A Personal Problem-Solving System for scoring TAT responses: Preliminary reliability and validity data

Personal problem solving has emerged as an important construct in the cognitive-behavioral literature, yet there is a lack of clinically useful, performance-based measures practitioners can use to assess the personal problem-solving skills of their clients. Two studies evaluated the validity and reliability of a scoring system for measuring personal problem-solving processes via the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Morgan & Murray, 1935). In Experiment 1, undergraduate students (N = 87) completed two measures of personal problem solving, as well as three TAT cards, which were scored using the Personal Problem-Solving System (PPSS; Ronan, 1990). In Experiment 2, an additional group of undergraduates (N = 56) responded to three TAT cards on two separate occasions and also completed a different measure of personal problem solving. Results from both studies supported the use of the PPSS for scoring TAT responses to assess personal problem-solving processes. Suggestions for future research are highlighted.