Mate choice
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
(Difference between revisions)
| Revision as of 11:45, 11 December 2011 Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) ← Previous diff |
Revision as of 11:48, 11 December 2011 Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) Next diff → |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| {{Template}} | {{Template}} | ||
| + | '''Mate choice''', or '''intersexual selection''', is an evolutionary process in which selection of a mate depends on attractiveness of its traits. It is one of two components of [[sexual selection]] (the other is male-male competition or intrasexual selection). Darwin first introduced his ideas on sexual selection in 1871 but advances in genetic and molecular techniques have led to major progress in this field recently. | ||
| - | The '''Thematic Apperception Test''', or '''TAT''', is a [[Projective test|projective psychological test]]. Historically, it has been among the most widely researched, taught, and used of such tests. Its adherents assert that the TAT taps a subject's [[Unconscious mind|unconscious]] to reveal [[Psychological repression|repressed]] aspects of [[personality psychology|personality]], [[Motivation|motives]] and [[needs]] for [[Goal (management)|achievement]], [[Power (sociology)|power]] and [[intimacy]], and [[Problem solving|problem-solving]] abilities. | + | Five mechanisms that explain the evolution of mate choice are currently recognized. They are direct phenotypic benefits, sensory bias, Fisherian runaway, indicator traits, and genetic compatibility. These mechanisms can co-occur and there are many examples of each. |
| - | ==Procedure== | + | In systems where mate choice exists, one sex is competitive with same-sex members and the other sex is choosy (selective when it comes to picking individuals to mate with). In most species, females are the choosy sex that discriminate amongst competitive males but there are several examples of reversed roles (see below). |
| - | The TAT is popularly known as the ''picture interpretation technique'' because it uses a standard series of provocative yet [[Ambiguity|ambiguous]] [[picture]]s about which the subject is asked to tell a [[narrative|story]]. The subject is asked to tell as dramatic a story as they can for each picture presented, including the following: | + | |
| - | * what has led up to the event shown | ||
| - | * what is happening at the moment | ||
| - | * what the characters are feeling and thinking | ||
| - | * what the outcome of the story was | ||
| - | |||
| - | If these elements are omitted, particularly for children or individuals of low [[cognition|cognitive]] abilities, the evaluator may ask the subject about them directly. | ||
| - | |||
| - | The standard version of the test contains 20 picture cards. Some of the cards show male figures, some female, some both male and female figures, some of ambiguous gender, some adults, some children, and some show no human figures at all. One card is completely blank. Although the cards were originally designed to be matched to the subject in terms of age and gender, any card may be used with any subject. Most practitioners choose a set of between 8 and 12 selected | ||
| - | cards, either using cards that they feel are generally useful, or that they believe will encourage the subject's expression of emotional conflicts relevant to their specific history and situation. | ||
| - | |||
| - | ==Scoring Systems== | ||
| - | The TAT is a [[projective test]] in that, like the [[Rorschach test]], its assessment of the subject is based on what he or she [[Psychological projection|projects]] onto the images which can be interpreted as the subject chooses. Therefore, to complete the assessment, each narrative created by a subject must be carefully recorded and analyzed to uncover underlying [[need]]s, [[Attitude (psychology)|attitudes]], and patterns of reaction. Although most clinical practitioners do not use formal scoring systems, several formal scoring systems have been developed for analyzing TAT stories systematically and consistently. Two common methods that are currently used in research are the: | ||
| - | |||
| - | * Defense Mechanisms Manual DMM. This assesses three defense mechanisms: [[denial]] (least mature), [[Psychological projection|projection]] (intermediate), and [[Identification (psychodynamic)|identification]] (most mature). A person's thoughts/feelings are projected in stories involved. | ||
| - | |||
