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Sacks Sentence Completion Test Report

Clinical Psychology (Amity University)

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Sacks Sentence Completion Test Report

 Aim: To assess the personality, attitude and adjustment of subject using SACKS
completion Test.

 Introduction:
1. Definitions-:
i. Personality-
 “Personality is that which permits a prediction of what a person will do
in a given situation (R.B. Cattell).”
 “Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those
psychological systems that determine his unique adjustment to his
environment (Allport).”
 “Personality is the expression of man's inner life; character is the
expression of what he does or achieves (R.M. Ogsten)”.
ii. Attitude-
 “An attitude is a negative or positive evaluation of an object which
influences human behaviour towards that object (Michael Hogg).”
 “An attitude is a learned predisposition to respond in a favourable or
unfavourable manner towards people, an object, an idea or a situation
(Martin Fishbein)”.
 “An attitude is a relatively enduring organization of beliefs around an
object or situation predisposing one to respond in some preferential
manner (Milton Rokeach)”.
iii. Adjustment-
 “Adjustment is the process by which a living organism maintains a
balance between its needs and the circumstances that influence the
satisfaction of these needs (Shaffer,1961).
 “Adjustment is the process of finding and adopting modes of behaviour
suitable to the environment or the changes in the environment (Good,
1959).
 “Adjustment is a state in which the needs of the individual on one hand
and claims of the environment on other hand are fully satisfied or the
process by which this harmonious relationship can be attained
(Eysenck,1972).

2. Theories of Personality-:
i. Psychoanalytic Approach-In the psychoanalytic approach, the focus is on
the unconscious mind rather than the conscious mind. It is built on the
foundational idea that your behaviour is determined by experiences from
your past that are lodged in your unconscious mind. The founder of
Psychoanalysis was Sigmund Freud. Perhaps the most impactful idea put
forth by Freud was his model of the human mind. His model divides the
mind into three layers, or regions:

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a) Conscious: This is where our current thoughts, feelings, and focus

live.
b) Preconscious (sometimes called the subconscious): This is the home
of everything we can recall or retrieve from our memory.
c) Unconscious: At the deepest level of our minds resides a repository of
the processes that drive our behaviour, including primitive and
instinctual desires (McLeod, 2013).

 Later, Freud posited a more structured model of the mind, one

that can coexist with his original ideas about consciousness and
unconsciousness. In this model, there are three metaphorical
parts to the mind:
a) Id: The id operates at an unconscious level and focuses
solely on instinctual drives and desires. Two biological
instincts make up the id, according to Freud: eros, or the
instinct to survive that drives us to engage in life-sustaining
activities, and Thanatos, or the death instinct that drives
destructive, aggressive, and violent behaviour.
b) Ego: The ego acts as both a conduit for and a check on the
id, working to meet the id’s needs in a socially appropriate
way. It is the most tied to reality and begins to develop in
infancy.
c) Superego: The superego is the portion of the mind in which
morality and higher principles reside, encouraging us to act
in socially and morally acceptable ways (McLeod, 2013).

ii. Humanistic Approach-

 In the humanistic approach, the focus is at the whole individual and
stresses concepts such as free will, self-efficacy, and self-
actualization. Rather than concentrating on dysfunction, humanistic
psychology strives to help people fulfil their potential and
maximize their well-being.

 Some fundamental assumptions of humanistic psychology

include:

 Experiencing (thinking, sensing, perceiving, feeling, remembering, and so

on) is central.

 The subjective experience of the individual is the primary indicator of

behaviour.

 An accurate understanding of human behaviour cannot be achieved by

studying animals.

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 Free will exists, and individuals should take personal responsibility for
self-growth and fulfilment. Not all behaviour is determined.

 Self-actualization (the need for a person to reach maximum potential) is

natural.

 People are inherently good and will experience growth if provided with
suitable conditions, especially during childhood.

 Each person and each experience are unique, so psychologists should treat
each case individually, rather than rely on averages from group studies.

iii. Trait Theory approach-

 The trait theory approach is one of the most prominent areas in
personality psychology. According to these theories, personality is
made up of a number of broad traits. A trait is a relatively stable
characteristic that causes an individual to behave in certain ways. It
is essentially the psychological "blueprint" that informs
behavioural patterns.

