Herman Ebbinghaus developed the first sentence completion test in 1879. Later, tests like the Rorschach-Incomplete Sentence Blank and those developed by Amanda Rhode became popular projective personality assessments using sentence stems. Sentence completion tests typically measure areas like attitudes towards family, sex, relationships, and self-concept through respondents' completions of sentence stems. The Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank remains one of the most widely used sentence completion tests today.

2.  Herman Ebbinghaus is generally credited with developing the
first sentence completion test in 1879.Ebbinghaus’s sentence
completion test was used as part of an intelligence test. He used
is test to study his interest in the development intellectual
capacity and reasoning ability in children.
 Carl Jung was the first to look at if sentence completion could be
used for personality assessment. He thought the personal
meanings of word associations could be used. He popularized the
idea that inner notions could be analyzed through people’s
associations of different words.
 In his methods, he would say a list of words to the person being
tested and with each word, the client would be asked to say the
first thing that came to their mind (Hersen, 2003). Jung’s test used
mother, father, sex, and work.

4.  The beginning of using the formal sentence
completion method for personality assessment
was in 1928 with Arthur Payne. Payne used the
tests for guidance purposes in asylums and
institutions and to assess career-related personal
traits (Schafer, Rotter, Rafferty, 1953).
 Alexander Tendler used the method to study
emotional reactions. With his tests, all his
sentences began with I and revealed something
about annoyances, fears, aversions, like,
interests, and attachments. It has never been
validated that these tests can be used in
emotional contexts (Schafer et al, 1953).

5.  As opposed to Tendler and Payne, Amanda Rhode
decided not to focus on specific aspects of personality,
but use the measure to develop a general personality
test. She developed the first validated personality
measure of this kind and discussed abroad range of
personal issues and experiences (Rhode, 1957). The
purpose of the measure was to “reveal latent needs,
sentiments, feelings, and attitudes which subjects
would be unable or unwilling to recognize or to
express in direct communication” (Weiner & Greene,
2008). Most sentence completion methods today were
developed from the basis of Amanda Rhode’s test and
theories.

6.  One of the most popular of these tests is the RISB, or Rotter Incomplete
Sentence Blank. The original version of the test was developed in 1950 by
Rotter and Rafferty. The main objective of the test was to create a version
of the sentence completion method that could be administered and
scored easily to permit a widespread use. They also wanted to provide
specific diagnostic criteria so the results of the exam could be obtained
more quickly. However, the test was not intended to give a full view of
personality, but more of a starting point for clinicians to take direction
from. The current version of this test has three forms at different levels
including High School, College, and Adult. The test is scored on a seven
point scale with answers being tagged from a conflict (pessimism,
hostility, hopelessness) to neutral (stereotypes, catchphrases, cliches) to
positive (humor, optimism, acceptance) rating. It takes about 15 to 35
minutes to complete with scoring ranging in time depending on the
familiarity with administering the test. This is the most popular form of
the Sentence Completion Method used today (Hersen, 2003).

7.  The uses of sentences completion test include
personality analysis, clinical application,
attitude assessment, achievement motivation
and measurement of other constructs. They
are used in several disciplines, including
psychology, management, education, and
marketing.

8.  Dr. Joseph M. Sacks and other psychologist of the
New York Veterans Administrative Mental Hygiene
Service developed a sentence completion test
designed to obtain significant clinical material in
four representative areas of adjustment namely:
 Sentence completion tests typically provide
respondents with beginnings of sentences, referred
to as “stems,” and respondents then complete the
sentences in ways that are meaningful to them.

9.  SCALE FAMILY: The family area included
three sets of attitudes namely: a) those
towards mother, b) father, and c) family unit.
It is hoped that even when the subject
becomes evasive or cautious, at least one of
the four items in each area will reveal
significant response.

10.  SEX: The sex area includes attitudes towards
woman and heterosexual relationship. The 8
items in this area allows the subject to
express himself with regards to woman,
towards marriage, and with respect to sexual
relationship.

11.  INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP: The area of
interpersonal relationship includes attitudes
towards friends and acquaintances,
colleagues at work or school, superior at
work or school, and people supervised. The
16 items in this area affords the subject to
express his feelings towards those.

12.  SELF-CONCEPT: The area of self-concept
includes fear, guilt feelings, goals and
attitudes towards one’s own ability, concept
of himself as he is, he was and as he hopes to
be. There are 24 items included in this area.

13.  Usually, sentence completion tests can be
interpreted in two different ways: subjective-
intuitive analysis of the underlying motivations
projected in the subject's responses, or
objective analysis by means of scores assigned
to each completed sentence. Multiple themes
can occur in a short test, which gives the
examinee multiple opportunities to reveal
underlying motivations about each topic during
data analysis. Of course, most sentence
completion tests are much longer-anywhere
from 40 to 100 stems-and contain more themes-
anywhere from 4 to 15 topics.

14.  Sentence completion tests usually include
some formal coding procedure or manual.
The validity of each sentence completion test
must be determined independently and this
depends on the instructions laid out in the
scoring manual.
 Compared to positivist instruments, such as
Likert-type scales, sentence completion tests
tend to have high face validity .

15. Attitude towards Father items: 1. I feel that my
father seldom works. 16. If my father would do
better. 31. I wish that my father is dead. 46. I feel
that my father is no good.
 Those four responses are considered together
and interpretative summary is made that
crystallizes the clinician’s impression of the
subjects’ attitude towards in this area. In this
case, the summary stated: “Extreme hostility and
contempt or overt death wishes”.

