1. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was developed in the 1930s-1940s by researchers Hathaway and McKinley to assess personality traits.
2. They used the method of contrasted groups, comparing responses of clinical groups (e.g. neurotics) to normal controls, to identify items that best distinguished the groups.
3. The original MMPI consisted of 550 true/false questions assessing various clinical scales. It became widely popular and established the foundation for modern personality assessment.