 Review of Literatures:

o M. Mokhtari et. Al. (2010) conducted a study to explore the safety

and diagnostic performance of dual-source CT scan in comparison
with single source CT scan and conventional angiography in patients
with coronary heart diseases. A systematic review was performed using
CRD standard methods. The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE،
Google Scholar and TRIP were searched up to April 2009. The
references of the marked studies and grey literature were also searched.
The results led to inclusion of 9 articles reporting the safety and 12
articles reporting the diagnostic performance of DSCT. Using DSCT
the exposure of patient to X-ray was less than 64-slice single source
CT (SSCT), the mean sensitivity was 90.4%, mean specificity was
82%, mean PPV was 83% and mean NPV was 96%. For the SSCT the
mean sensitivity was 90.4%, mean specificity was 82%, mean PPV
was 83% and mean NPV was 96%. The mean sensitivity, specificity,
PPV and NPV of DSCT were slightly higher than SSCT.

o Ramadhan & Suharso (2019) conducted a study to determine the

effects of parental involvement, proactive personality and gender on
career decision self-efficacy among high school students. Total
participants were 758 in which 419 were females and 339 were males

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from 2nd grade high school. The study was conducted using accidental
sampling technique (SSCT). Study was conducted for 3 months.
Questionnaires were provided offline. Results of the analysis in female
and male participants show that overall parental involvement and
proactive personality significantly influence the career decision-
making self-efficacy.

o Kumar & Jahan (2021) conducted a study to evaluate the efficacy

and durability of multimodal psychotherapy in the management of
somatization disorder. Thirty outpatient department patients with
somatization disorder were selected and divided into two groups, i.e.,
intervention group and control group using the purposive sampling
method. Efficacy and durability were measured by the Bradford
somatic inventory, general health questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28), defence
mechanism inventory (DMI), and Sack's sentence completion test
(SSCT). The results reveal that there are significant differences found
among intervention group in comparisons to the control group in the
context of somatic complaints (BSI), general health functioning (GHQ-
28), life conflict (SSCT), and in defence mechanism (DMI).

 Description of Test:
This test contains 60 items to be answered by the test subject. The response to each
item should be the first thing coming in the mind of test subject. The items of the test
cover four areas
a) Family
b) Sex
c) Interpersonal relationship
d) Self-Concept
 Also, it is a semiprojective test.

 Reliability of the Test:

Three psychologists rated the degree of disturbance of one hundred subjects in each of
the fifteen categories on the basis of the subjects’ sentence completion responses. The
psychiatrist who treated these subjects made independent rating of their degree of
disturbance in each of the fifteen categories, based on their clinical impressions of the
subjects. Reliability of the psychologist judgement of degree of disturbance is
indicated by agreement of two out of three psychologist on 92 percent of 1500 rating.
The psychiatrist had no knowledge of the SSCT responses. When the rating of the
psychologist was correlated with those of the psychiatrist, contingency coefficient of .
48 to .57 were found, with standard error of .02 and .03. these figures indicate that the
rating of psychologist had a significant, positive relationship with those of
psychiatrist.

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 Validity of the Test:

For fifty subjects, psychologists wrote interpretive summaries were submitted to the
psychiatrist, who rated them with respect to their agreement with clinical findings.
Some 77 percent of the statements were rated in close agreement or partial agreement
with clinical findings. These results of the SSCT compare favorably with those found
in validation studies of such other method of personality study as the Rorschach Test
and the Thematic Apperception Test (23, 40, 52). Experience with the test thus
developed has demonstrated the need for minor revisions in the wording of some
items to allow great freedom of responses, and for the substitution of new items for
those which tended to elicit stereotypes and clichés.

 Demographic Details:

I. Name- XYZ
II. Age- 25
III. Educational Qualification- Undergraduate
IV. Gender- Female
V. Occupation-PG Student

 Material Required:
Pencil, Eraser, Manual, Questionnaire, Response Sheet

 Precautions:
The precautions which need to be taken care of are as follows
A. The test site should be comfortable, have good lighting, ventilation and
handicap accessibility.
B. The test subject should not face any interruption or distraction such as
excessive noise.
C. The responses of the participant should not be influenced by the 3rd person.
D. Other miscellaneous distractions should be minimized if not eliminated.

