Barron M Threshold Values in Emotionally Disturbed Adolescents

Need for approval and threatened negative evaluation as determinants of expressiveness in a projective test.

“…Barron (1955) originally devised his test to create this threshold measure. Other investigators such as Spivack et al (1958) have noted that very few 5s produce an M on every card following the threshold card. Consequently, there tends to be a less than perfect congruence between the two M measures.…”

“…The number of M responses were scored by two raters who established a high rate of agreement (r = .92, p < .01) using the criteria developed by Spivack, Levine, and Sprigle (1958). With a median split of scores on the M-C scales (Mdn = 15) 5s were classified as low if their scores fell in the 0 to 14 range, and high in the need for approval if their scores were 15 and above.…”

“…The latter measure is defined by the number of the card when 5 produces his first M. Since the cards are ordered for their pull for M, a high threshold score would indicate that 5 produces his first M response late in the series and can be said to require highly explicit stimuli to evoke an M. A low threshold would indicate a readiness to produce M responses early in the series when only minimal cues suggestive of M are present. While the two measures, number of and threshold for M must of necessity be related, there is some evidence to suggest that they are different enough to require separate attention (Nyman, 1961;Spivack, Levine, & Sprigle, 1958).…”