Rotter

Incomplete
Resurreccion
Sentence
Blank

Sentence
Completion
Method

Semi-structured p.t.
Subject is asked to
finish a sentence
Reflects on his own
wishes, desires,
fears, and attitudes
Word association

EXAMPLE
1. I like
__________________________
2. The happiest time
______________
3. I want to know
_________________
4. Back home
____________________
5. I regret
________________________

DEFINITION
Is a projective
psychological test
developed (revised)
by Julian Rotter and
Rafferty in 1950.
School form, college
form, adult form

DEFINITION

40 incomplete
sentences
As soon as
possible but the
usual time taken
is around 20
minutes

DEFINITION
Measure of overall index
of adjustment
Screening, group
comparison, and research
purposes
Individual & group setting
No long set of
instructions

development
Julian Rotter &
Benjamin Willerman
(1947)
Screening large
groups of soldiers to
evaluate adjustment
and fitness for return
to duty and to obtain
specific information for
evaluation and

Purpose

Rotter &
Rafferty
Is an attempt to
standardize SC
method for the
use at college

Objectives
Objective screening
and experimental
purposes
Obtain information of
rather specific
diagnostic value for
treatment purposes

USE
General
interpretation with
a variety of subjects
Over-all
adjustment score:
screening purposes

USe
Vocational
guidance center
Experimental
studies
Investigations of
the relationship of
adjustment to a
variety of variables

Psychometric
Properties:
reliability
Split-half reliability:
.84 based on records of 124
male college students
.83 based on 71 female
college students
Inter-scorer reliability:
.91 male records
.96 female records

Psychometric
Properties:
Reliability

Odd-even
technique for
determining
reliability is not
applicable and
would tend to give
minimum estimate
of internal
consistency

Psychometric
Properties:
Validity

Groups of subjects
which did not include
any of cases used in
developing the scoring
principles and the
scoring manual
Scoring was done
blindly.

Psychometric
Properties:
Validity

82 females; 124 males

who were classified as
either adjusted or
maladjusted
Cutting score of 135:
very sufficient
separation of adjusted
and maladjusted
students

Psychometric
Properties:
Norms
299 entering freshmen at

Ohio State University

A comparison between the
median percentile ranks on
the Ohio State
Psychological Examination
of the sample and of the
total freshman population
showed a difference of
approximately two
percentile points.

Psychometric
Properties:
NORMS

Agreement between
corresponding first and
third quartile points were
very close
Correlation coefficient
between OSPE scores &
RISB scores was only .11
Very little relationship
would exist between
intelligence and scores on
personality measure

Administration

Complete these
sentences to
express your real
feelings. Try to do
every one. Be
sure to make a
complete

Administration
No further instructions
are given except if
necessary and to urge
subjects to complete all
the items.
Administration to
group is possible.
Average time for
administration is

Scoring:
Use of Scoring Manual

Scoring is done by
assigning a
numerical weight
from 0 to 6 for each
sentence and
totaling the weights
to obtain the
overall score.

Scoring
Principles

OMISSION
RESPONSE
CONFLICT
RESPONSE
POSITIVE RESPONSE
NEUTRAL RESPONSE
intended to aid in determining
the correct weight for a
completion when a very similar
statement cannot be found in

Scoring
Principle:
Omission Response

Are designated for

which no answer is
given or for which the
thought is incomplete
NOT SCORED

EXAMPLE:

38. Dancing __________

33. The only trouble

is_________

Scoring
Principle:
Omission response

In clinical situations, it
may be provocative and
may point to areas which
the individual does not
recognize or cannot bring
himself to express
If there are more than 20
omissions, the paper is
considered unscorable for
all practical purposes

Scoring
Principle:
Omission Response
Most girls.. dont appeal to
me except sexually
because
OR
I hate.. the thought of
going home since
= not scored

Scoring
Principle:
Conflict Response

Indicates an unhealthy
or maladjusted frame of
mind.
Hostility reactions,
pessimism, symptom
elicitation, hopelessness
and suicidal wishes,
statements of unhappy
experiences, and

EXAMPLE:

Scoring
Principle:
Conflict Response

Responses range from C1 to

C3: severity of the conflict
or maladjustment expressed
C1=4
C2=5
C3=6

Conflict
Response:
C1 Category

Concerned are expressed

regarding such things as the
world state of affairs, financial
problems, specific school
difficulties, physical
complaints, identification with
minority groups, and so on.
Minor problems which are not
deep-seated or incapacitating
and more or less specific
difficulties.