 Rapport Formation:
Following aspects were kept in mind to build rapport with the test subject.
1. Good appearance.
2. Basics of Communication skills.
3. Finding common ground.
4. Creating shared experiences.
5. Being empathic
6. Mirror and match mannerisms and speech appropriately.

 Instructions:

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60 partly completed sentences are given. Read each one and finish it by writing the
first thing that comes to the mind. Work as quickly as you can. If any item cannot be
completed at that particular moment, circle the number and return to it later.

 Administration:
Following things were kept in mind while administering the conduction of test.
 Time period of 20-40 minutes was provided to finish the test which was
completely utilized by the test subject.
 This test could be administered individually or in a group.
 The test subject was allowed to clarify all the doubts regarding instructions of
the test.
 The test was conducted at an examination hall to maintain the decorum.
 The conduction of test was administered by a trained proctor who maintained
positive atmosphere.

 Introspective Report
The test appeared to be simple at first, but the client stated that some questions
required an honest response. The client responded affirmatively to the directions, but
several of the questions elicited a highly holistic spontaneous answer. They didn't
even realise they could finish some statements with such genuine reactions that had
never been shared or acknowledged, as they made plain. The client's overall
experience was positive because they were able to provide some accurate answers, but
certain questions were tough to answer. There appeared to be some unprocessed items
that may have hampered the responses, and some questions were left unanswered.

 Observational Report
The focus was not only on the immediate behaviour but also on the subtleties of
client’s nature. The way they approached the test, there were hints of enthusiasm and
excitement because the very fact that client’s curiosity was touching the sky regarding
the idea of a ‘psychological assessment’. While they were taking the test, for first 15-
20 minutes, it seemed there is no difficulty. But as the client progressed, one could
easily spot them in an emotional turmoil. When I mention emotional turmoil, I do not
mean one with severe reactions but one with dilemma. The client wrote the answers
with utmost honesty and reported to have the heightened emotions while taking the
test.

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 Scoring
 To get overall rating in a category, average of the of the scores on each item under a
category should be taken.
 That is, if scores on 4 items under a category are-2,2,2,1 then the overall score will be
(2+2+2+1)/4=1.75=2. Hence 4 is number of items.
 If any item is missing or it has insufficient evidence- for example, scores on 4 items
under a category are- 2,2,2, X then the overall score will be (2+2+2)/3=2.

 Result

Statement Item No. Scoring Final

Score
Attitude towards mother 14,29,44,59 X+0+0+1=1/3=0.3 0

Attitude towards father 1,16,31,46 0+1+0+0=1/4=0.25 0

Attitude towards family unit 12,27,42,57 0+0+0+0=0/4=0 0

Attitude towards women 10,25,40,55 0+X+0+1=1/3=0.3 0

Attitude towards homosexual 11,26,41,56 0+0+X+X=0/2=0 0

relationships
Attitude towards friends and 8,23,38,53 0+1+0+X=1/3=0.3 0
Acquaintances
Attitude towards people 4,19,34,58 0+0+0+0=0/4=0 0
supervised
Attitude towards supervisors at 6,21,36,51 0+X+1+0=1/3=0.3 0
work or school
Attitude towards colleague at 13,28,43,58 0+X+0+0=0/3=1 0
work / School
Attitude towards Fear 7,22,37,52 1+1+2+1=5/4=1.25 1

Attitude towards Guilt Feelings 15,30,45,60 2+1+1+1=5/4=1.25 1

Attitude towards own ability 2,7,32,47 0+1+1+0=2/4=0.5 1

Attitude towards past 9,24,39,54 0+1+0+0=1/4=0.25 0

Attitude towards future 5,20,35,50 1+X+0+0=1/3=0.3 0

Attitude towards goals 3,18,49,53 X+0+X+X=0/1=0 0

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 Discussion
To assess the personality, attitude and adjustment of subject using SACKS completion
Test. The interpretations drawn from our statements are given below

Attitude towards mother

In this domain the items involved were 14,29,44,59. Using their individual scores
based on responses given by our test subject the final score calculated turned out to be
0. This score indicates that our test subject has a positive relation with her mother. It
can be predicted by one of the responses of our client, “Most mothers are ready to
sacrifice their personal interests in favour of their children”. Also there seems to
be a good understanding between the two. The only thing that the test subject needs to
do is to maintain this positive relationship in future too.