| - | * Social Cognition and Object Relations SCOR scale. This assesses four different dimensions of [[object relations]]: Complexity of Representations of People, Affect-Tone of Relationship Paradigms, Capacity for Emotional Investment in Relationships and Moral Standards, and Understanding of Social Causality. | ||
| - | |||
| - | ==History== | ||
| - | TAT was developed by the American [[psychology|psychologist]] [[Henry A. Murray]] and [[Christiana D. Morgan]] at [[Harvard]] during the 1930s to explore the underlying dynamics of [[Personality psychology|personality]], such as internal [[Emotional conflict|conflict]]s, dominant drives, interests, and [[Motivation|motives]]. | ||
| - | |||
| - | Howard P Vincent was a noted scholar of [[Herman Melville]], the American author best known for his novel ''[[Moby-Dick]]''. According to Vincent, the TAT was inspired by the lesson implicit in ''Moby-Dick Chapter XCIX - THE DOUBLOON'': that morality is not what users think it may be. Vincent writes that the TAT | ||
| - | |||
| - | :: "... came into being when Dr. Henry A. Murray, psychologist and Melvillist, adapted the implicit lesson of Melville’s “Doubloon” chapter to a new and larger creative, therapeutic purpose.” | ||
| - | |||
| - | After [[World War II]], the TAT was adopted more broadly by [[Psychoanalysis|psychoanalysts]] and [[clinician]]s to evaluate emotionally disturbed [[patient]]s. | ||
| - | An Indian adaptation was developed in 1960 by Mrs.Uma Choudhary. | ||
| - | |||
| - | Later, in the 1970s, the [[Human Potential Movement]] encouraged psychologists to use the TAT to help their clients understand themselves better and stimulate [[Personal development|personal growth]]. | ||
| - | |||
| - | ==Criticisms== | ||
| - | Declining adherence to the [[Sigmund Freud|Freudian]] principle of [[Psychological repression|repression]] on which the test is based has caused the TAT to be criticized as false or outdated by some professional [[psychologists]]{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}. Their criticisms are that the TAT is unscientific because it cannot be proved to be [[Test validity|valid]] (that it actually measures what it claims to measure), or [[Reliability (statistics)|reliable]] (that it gives consistent results over time, due to the challenge of standardizing interpretations of the narratives provided by subjects). | ||
| - | |||
| - | Some critics of the TAT cards have observed that the characters and environments are dated, even ‘old-fashioned,’ creating a ‘cultural or psycho-social distance’ between the patients and the stimuli that makes identifying with them less likely. Also, in researching the responses of subjects given photographs versus the TAT, researchers found that the TAT cards evoked more ‘deviant’ stories (i.e., more negative) than photographs, leading researchers to conclude that the difference was due to the differences in the characteristics of the images used as stimuli{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}. | ||
| - | |||
| - | In a 2005 dissertation, Matthew Narron, Psy.D. attempted to address these issues by reproducing a Leopold Bellak. 10 card set photographically and performing an outcome study. The results concluded that the old TAT elicited answers that included many more specific time references than the new TAT. | ||
| - | |||
| - | ==Contemporary applications of TAT== | ||
| - | Despite criticisms, the TAT remains widely used as a tool for [[research]] into areas of psychology such as [[dream]]s, [[Fantasy (psychology)|fantasies]], [[Mate choice|mate selection]] and what motivates people to choose their [[profession|occupation]]. Sometimes it is used in a psychiatric or psychological context to assess [[personality disorder]]s, [[Schizophrenia|thought disorders]], in [[Forensic psychology|forensic examinations]] to evaluate crime suspects, or to screen candidates for [[Stress (medicine)|high-stress]] occupations. It is also commonly used in routine psychological evaluations, typically without a formal scoring system, as a way to explore emotional conflicts and [[Object relations theory|object relations]]. | ||
| - | |||
| - | TAT is widely used in [[France]] and [[Argentina]] using a psychodynamic approach. | ||
| - | |||
| - | The [[Israeli army]] uses the test for evaluating potential [[Officer (armed forces)|officers]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} | ||
| - | |||
| - | It is also used by the [[Services Selection Board]] of India. | ||
| - | |||