Conflict
Response:
C2 category

More serious indications of

maladjustment.
More generalized difficulties than are
found in C1.
Expressions of inferiority feelings,
psychosomatic complaints, concern
over possible failure, generalized
school problems, lack of goals, feelings
of inadequacy, concern over vocational
choice, and difficulty in heterosexual
relationships as well as generalized
social difficulty.

Conflict
Responses:
C3 Category
Expression of severe
conflict or indications of
maladjustment
Suicidal wishes, sexual
conflicts, severe family
problems, fear of insanity,
strong negative attitudes
toward people in general,
feelings of confusion,
expression of rather

Conflict
Responses:
Examples

Determine under what

category each item will fall
under. C1, C2, or C3
1. I want to know..
about life.
2. I like.. to know if I am
crazy.
3. The happiest time.. is
over.

Conflict
Responses:
Examples
1. I want to know..
about life. C1
2. I like.. to know if I
am crazy. C3
3. The happiest
time.. is over. C2

Scoring
Principle:
Positive responses

Are those indicating a

healthy or hopeful
frame of mind
Humorous or flippant
remarks, optimistic
responses, and
acceptance reactions

Example:

Scoring
Principle:
Positive Responses

Responses range
from P1 to P3
depending on the
degree of good
adjustment expressed
in the statement
P1=2

Positive
Responses:
P1 category
Positive attitudes towards
school, hobbies, sports,
expression of interest in
people, expression of
warm feeling toward some
individual and so on.

Positive
Responses:
P2 Category

Replies which
indicate a
generalized
positive feeling
toward people,
good social
adjustment,

Positive
responses:
P3 Category

Clear cut good

natured humor, real
optimism, and warm
acceptance

Positive
Responses:
Examples
Determine under what category
each item will fall under. P1, P2, or
P3.

1.

I like.. to have a good

time.
2. Back home.. are many
friends.
3. The happiest time.. is yet
to come.

Positive
Responses:
Examples

1. I like.. to have
a good time.
P1
2. Back home..
are many
friends. P3
3. The happiest

Scoring
Principle:
Neutral responses

Responses that are

not falling clearly
into either of the
above categories.
Simple descriptive
level
N responses are

Examples:

Scoring
Principle:
Neutral responses
Two levels:
1. Lacking emotional tone or
personal reference
2. responses which are found
as often among
maladjusted as among
adjusted individual and
through clinical judgment
could not be legitimately
place in either C or P group.

Neutral
Responses:
Examples

Most girls..
are females.
When I was a
child.. I spoke
as a child.

Review of
Scores

Conflict Answers: Score of

4, 5, 6

Neutral Answers: Score of 3

Positive Answers: Score of
2, 1, 0

Omission Answers: Not

counted

An overall score of 135

appears to be a very
efficient separation
between well-adjusted

Scoring
Principle:
Independent scoring of
Each items
response is

to be scored and
evaluated
independently of
all others, except
when it is clear-cut
reference to a
previous

Scoring
Principle:
Qualification

Responses which
start like an example
in the manual but are
differently qualified
are scored with a
consideration of
these qualifications.

Qualification
Sports.. I have always
liked, yet they dont hold
my interest like they
did.
Back home.. life was
pretty miserable, but I
think I can with the
situation now.

Scoring
Principle:
Extreme weights
In cases when a
response seems to be
more extreme than the
examples cited, then it
is permissible to use
an extreme weight.

Scoring
Principle:
Extreme weights

Sports.. should
not be allowed for
mixed groups
because they are
too stimulation.
Score of 6

Scoring
Properties:
Unusually long
it responses
should be given an

additional point in the

direction of C unless it has
already been rated 6.
the maladjusted individual
often writes long involved
sentences as if compelled to
express himself fully and not
misunderstood.
well-adjusted person
frequently replies to the
stimuli with short concise

Unusually
Long responses

I am best when.. I am
under no pressure of
responsibility concerning
the accomplishment of a
given thing within a certain
specified time.
= poorly adjusted
individual

Unusually
Long responses

The only exception to this

rule concerns neutral
completions. If the
response is a common
quotation, stereotype or
song title, it is always
scored as neutral,
regardless of length.

