Manual for SENTENCE COMPLETION TEST SCT_»p L. N. Dubey (Retd.) Professor College of Educational Psychology and Guidance JABALPUR (M. P.) & Archana Dubey Govt. M.H. College of Home Science JABALPUR (M. P.) ‘T.M, Regd. No. 564038 Copyright Regd. No. © A-73258/2006 DI. 13.5.05, ‘An ISO 9001 : 2015 Certified Company ISBN : 978-93-86203-70-0 Estd. 1971 ‘www.npcindia.com @ (0562) 2601080 NATIONAL PSYCHOLOGICAL CORPORATION UG-1, Nirmal Heights, Near Mental Hospital, Agra-282 007INTRODUCTION In the Sentence Completion Test the subject is asked to complete a sentence of which the first word or words are given. The tester encourages the subjects to write the responses as quick as possible, though the quickness of response is encouraged, there is no attempt to measure speed of reaction. The response tends to provide information that the subject is willing to give, not that which he cannot help giving. Analysis is usually more similar to that used with the Thematic Apperception Test to Word Association Method. As in other project devices, it is assumed that the subject reflects his own wishes, desires, fears and attitudes in the sentences he composes, but this method differs in the subject's production does not depend so much upon his interpretation of the standard stimulus as upon what he is able and willing to write under the test conditions. In contrast to the usual objectives tests, the sentence completion method has the distinct advantage of providing freedom of response instead of forcing the subject to answer *Yes’ or ‘No’ or ‘?’. He can response the stimulus as he wants. In addition, the nature of the test is somewhat designed and it is less clear to the subject, what constitute ‘good’ or ‘bad’ answer. He cannot manipulate the answers. Sentence beginnings vary. It may start from third person such as ‘He’, ‘She’ or the use of common names such as Mary, James. Personal pronoun is also frequently used in relation to verbs, €.g., | like, | wish, | think ; neutral stimuli in which no pronouns are used are also presented. The sentence beginnings may be highly structured such as “The most fun we had last summer.......” or highly unstructured such as, in the sentence beginning “Sometimes... In a recent study Sacks constructed two forms of the Sentence Completion Test in order to compare the value of items stated in the first person with items stated in the third person. Six of seven psychologists participating in the rating found the form of the test employing the first person to be superior. Generally, sentence starting from first person or with the situation in which the subject feels his own, involvement, he reveals his inner feelings.41 Manual for SCT-0D In this test most of the sentences are starting with first person or situation is kept in such a way that his personal involvement is necessary. He expresses his own feeling, liking, attitude etc. Seritence Completion Tests are a class of semi-structured projective techniques. Sentence Completion Tests typically provide respondents with beginnings of sentences, teferred to as ‘stems’, and respondents then complete the sentences in ways that are meaningful to them. The responses are believed to provide indications of attitudes, beliefs, motivations or other mental states. Therefore, sentence completion technique, with such advantage, promotes the respondents to disclose their concealed feelings. Notwithstanding, there is debate over whether or not sentence completion tests elicit responses from conscious thought rather than unconscious states. This debate would affect whether sentence completion tests can be strictly categorized as projective tests. Asentence completion test form may be relatively short, such as those used to assess responses to advertisements, or much longer, such as those used to assess personality. Along sentence completion test is Forer Sentence Completion Tests, which has 100 stems. The tests are