| - | [[David McClelland]] and Ruth Jacobs conducted a 12 year longitudinal study of leadership using TAT and found no gender differences motivational predictors of attained management level. The content analysis, however, "revealed 2 distinct styles of power-related themes that distinguished the successful men from the successful women. The successful male managers were more likely to use reactive power themes while the successful female managers were more likely to use resourceful power themes. Differences between the sexes in the power themes were less pronounced among the managers who had remained in lower levels of management" | ||
| - | |||
| - | ==TAT in popular culture== | ||
| - | {{In popular culture|date=May 2011}} | ||
| - | * [[Thomas Harris]]' novel ''[[Red Dragon (novel)|Red Dragon]]'' includes a scene where the imprisoned psychiatrist and serial killer Dr. [[Hannibal Lecter]] mocks a previous attempt to administer the test to him. | ||
| - | * [[Michael Crichton]] included the TAT in the battery of tests given to the disturbed patient and main character Harry Benson in his novel, ''[[The Terminal Man]]''. | ||
| - | * In the novel [[Sphere]], the protagonist Norman Johnson, a psychologist himself, mentions the Thematic Apperception Test while in the underwater deep-sea habitat. | ||
| - | * In the MTV cartoon ''[[Daria]]'', Daria and her sister Quinn are given a test that appears to be the TAT by the school [[psychologist]] on their first day at their new school. Daria and Quinn are shown a picture of two people. Quinn makes up a story about the two people having a discussion about popularity and dating. Daria states that she sees "a herd of beautiful wild ponies running free across the plains." The psychologist tells her the picture is of two people, not ponies. Daria states, "last time I took one of these tests they told me they were clouds. They said they could be whatever I wanted." The psychologist explains, "That's a different test, dear. In this test, they're people and you tell me what they're discussing." To which Daria characteristically replies, "Oh... I see. All right, then. It's a guy and a girl and they're discussing... a herd of beautiful wild ponies running free across the plains." (Cf. the [[Rorschach test]] administered to Charlie Gordon in ''[[Flowers for Algernon]]'', during which Drs. Nemur and Strauss ask him what he "sees" on a card, he replies that he sees an inkblot, they ask him to pretend that it is something else, and he replies "I pretend a bottel of ink spilld all over a wite card [sic]".) | ||
| - | *The TAT is administered to Alex, the main character of ''[[A Clockwork Orange]]''. | ||
| - | * Charlie Gordon, the protagonist in [[Daniel Keyes]]'s ''[[Flowers for Algernon]]'', notes in his "progris riport 4" on March 6 that he was given a "Thematic Appercepton Test." As he says, "I dont know the frist 2 werds but I know what test means. You got to pass it or you get bad marks [sic]" | ||
| - | * Italian poet [[Edoardo Sanguineti]] wrote a collection of poetry called ''T.A.T'' (1966–1968) that refers to the Test. | ||
| - | |||
| - | ==See also== | ||
| - | * [[Psychological testing]] | ||
| + | == See also == | ||
| + | *[[Filter theory (sociology)]] | ||
| + | *[[Sexual selection]] | ||
| + | *[[Sexual conflict]] | ||
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
Revision as of 11:48, 11 December 2011
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
Mate choice, or intersexual selection, is an evolutionary process in which selection of a mate depends on attractiveness of its traits. It is one of two components of sexual selection (the other is male-male competition or intrasexual selection). Darwin first introduced his ideas on sexual selection in 1871 but advances in genetic and molecular techniques have led to major progress in this field recently.
Five mechanisms that explain the evolution of mate choice are currently recognized. They are direct phenotypic benefits, sensory bias, Fisherian runaway, indicator traits, and genetic compatibility. These mechanisms can co-occur and there are many examples of each.
In systems where mate choice exists, one sex is competitive with same-sex members and the other sex is choosy (selective when it comes to picking individuals to mate with). In most species, females are the choosy sex that discriminate amongst competitive males but there are several examples of reversed roles (see below).
See also
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Mate choice" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
