PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S A Karp

Publications and source records attributed to S A Karp.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

Measures of aggression in questionnaire ratings and stories from the Apperceptive Personality Test.

The present study investigated relationships between judges' ratings of hostility from the content of eight TAT-like stories and scores on Hostile Feelings and Hostile Actions scales of the Apperceptive Personality Test. This test was administered to 104 college students volunteers (53 women, 51 men), who received extra credit on examination scores for their participation. Each subject made up 8 stories to stimulus pictures and then filled out 8 objectively scorable questionnaires about their stories from the Apperceptive Personality Test. The stories were rated by two "blind" judges for hostile feelings and hostile activities using Fine's 1955 scoring criteria. Agreement of judges ranged from .47 to .80. Correlations of judge's ratings with Apperceptive Personality Test scores were .13 for Hostile Feelings and .41 (df = 102, p < .01) for Hostile Actions. Thus questionnaires scores for Hostile Feelings are unrelated and scores for Hostile Actions only moderately related to judge's ratings of story content.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Responses of mental hospital inpatients on the Draw-A-Person Questionnaire.

This study evaluated accuracy of the Draw-A-Person Questionnaire in distinguishing a diagnostically varied group of mental hospital patients from controls. Subjects were 166 mental health inpatients at a public hospital, paid +3 for participation, and 166 controls selected from a group of 1382 adult volunteers to match the patients on age, race, and sex. All subjects were given the Draw-A-Person questionnaires following drawings of a male and female. Questionnaires were scored for Denial, Demeaning, and Likes to Hurt Others scales. In three 2 x 2 x 2 (status x sex x race) analyses of variance, patients scored higher than controls on all scales. African-Americans (n = 242) scored higher than Euro-Americans (n = 78) on Denial. Further analysis of an interaction between patients' status and for Denial suggests that only male patients differed from controls, the former group showing higher Denial scores.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Word-association patterns of mental hospital patients.

The present study concerned an attempt to corroborate the classic findings of Rapaport, Gill, and Schafer in distinguishing mental hospital patients from control subjects, using a new objectively scored word-association test. 12 computer-scored objective scales were used to compare groups of 101 mental hospital inpatients (n = 75, including 37 on a prison ward) and outpatients (n = 26) and 101 control subjects matched with the patients for sex, age, racial and ethnic status, and education. A stepwise multiple discrimination analysis of the scores on the 12 scales of the test significantly distinguished the groups. Scales weighted most highly were Masochism, Antonyms, and Aggression. Subsequent t tests suggested that control subjects scored higher on Aggression, Self-reference, and Masochism scales, whereas patients scored higher on Rejections (nonresponses to stimulus words). Of these, only Self-reference and Rejections were items identified by Rapaport, et al.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Word association profiles of alcoholics.

A group of 100 alcoholic outpatient men were compared to 100 control participants, matched for race, age, and occupational status on 15 scales of the Karp Objective Word Association Test. Consistent with 2 of the 3 specific hypotheses of this study, a one-way multivariate analysis of variance found significant differences between the groups, with alcoholics offering more rejections (nonresponses) and more hostile associations than controls. Unexpectedly, alcoholics offered more synonyms than controls, congruent with a more positive diagnostic picture.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

The adult personality of childhood incest victims.

This is a further report on a group of 30 incest survivors we wrote about in 1994. Here, we report on measures of personality derived from the Apperceptive Personality Test, which contains many variables similar to those on the one we reported in 1994. On both measures, incest survivors can be characterized as having more negative perceptions and self-descriptions than the comparison group.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Personality of rape survivors as a group and by relation of survivor to perpetrator.

Adult survivors of rape were compared to controls on 34 scales of the Apperceptive Personality Test and Draw-A-Person Questionnaire. They also reported on present or past weight problems, alcohol or drug problems, and psychotherapy. They differed on 12 scales and on alcohol, weight problems, and therapy. These survivors more frequently reported problems or therapy and differed on personality scales in the direction of assigning fewer positive or more negative attributes to their characters. Those raped by relatives, dates, or acquaintances were more negative than those raped by strangers on four scales, but did not differ on alcohol or weight problems or participation in psychotherapy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Personalities of women reporting incestuous abuse during childhood.

