A major feature of the PAS is that a personality profile can be systematically interpreted from a set of Wechsler Scales subtest scores.
The first dimension is Internalizer-Externalizer which is an ability to manipulate internal stimuli or symbols without being distracted by the external world.
The Role Adaptable-Role Uniform dimension refers to a person's skill in meeting demands that others make of him.
The role adaptive can suffer from making good first impressions and then not understanding the unrealistic expectations others place upon him.
A compensation (or lack thereof) is learned behavior a person adopts in childhood to go against their natural dimensions.
Finally, modification (or lack thereof), much like compensation, is a learned behavior to counter the individual's initial dimensions but it is developed in adulthood and is much more fragile and resistant to pressure.
A key feature of the PAS is that the profile of a particular person may be derived from their scores on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale.
The development of the PAS actually began when John Gittinger noticed certain behaviors which seemed to relate to subtest scores on the Wechsler.
Over the years, as he observed many people, he developed the full theory and the method of translating Wechsler scores into PAS profiles.
A sample of applications include education, career analysis, self-help, and intelligence gathering.
She bases her work on her understanding of individual differences which she credits foremost to John Gittinger and the
According to the DeForest's report of the work, Vietnamese were very similar to each other, especially at the primitive level, and this led to develop of a consistent method of interrogation.
The PAS was also used to identify personalities that were likely to remain loyal, as opposed to ones who would flip-flop according to who they were dealing with at the moment.
Gittinger was a witness and identified as a CIA psychologist at Senate hearings into Project MKUltra.
[14] The relationship of Gittinger, the PAS and MKULTRA is discussed by Marks in chapter 11 of his book based upon examination of thousands of documents.
[5] Earlier articles on the PAS in professional and academic journals never mentioned John Gittinger's employer.
[19] Gittinger did publish two shorter descriptions of the PAS in academic journals with coauthor J. F. Winne in 1973.
[23] Due to personal interactions at conferences, perhaps the relationship of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to the PAS has received more discussion and thought than other comparisons.
In the PAS terms, the face one shows to the world is the result of an individual's conscious and unconscious screening process.
The first two dimensions of the PAS represent measurable, developmental interactions of Nature and Nurture at play in forming one's "basic" or core personality.
Based on motivations emanating from the basic personality, the surface persona is the result of an individual's largely, but not entirely, conscious choices to maximize strengths and to minimize weaknesses.
In contrast, the surface dimension is subject to subtle transformations through life experiences such as education, therapy, illness, trauma, and/or aging.