usually administered in booklet form where respondents complete the stems by writing words on paper. The structures of sentence completion tests vary according to the length and relative generality and wording of the sentence stems. Structured tests have longer stems that lead respondents to more specific types of responses; less structured tests provide shorter stems, which produce a wider variety of responses. Hermann Ebbinghaus is generally credited with developing the first sentence completion test in 1897. Ebbinghaus's sentence completion test was used as part of an intelligence test. Simultaneously, Car! Jung’s word association test may also have been a Procursor to modern sentence completion tests, Moreover, in recent decades, sentence completion tests have increased in usage, in part because they are easy to develop and easy to administer. As of the 1980s, sentence completion tests were the eightycfith most widely used personality assessment instruments. Another reason for the increased usage of sentence completion tests is because of their Superiority to other measures in uncoveringManual for SCT-0015 conflicted attitudes. Some sentence completion tests were developed as a way to overcome the problems associated with thematic apperception measures of the same constructs. The uses of sentence completion tests include personality analysis, clinical applications, attitude assessment, achievement motivation and measurement of other constructs. They are used in several disciplines, including psychology, management, education and marketing. Sentence Completion measures have also been incorporated into non-projective applications, such as intelligence tests, language comprehension and language and cognitive development tests. The most widely used sentence completion tests include : Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank (assesses personality traits; perhaps the most widely used of all sentence completion tests). ‘Miner Sentence Completion Test (measures managerial motivations). Washington University Sentence Completion Test (WUSCT) from Jane Loevinger (measures ego development). Objectives The objectives of this test is to measure certain personality traits. An attempt has been made to measure three personality characteristics through the responses of the subjects. These traits are : (1) Sociability, (2) Self-confidence, (3) Ambitious. All the ‘sentences are so framed that they lead to reveal the position or negative aspect related to ‘one of the traits. Administration There is no special training required for a person administering the test. It is easily administered in a group of 30 students like other objective tests. Instruction In the Sentence Completion Test the instructions are simple. The subjects are to be told that it is a simple sentence completion test. In this test incomplete sentence are given, and they have to complete the incomplete sentences as quickly as possible with the first6 | Manual for SCT-0D thought that comes in their mind. They are expected to write the sentences that carry full meaning. There is no time limit in this test, but the subjects should be asked to complete the test as quickly as they can. No sentence is to be left incomplete. Scoring Every sentence can be placed into the following three categories : 14. Positive—That shows the positive aspect of one of the traits. —Award 2 Score 2, Negative—That shows the negative aspect of one of the traits. —Award 1 Score 3, Neutral—That shows neither positive nor negative aspect traits.