Some proponents of computer assisted psychological assessment have argued that computer administration of tests may reduce social desirability response bias and, consequently, increase the validity of test results. Although computer administration has been shown to decrease this response bias in nonclinical subjects, this effect has not been found in clinical populations. This author hypothesized that clinical subjects may experience repercussions because of their test responses (e.g., changes in treatment) and this could have a greater effect in determining responses than social desirability. To test this hypothesis, 76 adult psychiatric outpatients were assessed either by computer or clinician on measures of social desirability and psychopathology. One-half were tested under typical clinical conditions in which their therapists received feedback on their results and one-half were tested under standard research conditions assuring confidentiality. ANOVA tests revealed a significant difference between subjects tested under clinical (i.e., possible repercussions) and research (i.e., no repercussions) conditions on the measure of psychopathology and one of the two social desirability measures. Subjects presented themselves as having more traits which are considered psychologically healthy and fewer traits which are viewed as antisocial when their therapists would know their results. The type of assessor, either computer or clinician, had no significant effect on subjects' responses. Although both types of assessor were rated favorably, subjects rated the clinical interview as significantly more enjoyable than the computer administered version of the interview. Implications of these findings for future research and clinical practice were discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-03, Section: B, page: 1676. / Major Professor: Mark H. Licht. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76898 |
| Contributors | Milo, Karen Marie., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 203 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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