation and conflicts
Option (1) Sentence Completion Test; her attitudes, motivation and conflicts — Correct. Ritika gets the starting part of each sentence and gives her own ending, so this is the Sentence Completion Test, a projective technique. The endings a person writes are held to reflect attitudes, motivation and conflicts.
Option (2) Sentence Completion Test; the type and direction of her aggression — Incorrect. The test is named right, but the second part is wrong. The type and direction of aggression is what Rosenzweig's P-F Study analyses.
Option (3) Rosenzweig's Picture-Frustration Study; the type and direction of her aggression — Incorrect. The P-F Study shows cartoon-like pictures of frustrating situations and asks what the frustrated person will say or do. Ritika gets no pictures; she finishes written sentence beginnings.
Option (4) Thematic Apperception Test; her attitudes, motivation and conflicts — Incorrect. The TAT uses picture cards, and the person tells a story about the situation in each picture. Ritika works on written sentence openings.
NCERT (2026-27): “Sentence Completion Test “This test was developed by Rosenzweig to assess how people express aggression in the face of a frustrating situation. The test presents with the help of cartoon like pictures a series of situations in which one person frustrates another, or calls attention to a frustrating condition. The subject is asked to tell what the other (frustrated) person will say or do. The analysis of responses is based on the type and direction of aggression. …” |