<P> Defense Mechanisms Manual DMM . This assesses three defense mechanisms: denial (least mature), projection (intermediate), and identification (most mature). A person's thoughts / feelings are projected in stories involved . </P> <P> 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 . </P> <P> Personal Problem - Solving System--Revised (PPSS - R). This assesses how people identify, think about and resolve problems through the scoring of thirteen different criteria . This scoring system is useful because theoretically, good problem - solving ability is an indicator of an individual's mental health . Although the TAT is a projective personality technique that is based primarily on the psychoanalytic perspective, the PPSS - R scoring system is designed for clinicians and researchers working from a cognitive behavioral framework . The PPSS - R scoring system has been studied in a wide range of populations, including college students, community residents, jail inmates, university clinic clients, community mental health center clients, and psychiatric day treatment clients . Thus, the PPSS - R scoring system allows clinicians and researchers to assess for problem solving ability and social functioning in many types of people, without being hindered by social desirability effects . </P> <P> Similar to other scoring systems, with the PPSS - R TAT cards are typically administered individually and examinees responses are recorded verbatim . Unlike other scoring systems, the PPSS - R only uses six of the 31 TAT cards: 1, 2, 4, 7BM, 10, and 13MF . The PPSS - R provides information about four different areas related to problem solving ability: Story Design, Story Orientation, Story Solutions, and Story Resolution . These four areas are assessed by the 13 scoring criteria, 12 of which are rated on a 5 - point scale that ranges from - 1 to 3 . Each of these scoring categories attempts to measure the following information: </P>

Differences in responses to the thematic apperception test (tat) are the result of differences in