Unit 7: Communication Skills

Projective Tests

Some agencies include “projective” tests in the psychological screening process. These “projective” tests allow open-ended responses instead of just true/false or yes/no. One kind of projective test uses incomplete sentences which you will be asked to complete. For instance: I get angry when ______________________________________________________________________.

Many law enforcement agencies use a test which asks the candidate to draw a house, a tree, and a person on separate pieces of paper. You should draw a normal looking house, tree or person. If you draw a person who has horns, expect some questions to be raised. Later on in the psychological interview, it is common to be asked to describe your drawing in words. The drawings are treated as just a starting point for exploring your ideas about yourself and other people.

When drawing a house, most people draw “the American dream” house- a one-family house with a tree in the front and a little smoke coming from the fireplace chimney. But if you live in an apartment house, that is also a perfectly good drawing. The whole range of what is normal is acceptable in this kind of test.