Attitude towards father

In this domain the items involved were 1,16,31,46. Using their individual scores
based on responses given by our test subject the final score calculated turned out to be
0. This score again signifies that the test subject also maintains good relation with her
father as can be seen from one of her responses such as, “father is loving and
caring”. Her father’s personality is quite compatible with hers and hence she is able
to maintain a good bond with her father. Again, the only thing she need to take care of
is to maintain this bond in future too.

Attitude towards family unit

In this domain the items involved were 12,27,42,57. Again by using the individual
scores based on responses given by the test subject, the final score was calculated as
0. This score just like in above scenarios signifies the strong bond between the test
subject and her family. Even in case of instability in family domicile her behaviour
towards the family is going to be minutely influenced in a negative way maybe due to
her positive childhood experience which is reflected by one of her responses such as,
“family took extra care of me”. It also signifies that she has a strong control over
her emotions and does not get carried away easily if situation demands.

Attitude towards women

Here the items involved are 10,25,40,55. With the help of their individual scores again
based on test subject’s responses the total score came out to be 0. The total score here
indicates that the test subject only criticizes other women in extreme situations. In
general, she holds no grudges towards behaviour of other women which can be seen
in one of her responses like, “women respect men and understand their feelings”.
nor she sees them with suspicion and neither with the lens of homosexual tendencies.

Attitude towards homosexual relationships

In this domain items involved are 11,26,41,56. Based on test subject’s responses, the
individual scores used gave a total score of 0. This score indicates that she has
complete satisfaction in this area. She has achieved sexual experiences as well as is
confident regarding maintaining marital relationship in future which she tries to

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indicate through one of her responses such as, “responsibility and loyalty towards
other partner”.

Attitude towards friends and Acquaintances

The items involved in this domain are 8,23,38,53. Final score calculated using their
individual scores based on responses of the test subject came out as 0. This indicates
that our test subject has a tendency of expressing mutual relationships with others and
herself. She is neither suspicious of others nor waits for others to accept her first so
that she could get herself also involved emotionally. This tendency of mutual
behaviour is indicated in her response such as, “real friend will come to your aid
when you expect the least”.

Attitude towards people supervised

Here the items are 4,19,34,58. Final score calculated using their individual scores
based on responses of the test subject came out as 0. The indication it gives is that the
test subject is controllable as a supervisor which is indicated by her response like,
“people who work with me understand my behaviour very well”. Also, she is held
in high regards amongst her subordinates. She also refrains from displaying
dominating attitude in a negative way towards her subordinates.

Attitude towards supervisors at work or school

In this domain the items used were 6,21,36,51. Based on test subject’s responses, the
individual scores used gave a total score of 0. It indicates that our test subject is
comfortable in accepting authority which also indicates that the subject has idea as to
what authority is all about. Hence there is no scope of resentment or mild disturbance
in test subject’s behaviour in adjusting as per the authority of the superiors. This can
be further supported by two responses given by the test subject such as, “people who
are my superiors are worth of getting respect” & “when I see my boss coming, I
have to be alert”.

Attitude towards colleague at work / School

Here the items are 13,28,43,58. Using their individual scores based on responses
given by our test subject the final score calculated turned out to be 0. The total score
indicates that our test subject seems to have good understanding with her colleagues
at school/ work which can be understood by her responses such as, “likes to work
with people who are ready to coordinate with her”. She is an independent woman
who does not rely on support of colleagues if facing some difficulty in her work.
Moreover, she neither feels rejected by colleagues nor curses them.

Attitude towards Fear

In this domain the items used were 7,22,37,52. Based on test subject’s responses, the
individual scores used gave a total score of 1. It indicates that the subject has a fear of
self-assertion which is fairly common but not pervasive in nature. She being
influenced by fear can be found in responses such as, “afraid of losing close ones”.
Hence, she can’t express herself firmly. But she is not disturbed by the fear of loving
but that doesn’t make her fearless either.

