| Oxford Capacity Analysis |
Article Index for Oxford |
Website Links For Oxford |
Information AboutOxford Capacity Analysis |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT OXFORD CAPACITY ANALYSIS | |
| scientology beliefs and practices | |
| personality | |
| pseudoscience | |
| psychological tests | |
|
The Oxford Capacity Analysis ('''OCA'''), also known as the '''American Personality Analysis''', is a Personality Test that is given for free by the Church Of Scientology . The OCA test is offered by the Church of Scientology online, at its local churches, and sometimes at local fairs, Carnival s, and in other public settings. The test is an important part of Scientology recruitment and is used worldwide by the Church of Scientology to attract new members. However, it has attracted criticism from psychologists, who consider it to be "not a genuine personality test" Sir John Foster, '' Report of the Enquiry into the Practice and Effects of Scientology '', chapter 5 paragraph 131. HMSO, 1971 and criticize the Church of Scientology for using it in what they regard as a "highly manipulative" "Woman says her sister was 'changed' by Scientology", ''The Irish Times'', January 30, 2003 and "manifestly unethical" fashion.''Granskning av Oxford Capacity Analysis'', Professor Gudmund Smith, University of Lund, Sweden. Municipality of Huddinge, 1981, case no. 150.82 000.285; see " Swedish Evaluation of the OCA " for an English translation HOW THE TEST WORKS The OCA is composed of 200 questions which can be answered "Yes", "No", or "Maybe". The following is a brief selection of the typical questions: 3. Do you browse through railway timetables, directories or dictionaries just for pleasure? 6. Do you get occasional twitches of your muscles, when there is no logical reason for it? 27. Do you often sing or whistle just for the fun of it? 30. Do you enjoy telling people the latest scandal about your associates? 59. Do you consider the modern prisons without bars system "doomed to failure"? 69. Does emotional music have quite an effect on you? 105. Do you rarely suspect the actions of others? 124. Do you often make tactless blunders? 196. Do you sometimes feel that your age is against you (too young or too old)? The OCA test is often given at the same time as a "Novis Mental Ability Test", a short 30 minute test which is claimed to measure IQ . After the two tests have been completed, a computer program is used to plot the results on a personality profile graph. This gives the testee's IQ rating and score in personality characteristics such as "Stable", "Happy", "Composed", "Certainty", "Active", "Aggressive", "Responsible (Causative)", "Correct Estimation" (meaning the testee's ability to look at a situation and determine what is needed to deal with it), "Appreciative", and "Comm {Link without Title} Level" (meaning the testee's ability to communicate with others)."Letters: Personality testing", ''St. Petersburg Times'' (Florida), September 16, 1992 The scale on the graph of each trait ranges from +100 to -100, with three main bands marked "Desirable State" (+100 to +30), "Normal" (+30 to 0) and "Unacceptable State" (0 to -100). In the middle are two shaded bands, "Acceptable under perfect conditions" (about +32 to about +6) and "Attention Desirable" (about +6 to about -18). A legend at the foot of the graph sheet warns that a point below the latter band indicates "Attention Urgent".Oxford Capacity Analysis personality profile graph. Retrieved 2006 After the graph has been plotted, a Scientology staff member reviews the results with the testee. THE OCA'S ROLE IN SCIENTOLOGY Development of the OCA Personality testing has played a key role in Dianetics and Scientology, virtually from the start. L. Ron Hubbard devoted an entire chapter to the subject in his 1951 book '' Science Of Survival ''. At this point in time, Hubbard recommended using existing tests such as the California Test for Mental Maturity and the Johnson Temperament Analysis Profile. In the mid-1950s he commissioned a long-time Scientologist, Julia Salman Lewis , to produce a new test for use in Scientology. She developed the American Personality Analysis (APA), based on the existing Johnson Temperament Analysis. Hubbard was still not fully satisfied with the results and in 1959 he asked his friend and fellow Scientologist Ray Kemp to develop the APA into a more general test. According to Kemp:
The OCA was first publicised in an article by Kemp in the pages of ''Certainty'', the magazine of the .OCA question sheet, copyrighted 2001 The test was first used as an internal assessment tool, but its systematic use as a recruiting tool appears have begun around 1961 following a highly successful pilot conducted in Johannesburg , South Africa , in 1960 . On Hubbard's instructions, the following advertisement (not dissimilar to the billboards seen outside many Scientology organisations today) had been placed in local newspapers:
Respondents were tested in the Johannesburg Scientology office, having been told: The results were spectacular, with Hubbard proclaiming it "the hottest, fastest procurement service set up we have ever had." He announced that the new "Personal Efficiency Test Program," utilising the OCA, would be rolled out across Scientology in the next few months.Hubbard, "Warning on New PE", HCO Policy Letter of 22 November 1960 Since then, OCA tests have been one of the most visible means by which the Church of Scientology attracts new members. How the OCA is used by Scientology The OCA is today used for two principal purposes. Within the Church of Scientology, it is used to monitor changes in the personality of a "preclear" (novice Scientologist) effected by Scientology "processing". OCA evaluations are conducted regularly and recorded, following Hubbard's instructions: The more visible use to non-Scientologists is that of external recruitment, using the OCA as a tool to attract new members. In a 1960 policy letter, Hubbard wrote:
The results of the test are invariably negative, as numerous reviewers and reporters have found over the years:
Hubbard advised that the hopelessness of the testee's predicament (or "ruin", as he put it) should be emphasized by the tester, who should continually state that Scientology was the only way in which the situation could be salvaged:
