Analiza językowa testów psychologicznych
Linguistic Analysis of Psychological Inventory

A Variety of Interpretations of Inventory Points and the Issue of Inventory Credibility

Summary/Abstract: Psychological inventories are tools used to measure intensity of a given trait in an examined person. Many inventories are based on written questions to which people respond. Although psychological inventories are standardized and their parametrization is a matter of great importance, the linguistic sphere of tests seems to be considered as secondary. The way in which the inventory questions are structured, depending on whether they are based on hyponyms or hyperonyms, has a significant impact on the response given by people diagnosed.Moreover, it can reduce theoretical validity of the tool. The authors of the article conducted a study in which 637 people completed the FCZ-KT inventory (Strelau, Zawadzki 1995). Next,the respondents described situations in which they recalled answering 20 out of 120 questions from the inventory (questions were selected earlier during the pilot study). Open answers given by the respondents were categorized by competent judges. This article presents the spectrum of various associations that the same item evokes in different respondents. The linguistic aspect of psychological tests and the issue of credibility of tools related to it is the main subject of the article.

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