The test "Incomplete sentences" in psychology is practiced when there is a need to identify and study certain attitudes of a person, and not only conscious of them. This technique can help to understand what the individual is experiencing in relation to himself, his parents, family, society, life goals. It is effective, but has some specifics.
Principles of the technique
The “Pending Proposals” test is based on the concept of free associations. It is it that allows you to identify problems of an interpersonal and individual nature, to determine the inner experiences of a person, his tendency to diseases related to nervous disorders. And the test itself is not difficult. Even a child of preschool age will cope with it. It can even be called interesting.
How is it carried out? The respondent is given a form with unfinished offers. There are 60 of them as a standard, but there may be another quantity if the test is compiled individually for any group of people or one person.
All unfinished offers are associated with certain life aspects, of which there are only 15. This is the attitude towards oneself, towards the past, future, subordinates, friends, father, mother, family, senior persons, colleagues and representatives of the opposite sex. Aspects of guilt, anxiety (fears), goals, as well as intimate relationships also apply to aspects.
If we take the standard test, then for each "category" there are four unfinished sentences. And the person who is invited to go through it must supplement the started phrases in a free form and as quickly as possible, almost without thinking and focusing only on their emotions and feelings.
Examples
You can understand what the “Unfinished offers” test is, after reading a few examples taken from it.
Here are two phrases: "If everything is against me, then ..." and "When I am not lucky, I ...". They are responsible for the respondent's attitude to himself. The phrase “I would have done everything to forget ...” has a reference to guilt. But the sentence "My fears have repeatedly forced me ..." is related to fears and anxieties.
In principle, an original test can be conducted among adolescents. It is only better to omit unfinished offers of a sexual nature, since there is something related to sex ("My sex life ...") and matrimony in general. Phrases that touch upon the theme of higher-level individuals can be transformed. In the sentence, “When my boss approaches me ...” the last word is quite harmoniously replaced by “teacher”. The rest of the test is nothing special, so it can be carried out among respondents of any age.
Identification of suicidal intentions
Most often, it is for this purpose that the “Unfinished offers” methodology is used among adolescents. Unfortunately, in our time it is relevant.
To identify suicidal intentions among students of such an unstable age, it is necessary to transform the standard test and reduce the number of questions. There may be 28, among which only 4 will be thematic, but veiled. Here is how they can sound: "Tomorrow I ...", "The day will come when ...", "I want to live because ...", "When I finish school ...".
Of course, it is unlikely that anyone will cross out the third question from those listed and write about the absence of a sense of existence as such. But even according to a perfectly ordinary answer, you can determine whether everything is in order in a teenager. He can write: "The day will come when I will finally be happy." And it will become a "bell". If he so formulated the continuation of the phrase, then, most likely, something is bothering him. And this cannot be ignored.
School Test Option
As mentioned earlier, the standard version can be changed. Incomplete sentences for elementary school students should sound as simple as possible. Here is an example of what they can be: "I see in school ...", "At school I ...", "Our class ...", "My classmates ...". These unfinished offers for students are clear and simple. But, based on their answers, one can understand the personal specificity of each.
Suppose a student continues the above phrases like this: “In school, I see an opportunity to gain new knowledge. At school, I listen to the teacher and try to do assignments. Our class is not very good. My classmates love to laugh at me. " Well, these answers make it clear that the child likes to go to school, as he sees this as an opportunity for self-improvement and development of his abilities. But he is not satisfied with the nature of relations with classmates. Possible lack of communication and a sense of inferiority.
What to do with the results?
Their processing and interpretation is carried out by a qualified specialist, who is familiar with the “Unfinished offers” test. A person who first encountered this technique will not be difficult to do, but it will take a lot of time.
And the principle is simple. For each category of proposals, a characteristic has been developed that defines the system of relations under consideration as neutral, positive or negative. If a positive mood is seen in the continuation of the respondent, then zero is put in front of the answer. See more neutrality? Then this is the unit. But the continuation with a negative character are marked with a deuce.
It is important to note that the “Unfinished offers” methodology (for adolescents and not only) implies interpretation of answers in groups. Let the phrases be mixed in the form, but process them in four, combining them into a single category.
Interpretation
As an example, we can take the category of proposals, the continuation of which is designed to understand the respondent's attitude to his own abilities. Suppose a teenager replied like this: “When circumstances are against me, I begin to work tirelessly. I consider myself capable of anything if I want to. My biggest weakness is the endless craving for new knowledge. When I'm not lucky, I persistently achieve what I want, no matter what. ” Such answers are considered good. If a teenager gave similar extensions to the proposed phrases, then he is confident in himself and he is able to overcome obstacles.
It is worth giving an example of a negative interpretation. You can turn to a group of suggestions about goals. Suppose a teenager gave them this continuation: “I always wanted to kill someone. I would find happiness by becoming completely lonely. My dream is to go to a desert island. Most of all from life, I want no one to touch me. ” And in this case, even the method of unfinished sentences is not needed to understand the hostile and pessimistic nature of the respondent. It can be seen with the naked eye that he is an unrealistically minded deep introvert who rejects society.
What can I find out?
The “Unfinished offers” methodology for adolescents and people of other ages is a way to show your essence. The main thing is that the respondent was initially tuned to this, since trust and disposition to the test is important.
Based on the results of the interpretation of the results, it is possible to find out areas in which negative, neutral and positive attitudes prevail.
Also, in practice, there were cases when the test helped to identify the presence of a mental illness in the respondent. These are situations of a specific nature, as psychiatrists are involved in them. First of all, the main areas of disorder and conflict are identified. Then, the relationships between the personal attitudes of a person are determined. And after that the so-called personality structure is determined. It turns out what is his degree of response, emotional adaptation, maturity, level of reality, conflict.
Feature of the technique
All of the above really helps to find out the test. Why? Because it does not have prepared options and the right or wrong answers. Man answers like a spirit. He does not think and analyze how to respond to him in order to hide some aspect of his personality. It becomes open, and this allows the psychologist to understand its essence. That is why the test "Unfinished offers" for adolescents should be carried out regularly. After all, at school, at such a difficult age, it is extremely important to monitor the internal development of children.