Abstract:
The social diversity of the South African population holds considerable challenge for psychologists, especially in respect of differences in language, culture and socio-economic context. The implications of the diverse nature of expectations and needs of unique individuals, clients as well as professionals, in particular in psychological assessment, are of concern. Projected storytelling in assessment is widely recognised as valuable, especially when working with children and adolescents. The technique has its pitfalls, including the way the stories produced may be influenced by leading questions, applying different methods of interpretation, and administering the instrument in cross-cultural assessment situations. Psychologists presenting projection plates to adolescent clients in South Africa frequently obtain little more than one-liners from standard procedures, raising doubts about viability and reliability of the technique. Prompting and probing need to be enhanced without compromising the projective value of responses or the uniqueness of clients. Feuerstein pioneered mediated intervention for learners with cognitive barriers, and the dynamic assessment of culturally different children. In this study, a dynamic assessment technique of questioning (DATQ) was used to actualise projection potential in mono- and cross-cultural assessment situations. The aim of the study was two-fold: to investigate the influence of a DATQ with projection plates during the psychological assessment of adolescents, and to investigate the influence of culture on such assessment in mono- and cross-cultural situations. A qualitative, multiple case study of ten participants representing five language groups in South Africa was undertaken within a predominantly postmodern epistemology. The tension between assessment from the positivist and post-modern paradigms was acknowledged through applying different perspectives during different stages of the research. A test-training-continuation-of-test situation was created for the administration of seven projection pictures, after which two discussion protocols were used. Data-analysis and interpretation took place in four phases by way of projection analysis (using the Bellak TAT Analysis Blank and Haworth’s analysis of defences), structural analysis (with categories such as word-count, response pattern, formulation, number of statements, prompts, hesitations, repetitions), analysis of the participant’s experience of the Murray-method versus the dynamic assessment technique of questioning, and analysis of possible cross-cultural influences on the assessment (utilizing the Scoring Sheet for the Psychocultural Scoring System (SSPSS) and triangulating the results with the projection analysis and the thematic analysis of the conversation about culture). Findings were derived from intra-comparison (per participant) and inter-comparison (per phase of the assessment) of the analyses. The main conclusions of the study point towards participants’ projective responses increasing and deepening in the direction of self-understanding and wholesome problem solution as well as being structurally enhanced, their emotional experience of the assessment situation being positive, culturally associated values being expressed and cultural barriers to interaction being lessened in both mono- and cross-cultural assessment. Whilst projection isn’t an exclusively context-bound phenomenon and generally occurs irrespective of cultural specificity, it was found that supporting clients through non-directive prompting to voice their associations apparently didn’t interfere with the unconscious content being solicited, irrespective of the mono-/cross-cultural nature of the assessment.