—Award 0 Score All the scores should be added traitwise as well as of total test. TABLE 1 Categories Score Awarded Positive 2 Negative 1 Neutral 0 Explanation All the sentences are kept in such a way that either they reveal the Positive or Negative aspect of any one of the given traits. There is possibility of such responses which may not reveal either positive or negative aspect of the trait. Sample This test has been standardized on a sample of 1,150 students drawn from schools and colleges of M.P., 450 girls and 700 boys are included in the sample by stratified random sampling method. The age range is 14 to 19 years. Reliability TABLE 2 (__ Method Sociability | Self-confidence | Ambitious Total | Split Half 0.72" 0.69" 0.73" | Test-Retest 0.76* O71 uel 0.68" 0.67" * Significant at 0.01 level of significance,Manual for SCT-p0|7 Validity The validation criterian used for this test is the correlation of the test rating scores of only 10 per cent of the sample by the teachers. The coefficient of correlation are as below : TABLE 3 Sr. No. Traits Coefficient of Correlations I Sociability - 0.66 MW Self-confidence =0.73 Ml Ambitious - 0.69 Number of Statements Indicating the Trait TABLE 4 Trait Area Serial No. of Statements. Total Sociability 1,3, 4,7, 10, 11, 12, 23, 28, 29, 31, 32, 34, 36, 48 15 Self-confidence | 2, 8, 9, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 25, 27, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45, 46, 49, 50 20 Ambitious 5, 6, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 24, 26, 30, 33, 35, 37, 43, 47 15 Total 50 REVISING THE NORMS With the data received from the field by various users of the Test, the Statistical Results have been revised with the additional data from 680 subjects (380 boys and 300 girls). As such, the total N is as following : TABLE 5 Revised Sample Population8 | Manual for SCT-00 Revised Statistical Results TABLE 6 Revised Statistical Results N= 1,830 Sr. No. Traits Items Range of Score Mean sD ) I Sociability 15 00—30 19.50 4.13 | | Self-confidence 20 00—40 26.00 5.28 | Mt | Ambitious 15 00—80 20.00 | Total 50 00—100 65.50 14.02 | Norms Based on the statistical results presented in Table 6, z-Score Norms have been developed. The norms have been developed trait-wise *Sociability, *Self-confidence and *Ambitious and for the full scale as well. The z-Score norms have been presented as Trait—Sociability. Table 7, Self-confidence Table 8, Ambitious Table 9 and for full Scale in Table 10. Norms for interpretation of the level of Personality Traits, have been given in table 11 and for total personality type in table 12. TABLE 7 2-Score Norms for the Trait-l : Sociability Mean=1950 SD =4.13 N= 1,830 Raw | z-score | Raw ] 2Score | Raw zScore | Raw | zscore Score belie Score Score Score 00 -472 | 08 -2.78 16 - 0.85 24 + 1.08 01 -447 09 ~2.54 17 —0.60 25 + 1.33 02 -4.23 10 -2.30 18 -0.36 26 +157 03 i = 2.05 19 0.12 27 +1.81 04 -3.75 12 -1.81 20 +0.12 28 +2.05 05 -3.51 | 13 1.57 21 +0.36 29 +2.30 ca ch SS Ra PY 07 -3.02 ‘fe 15 -1.08 23 +0.85Manual for SCT-0019 TABLE 8 z-Score Norms for Trait-II : Self-confidence Mean = 26.00 SD = 5.28 N= 1,830 Raw | zscore | Raw | zscore| Raw | zScore | Raw | zScore Score Score Score Score 00 —4.92 Ww = 2.84 22 33 + 1.32 ot -473 12 -2.65 23 34 +151 02 —4.54 13 24 35 +1.70 03 4.35 14 25 36 +189 04 | -4.16 15 26 37 +2.08 05 -3.97 16 27 38 +227 06 -3.79 17 28 39 +2.46 o7 - 3.60 18 29 40 +2.65 08 = 3.41 19 30 09 -3.22 20 31 10 = 3.03 21 32 TABLE 9 z-Score Norms for Trait-Ill : Ambitious Mean =20.00 SD=4.61 N= 1,830 Raw | zScore | Raw | zscore| Raw: | zscore| Raw | z-score Score Score Score Score 00 -4.33 08 fl -2.60 16 —0.86 24 +0.86 01 =4.12 [09 - 2.38 7 -0.65 25 + 1.08 02 -3.90 10 =216 | 18 -0.43 26 03 -3.68 4 =1.95 19 -0.21 27 +151 04 -3.47 12 -1.73 20 £0.00 28 +173 05 -3.25 13 -1.51 21 +0.21 29 + 1.95 06 -3.03 14 = 1.30 22 + 0.43 30 + 2.16 | 7 -0.81 15 ~1.08 23 +0.6510 | Manual for SCT-p> TABLE 10 z-Score Norms for Full Test Mean = 65.50 SD = 14.02 N= 1,830 Raw z-Score Raw z-Score Raw z-Score Raw zScore Score Score Score Score 00 4a oe CT sear e008 Prey eoae ov | -460 [ 27 | -274 | 63 79 | +096 oz [ -452 [ 28 | —267 | 54 80 | +103 os | -445 | 29 | -260 | 55 at | +110 o4 | -438 | 30 | -253 | 56 abe 4az os [ -431 [ 31 | -248 | 57 83 | +124 os | -424 | 32 | -298 | 58 a4 | + t3t o7 | -aa7 [aa oP Ssast ge 85 | +139 os | -410 | 34 | -2024 | 60 ae | +146 oo | -402 | a5 | —at7 | 6 a7 | +153 to | -395 | 36 | -210 | 2 as +160 11 | -388 | 37 [| -203 | 63 so | +167 12 | -381 | 38 | -106 | 64 90 | +174 13 | -374 | 39 | -180 | 65 ee 14 | -367 | 40 [| -181 | 66 92 | +189 is’ | 2360.) ay 174 | 67 93 | +196 te | -353 | 42 | -167 | 6 04 | +203 17]. -345 [a3 [160-1 60 9 | +210 184888 [aa | eee 70 96 | +217 19 | -331 | 4 | -146 [> 71 ov | +224 20 | -324 [0 468 | -109 | 7. 