Previous studies of adult females reporting incestuous sexual abuse in childhood, using the Apperceptive Personality Test and Draw-a-Person Questionnaire, indicated abusees attributed more negative traits to their characters than did controls. No differences were found by type of abuse or relation to the abuser. In these studies abusees and controls were obtained from different sources, although matched on several characteristics. The present study compared 79 incestuous abusees to 79 matched controls all drawn from the same subject pool. Multivariate analysis of variance identified significant differences between the groups. In contrast with earlier studies questionnaire scores distinguished rape victims from those abused without rape and distinguished those abused by older relatives from those abused by peers in two additional multivariate analyses of variance.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Prediction of depression with the Apperceptive Personality Test.

This study examined the relationship between depression and the Apperceptive Personality Test (APT), a picture-story assessment device with an objective scoring system. Subjects were 206 undergraduate volunteer females who completed the APT and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Multiple regression analysis showed significant APT predictors for the BDI. Results are discussed and directions for future research are proposed.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Personality characteristics of incest survivors on the Draw-A-Person Questionnaire.

We investigated the psychological sequelae of incest through the use of the Draw-A-Person Questionnaire (DAPQ; Karp, 1990), a projective technique with an objective component. A group of adult incest survivors (n = 30) and a matched control sample (n = 30) participated in our study. Ratings of characters drawn by subjects were compared between the two groups on 10 measures hypothesized to differentiate the groups. Results suggest that incest survivors project more negative characteristics on their drawn characters than do control women. In addition, survivors treat their male and female characters differently to a greater extent than do controls. Findings indicate that the DAPQ is a valuable method to detect long-lasting repercussions that may stem from an incestuous experience. Specific differences between the groups are discussed, as well as suggestions for future research.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Factor structure of the Apperceptive Personality Test (APT).

This study examined the factor structure of the Apperceptive Personality Test (APT), a recently developed picture-story technique with both projective and objective features. University undergraduates (513 males, 664 females) were administered the APT in individual group sessions. A principal components analysis (Varimax rotation) was performed with 18 of the standard APT variables and resulted in three similar factors for both male and female samples. The first and largest factor was a positive evaluation factor, the second a negative evaluation factor, and the third an "intensity" factor. The usefulness and meaning of the factor analysis are discussed briefly.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Prediction of MMPI clinical scores from the Apperceptive Personality Test.

Eight independent scores from a new objective/projective personality test, the Apperceptive Personality Test (APT), were validated against eight clinical scores of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). In parallel studies of 150 male and 150 female college volunteers given both tests, weighted combinations of the 8 APT measures significantly predicted MMPI raw scores in 15 of 16 analyses (Ma scores could not be predicted for men). Of 84 predicted zero-order correlations between APT and MMPI measures, 50 (60%) were confirmed, 74% for women and 45% for men; however, the vast majority of these correlations were below .30.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Recommendations for the clinical use of the Apperceptive Personality Test.

The Apperceptive Personality Test (APT) is a new technique that combines the traditional story-telling method with a questionnaire about the characters in the story, to be filled out by the person being tested. The resulting information is tabulated, and a variety of scores are generated which yield information about the person's personality. The identified clinical signposts indicated by such scores are summarized in this article, along with two illustrative protocol fragments showing how to usual interpretive method is supplemented by the information from the questionnaire.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Field dependence in young anorectic and obese women.

Bruch and other clinicians working with patients suffering from eating disorders have noted substantial similarity between obese individuals and those with anorexia nervosa with regard to difficulties in achieving autonomous functioning. Although research has substantially supported this view for obese persons, some studies of anorectics have portrayed them as no different from or even more autonomous than normally weighted controls. In an attempt to clarify this discrepancy, the present study evaluated field dependence, a psychological measure reflecting autonomy, among 16 subjects with anorexia nervosa, 16 obese subjects and 16 normally weighted controls. The three groups consisted of females between 12 and 24 years, matched for age, IQ and socioeconomic status. The anorectic and obese groups, while no different from each other, were both significantly more field dependent than the normal controls. The results are viewed as supportive of the Bruch position, stressing similarity of the two eating disorder groups in their limited progress toward autonomous functioning.

Adolescent↗