The evaluator follows a script originally devised by South African Scientologist Peter Greene around 1960/61, which Hubbard instructs "must be studied and learned by heart" by evaluators. Although the analysis is represented as being "not our opinion of you, but ... a factual scientific analysis taken from your answers," Hubbard, "Evaluation Script", HCO Policy Letter of 15 February 1961 it relies heavily on pre-scripted responses set out in detail in the "OCA Automatic Evaluation Script". For instance, if a low score is recorded on "syndrome" G (Responsible / Irresponsible), the suggested response is: Similarly, if H (Correct Estimation / Critical) is "failed", the line to be deployed is: Former Scientologists have spoken of how "everything that's wrong with {Link without Title} " is purposefully emphasized in OCA test results."Scientology Tests' Purpose And Validity Are Questioned", ''Buffalo News'' (New York), February 2, 2005 Individuals who have undertaken the OCA have described how they were given just such negative evaluations; as a young Sydney woman put it in an interview in 1980,
The evaluator is instructed to recommend Scientology as the only viable remedy for such problems. Alternatives are to be mentioned — "psychology, psychoanalysis, Dale Carnegie, Confidence Courses, Mental Exercises" — but only for the purpose of dismissing them: "these things had a very limited application and you could get yourself terribly involved in mysteries, expenses and wasted time, before you found any solutions to your difficulties. All across the world today, people are coming to us, to find simpler, more straight forward answers." The testee is not permitted to dissent, with the evaluator forcefully insisting on the benefits of Scientology:
The vehemence with which OCA test evaluators attempt to "impinge" has attracted comment from non-Scientologists who have undergone the test. Writing in 1970, a British psychologist who underwent the test noted that If an IQ test is added to the regular OCA examination, Scientology is likewise promoted as being essential no matter what the results — for everything from raising a low IQ to managing a high IQ. Hubbard provides four levels of grading for this test, for each of which there is a scripted response:
Uses of the OCA outside Scientology The OCA is licensed to Scientologist-owned companies through the World Institute Of Scientology Enterprises . It has been used for a variety of purposes, most commonly employee screening."Brutal Psyche Tests Bring The Sack", ''Sunday Mail'' (Queensland), December 9, 1990 It has often been used without alteration, but has also been issued in modified versions; for instance, MasterTech markets the OCA with minor changes and calls it the Personnel Potential Analysis Test. MasterTech Personnel Potential Analysis Test CRITICISM AND CONTROVERSY The OCA has repeatedly been the subject of controversy. The allegedly manipulative aspects of the way that the test is administered have been criticised many times since the OCA was introduced, and professional psychologists have strongly criticised the test's scientific basis. Testifying before a public enquiry into Scientology in Victoria, Australia , around 1964 , an expert psychologist gave evidence that "the overall impression one gets from reading this manual is that it has been prepared by somebody with a smattering of psychometrics rather than by someone who is really competent in the field." A more detailed investigation was undertaken in 1970 by a working party from the British Psychological Society (BPS). The BPS conducted a systematic evaluation of the OCA at the request of Sir John Foster, who was conducting a public enquiry into the practice and effects of Scientology. The working party concluded that Another detailed evaluation was carried out in 1981 by Gudmund Smith, Professor Emeritus at the Institute of Psychology of the University Of Lund , Sweden . The evaluation was performed at the request of a local prosecutor who was investigating a local branch of Narconon , an offshoot of the Church of Scientology. Smith cited numerous methodological and empirical flaws in the OCA, describing it as a "terrible mess", and concluded (in translation from the original Swedish): The OCA also came under scrutiny in Queensland , Australia in 1990, when it emerged that scores of people had lost their jobs after a Brisbane -based personnel management company had given them poor OCA evaluations, "us {Link without Title} such brutal terms they can read like character assassinations, leaving employers with little choice but to fire staff." The Australian Psychological Society denounced the OCA as "downright dangerous", commenting that The Church of Scientology has reportedly been unable to produce information to substantiate the validity of the Oxford Capacity Analysis. This has attracted criticism from the Buros Institute of Mental Measurements in Lincoln, Nebraska , which produces the ''Mental Measurements Yearbook'' — the industry "bible" for psychological tests. According to the institute, ""Any group should include information that substantiates the use of its test. If they can't, then it doesn't meet the standards for educational and psychological tests." The OCA evaluators' criticism of their test subjects' personalities has also drawn sharp criticism. A London '' Evening Standard '' reporter described the unease she felt after she had taken the OCA test:
Psychologists have echoed this critique. The methodological flaws of the OCA were such that, in the view of Professor Gudmund Smith, "Analysis for evaluation of an individual is, in my opinion, manifestly unethical." Testifying in a court case in Ireland in 2003 , Dr Declan Fitzgerald of University College Dublin said he believed that the OCA "impinged on people's self-esteem and was highly manipulative." In its 1970 report, the British Psychological Society's working party was even harsher with its criticism, declaring that Even the name of the Oxford Capacity Analysis has been criticised as misleading. '' The Times '' comments that the test "has nothing to do with Oxford University " and suggests that "Scientologists use the word "Oxford" to give it credence." "Been there, done that", '' The Times '' (UK), February 13, 2001 NOTES EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|