9 | +231 2 -317 | 47 | -131 | 73 09 | +208 2 | -310 [48 | -124 | 74 100 | +246 23 3\pea0s | 49 | 117175 24 aS 50 | -110 | 76 25 | 288 51 -103 | 7 |Manual for SCT-001 14 TABLE 11 Norms for Interpretation of the Level of Three Personality Traits Sr. No] Personality Traits z-Score | Grade Level Raw Score Range Range Sociability |Self-confidence | Ambitious 1, | 28 & above| 37 & above 30. (+201 A | Extremely High & above z= 25 to 27 33 to 36 26to29 |+1.26to} B | High + 2.00 3. 22 to 24 29 to 32 231025 |+051to| C |Above Average + 1.25 4. | 18to 21 24 to 28 181022 |-0.50to} D_ | Average + 0.50 5. 15 to 17 20 to 23 15to17 |—1.25to] E | Below Average | 0.51 6. 12 to 14 16 to 19 11to14 |-2.00to} F |Low | 1.26 7. 11 & below | 15 & below 10 & below— 2.01 G |Extremely Low & below TABLE 12 Norms for Interpretation of the Level of Personality (Full Test) Sr.No.| Raw Score z-Score Grade Level and Type of Personality Range Range 1. _|94 & above | + 2.01 & above A Supreme Personality 2. |84to 93 + 1.26 to + 2.00 Be Highly Amicable Personality 3. 173 to 83. +0.51 to+ 1.25 Cc Above Average Amicable Personality 4. [591072 — 0.50 to + 0.50 D Average Amicable Personality 5. |48t058 |-1.25to-0.51 E__| Below Average Amicable Personality 6. |38t047 |-2.00to- 1.26 F | Highly Maladjusted Personality 7. |s7&below|-2.01&below| | Extremely Maladjusted Personality121 Manual for SCT-0b REFERENCES Anderson, H.H. and Anderson, G.L. Techniques and other devices for understanding the Dynamics of Human Behaviour, New York : Prentice Hall. Bhargava, M. (2015). Modem Psychological Testing and Measurement, Agra : H.P. Bhargava Book House. Bhargava, M. and Aradhana (2022). Presonality Psychology (Concept, Theories & Assessment), Agra : National Psychological Corporation. Chandola, R. (2016). The Personal Profile of Normal and Psychopaths of Hills and Plains : A Clinical Analysis Instructional Journal of Indian Psychology, Volume 3, Issue 4 No. 60 ISSN : 2349-3429. Holaday, M., Smith A. D, and Sherry A. (2000). Sentence Completion Test : A Review of the Literature and Result of a survey of members of the society for personality assessment. Journal of Personality Assessment, 74 (3) 371-383. Lorge, |. and Thomdike, E.L. (1941). The value of responses in a completion test as indications or Personal traits, J. Appl. Psychol., 25, 191-199. Payne, A.F. (1928). Sentences Completions, New York : Guidance Clinic. Rohde, A.R. (1946). Explorations in Personality by the Sentence Completion Method. J. Appi. Psychol., 30, 169-181. Rotter, J.B.; Rafferty, J.E. and ‘Schachlitz, E. (1949). Validation of the Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank for College Screening. J. Consult., Psychol., 13, 348-356. Rotter, J.B. and Rafferty, J.E. (1950). Manual for the Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank College Form. New York : Psychological Corporation. Rotter, J.B. : Lah, M. and Rafferty, J.E, (1992). Rotter incom, Psychological Corporation. Stein, Mil (1947). The Use of Sentence Completion Test for the Diagnosis of Personality. J. Clin. Psychol., 3, 46-56. ‘Symonds, fe (1947). The Sentence Completion Test as a Projective Technique. J. Abnorm and 300. Psy. Techniques and Other Devices for Understanding the Dynamics of Human Behaviour Prentice Hall, Inc. New York, plete Sentences Blank. San Antonio : Qa (© 2022 207, All ight eseve. No porton of is Tet tora shout by oprouuooa ss ane aca aay a