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Attitude towards Guilt Feelings

In this domain the items involved were 15,30,45,60. Final score calculated using their
individual scores based on responses of the test subject came out as 1. The score
indicates that the test subject has regret over past and seems mildly disturbed by her
failure to control her trouble. It is indicated by her response such as, “greatest
mistake was wasting 2 years of life by doing nothing productive”. It signifies she
is aware of guilt feelings but not enough to make her deeply disturbed.

Attitude towards own ability

Here the items are 2,7,32,47. Based on test subject’s responses, the individual scores
used gave a total score of 1. The indication it gives is that our test subject knows
about her potential and ability but still fears when the time comes to face the
difficulty. She struggles to face a problem in an effective manner which can be seen in
her response such as, “greatest weakness is to get easily triggered by provocative
statements”. Though she is not completely incompetent and hopeless but still is far
away from being tagged as a complete fearless.

Attitude towards past

Here the items involved are 9,24,39,54. With the help of their individual scores again
based on test subject’s responses the total score came out to be 0. This total score
indicates that the test subject holds no grudges against the past. She seems to be well
adjusted and had not experienced any significant disturbance in the past. She instead
recalls positive memories of her past such as, “vivid childhood memory is enjoying
summer vacations”. Hence feeling of being isolated and rejected in the test subject
seems to be present not at all.

Attitude towards future

In this domain the items involved were 5,20,35,50. Based on test subject’s responses,
the individual scores used gave a total score of 0. This score indicates that the test
subject is has positive expectations from the future. She seems to be confident in
achieving her goals in the near future as can be seen in one of her responses like,
“someday I will become successful”. Hence the scope of pessimistic behaviour is
not at all present in our test subject.

Attitude towards goals

Here the items are 3,18,49,53. Final score calculated using their individual scores
based on responses of the test subject came out as 0. It indicates that for our test
subject achievement of goals is the top most priority. It can be found in one of her
responses where she claimed, “what I want most out of life is knowledge”. She does
not get influenced by materialistic desires. Also, she is highly motivated to achieve
her goals.

 Conclusion

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It could be elicited that in responding to the stimulus/ responses in sentence completion test,
the client unconsciously revealed her true say, since there is no way in which she could
anticipate the significance of her complains for personality study. The test causes little test
anxiety which gave the client nearly complete freedom in making her responses and
expressing the feelings in her own words. The sentence completion test gives a good deal of
information about the client which seems to have practical value. There is no element threat
in the test. It is an indirect approach and procedure that requires higher intellectual processes
for the evaluation of fantasies or artistic productions. It is a time-consuming talk and the
scoring manual for each sex need not be prepared separately. Moreover, it should be taken
care of that the information obtained from the sentence completion test should be put together
to get a total picture of general adjustment of a client. No single response should be examined
separately.

 Reference
 Mokhtari Payam, M., Aye, M. R., Mobinizadeh, M., & Manavi, S.
(2010). Safety and diagnostic performance of dual-source CT scan
in comparison with single source CT scan and conventional
angiography in coronary heart diseases. Journal of Hospital, 9(1),
25-32.
 Ramadhani, R., & Suharso, P. L. (2020, November). Effects of
Parental Involvement, Proactive Personality, and Gender on Career
Decision Self-Efficacy Among High School Student. In 3rd
International Conference on Intervention and Applied Psychology
(ICIAP 2019) and the 4th Universitas Indonesia Psychology
Symposium for Undergraduate Research (UIPSUR 2019) (pp. 226-
235). Atlantis Press.
 Kumar, R., & Jahan, M. (2020). Multimodal psychotherapy in the
management of somatization disorder. Industrial Psychiatry
Journal, 29(2), 205.
 Sacks, J.M., & Levy, S. (1950). The Sentence Completion Test. In
L.E. Abt & L. Bellak (Eds), Projective Psychology: Clinical
Approaches to the total personality (p. 357-402).

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BY Astik Bhan

Enrolment Number A0403421282

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