16. 2 - SEVERELY DISTURBED - Appears to require
the therapeutic aid in handling emotional
conflicts in this area. 1 – MILDLY DISTURBED
Has emotional conflict in this area but
appears able to handle them without
therapeutic aid. 0 – No Significant
disturbance rated in this area X – Unknown,
Insufficient evidence

17. 
Attitude towards Mother (14, 29, 44, 59) 2 = Completely rejects and
depreciates mother whom he considers over demanding. 1 = Sees
mother’s fault but accepts and tolerates differences. 0 = express only
positive feelings towards the mother.
 Attitude towards Father (1, 16, 31, 46) 2 = feels extreme hostility and
contempt with overt death wishes. 1 = admires father but wishes that
their relationship were closer. 0 = expresses complete satisfaction with
father’s personality.
 Attitude towards Family Unit (2, 27, 42, 57) 2 = feels rejected by the
family which lacks solidarity and which has constantly contended with
difficulties. 1 = aware that the family does not recognize him as a mature
person but has no difficulty in relating with them. 0 = instability of the
family domicile has had little effect on his favorable feeling towards them.

18.  Attitude towards Women ( 10, 25, 40, 55) 2 =
extremely suspicious, possible homosexual
tendency 1 = high ideas but ambivalent feelings.
0 = only minor or superficial criticisms
 Attitude towards Heterosexual Relationship
(11,26,41,56) 2 = appears to have given up
achieving good sexual adjustment 1 = deserved
sexual experiences but reservation about his
ability to maintain marital relationship. 0 =
indicates satisfaction towards this area

19.  Attitude towards Friends and Acquaintances (8,23,38,53) 2 = suspicious
and apparently seclusive 1= seems to wait approval of others before
committing himself emotionally 0 = express mutual relationship with
friends and self
 Attitude towards People Supervised (4,19,34,58) 2 = feels he can handle
or control hostility in handling others 1 = feels capable of doing good
supervisory but has misgivings about assuming an authoritarian role. 0 =
feels controllable and well accepted by subordinates.
 Attitude towards Supervisors at work or School (6,21,36,51) 2 = resents or
fear authority 1 = mild difficulty in accepting difficulty 0 =
 Attitude towards Colleague at work/school (13,28,43,58) 2 = feels
rejected by colleagues, and condemns them 1 = has some difficulty at
work and depends on colleagues 0 = expresses good mutual feelings

20.  Fear (7,22,37,52) 2 = disturbed by the apparent fear of loving,
possibility to control his feelings 1 = fear of self-assertion which is
fairly common and not pervasive. 0 = lack of fear
 Guilt Feelings (15,30,45,60) 2 = concerned with spiritual feeling and
physical sex drives 1 = has regret over past and seems mildly
disturbed by his failure to control his trouble. 0 = does not seem to
be aware of guilt feelings
 Attitude towards Own Ability (2,7,32,47) 2 = feels completely
incompetent and hopeless 1 = feels he has a specific ability but
tends to fear difficulty 0 = confident on his ability to overcome
obstacles

21.  Attitude towards Past (9,24,39,54) 2 = feels rejected
and isolated 1 = 0 = feels well adjusted, no significant
disturbance in the past
 Attitude towards the Future (5, 20, 35, 50) 2 =
pessimistic, no hope in his own resources for
happiness and success 1 = unsure of himself but tries
to be optimistic 0 = seems confident in achieving his
goals
 Goals (3, 18,53,49) 2 = lack of motivation for
achievement 1 = desires material things for family as
well as for himself 0 =

22.  http://www.edb.utexas.edu/faculty/sherry/download/PDFs/SentenceCompletionTests.pdf
 http://www.edb.utexas.edu/faculty/sherry/download/PDFs/SentenceCompletionTests.pdf
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_completion_tests
 http://allpsych.com/forums/students/_students/00000828.htm
 http://legendarycon.blogspot.com/2010/07/sacks-sentence-completion-test-nature.html
 http://www.studymode.com/essays/Sacks-Sentence-Completion-Test-1077111.html
 http://anglesinasphere.wordpress.com/tag/sacks-sentence-completion-test/
Hersen, M. (2003). Comprehensive handbook of psychological assessment volume 2: personality
assessment. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.
 Holaday, M, Smith, D, & Sherry, A. (2000). Sentence completion tests: a review of the literature and
a results of a survey of members of the society for personality assessment. Journal of personality
assessment, 74(3), 371-383.
 Rhode, A. (1957). The sentence completion method: it’s diagnostic and clinical application to
mental disorders. New York, NY: The Ronald Press Company.
 Schafer, R, Rotter, J, & Rafferty, J. (1953). Test of personality: word techniques. In R Schafer
(Ed.),Contributions toward medical psychology (pp. 577-598). New York, NY: Ronald press
company.
 Weiner, I, & Greene, R. (2008). Handbook of personality assessment. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and
Sons.

23. PRESENTED BY:
ANSANO, MIGLENE
AGOSTO,RODELIO
AVISADO ANDREW JAMES

24.  HE WAS GENERALLY CREDITED WITH
DEVELOPING THE 1ST SENTENCE COMPLETION
TEST
 THE BEGINNING OF USING THE FORMAL
SENTENCE COMPLETION TEST METHOD FOR
PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT
 ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR TEST
 USES OR NATURE OF SCT (4-8)

25.  AREAS THAT ARE MEASURED IN SSCT