Advantages
Of RISb
Freedom of response
Disguise in the purpose of the
test
Group administration
No special training is needed
for administration,
interpretation depends on
clinical experience
Can become part of clinical
interview
Method is flexible, can develop
special purpose tests

Disadvantages
Of RISB

Cannot be machine scored and

requires general skill and
knowledge of personality
analysis for clinical appraisal
and interpretation
Insufficient material is obtained
from illiterate, disturbed, or
uncooperative subjects
Response style play a strong
role
Interpretation may be timeconsuming

Studies
about RISB

Validity of a
Maladjustment Score
from the Rotters
Incomplete Sentence
Blank
Fukerson, S.S. & Gettys,
V. C.

Tested the validity of

the RISB adjustment
score against a
severity of illness
criterion within a
mental hospital
setting
60 female patients
randomly selected

RISB adult form

Results:
1.Overall chronic
patients did not differ
from the acute
2.The personality
disorder had higher
scores than either of
the two diagnostic
groups but not

3. The psychoses
did not differ from
the
psychoneuroses
4. An interaction
was indicated,
such that the
chronic personality

 The correlation
between the
maladjustment score
and the severity of
illness index was
.14, indicating no
relationship.

Studies
AbouT RISB

New Validity,
Normative, and
Scoring Data for
the RISB
Lah, M.I., 1989

 Two studies that

reassessed the validity
of RISB
EXP1 used a
sociometric measure of
adjustment.
EXP2 compared clinic
and control samples
from University of
Connecticut

 Result: both
experiment provide
considerable
evidence in support
of the validity of the
ISB as a measure of
adjustment

EXP1 provides the

more substantive
data because of the
significant results
from a more rigorous
methodology with a
sample of normal
subject.
The results of the
sociometric study
very well

EXP2 provides the first

data regarding the utility
of a range of ISB cutting
scores on can use to
differentiate adjustment
from maladjustment,
depending on ones
purpose.
It provides the first
experimental evidence in
support of the scoring
convention of adding a
point to the score of a

RISB is still a viable and useful

measure of adjustment in
addition to its frequent use as
a verbal projective method for
clinical interpretation. The
major remaining questions
have to do with updating the
ISB norms with a larger sample
of college students,
investigating ethnic and
geographic differences in
norms and providing some
normative date for nonstudent
adult populations.

Studies
About RISB

Use of The RISB

with Adolescent
Populations:
Implications for
Determining
Maladjustments
Amess, P.C., & Riggio,
R.E. 1995

368 high school students

and 136 college students
were administered the
RISB and Maudsley
Personality Inventory
Study: was an exploratory
investigation designed to
look at RISB scores in a
contemporary population
of adolescent high school
students along with a
group of college students

Results: High
correlation between
RISB and MPI
Neuroticism Scale,
meaning, they are
tapping into the same
dimension,
presumably some
indicator of
maladjustment.
High school students

Discussion: the results of

this study support the
notion that the use of the
RISB for assessing
adolescent maladjustment
should be approached
cautiously.
More than half of the high
school students (more than
40% of the college
students) received RISB
scores in the
maladjustment range.
High school students also
received score that were

Studies
AbOUT RISB

Changing
College
Student
Norms on the
RISB
Lah, M.I. & Rotter,

 100 randomly selected

participants (30 males, 50
females)
study: three large samples of
ISB protocols was completed
by University of Connecticut
introductory psychology
students in the year 1965,
1970, 1977

Results: no
significant year or
sex differences in
total RISB scores
among the three
years
significant
differences between
student scores in the

 high inter scorer

reliabilities of rescoring
protocols after many
years. Meaning: RISB is
still adequate in providing
sufficient principles and
examples for reliable
scoring. Although new
forms are needed.

Studies
About RISB

The RISB:
Examining
Potential Race
Differences
Logan, R.E &
Waehler, C.A. 2001

RISB was administered

to African American, 94
and White, 100,
members of fraternal
organizations at a large
Midwestern university
to explore possible
influence of racial group
and socially desirable
response tendencies.

Results: Mean scores

for African Americans
and Whites are not
significantly different
on RISB. This means
that, based on this
sample, at this time,
and under these
conditions, the RISB
derived comparable
group mean scores
from what were
assumed to be