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Personality testing apparatus and method

Assignee: Individual
•
Filing: 1995-07-10
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Granted: 1997-12-30
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Expires: 2015-07-10
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Abstract

Abstract The invention is a process and apparatus for determining a person's basic personality type. The apparatus includes a card deck having forty different testing cards with each card featuring a written description of a personality characteristic, an associated picture and one of four different color codes associated with a particular type of personality having that characteristic. Five pile labeling cards are also provided. The pile labeling cards are used to define separate pile areas into which the testing cards may be sorted based upon the degree to which the person agrees with the characteristic described on the testing card. A point value is given to each testing card depending on which of the piles it is placed in. The point values of the sorted testing cards are then added together relative to their color codes to determine the user's primary personality type.

Inventors

  • 👤 Nathan K. Bryce
  • 👤 Russell R. Kesterson

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-08 19:50
CPC Classifications
A; A63; A63F; A63F1/00; A61; A61B; A61B5/00; A61B5/16; A61B5/167

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim 237 words
An apparatus for personality testing, said apparatus comprising: a card deck having a plurality of testing cards, each of said cards having a top face upon which is located a written statement of a personality characteristic and wherein each card also has a bottom surface having an identifier that identifies the card as being from one of four different color groups, said top and bottom surfaces being opposed to each other such that a person being tested cannot see the color identifier when viewing the top surface thereby avoiding any prejudicial effect; and a plurality of labeling cards, wherein each of said labeling cards is used to label an area upon which said testing cards may be placed and wherein each labeling card includes a first indicia that describes a degree of strength of agreement a user may have with the written statements provided on the testing cards, and wherein all of the labeling cards have different first indicia, said labeling cards also having a second indicia that describes a numerical point value that should be given to any of said testing cards that are placed into an area associated with said labeling card and wherein all of said labeling cards have different second indicia such that after a numerical value is given to each card the value of cards of the same color can be added and compared to the numerical total of other color groups.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 237 words
An apparatus for personality testing, said apparatus comprising: a card deck having a plurality of testing cards, each of said cards having a top face upon which is located a written statement of a personality characteristic and wherein each card also has a bottom surface having an identifier that identifies the card as being from one of four different color groups, said top and bottom surfaces being opposed to each other such that a person being tested cannot see the color identifier when viewing the top surface thereby avoiding any prejudicial effect; and a plurality of labeling cards, wherein each of said labeling cards is used to label an area upon which said testing cards may be placed and wherein each labeling card includes a first indicia that describes a degree of strength of agreement a user may have with the written statements provided on the testing cards, and wherein all of the labeling cards have different first indicia, said labeling cards also having a second indicia that describes a numerical point value that should be given to any of said testing cards that are placed into an area associated with said labeling card and wherein all of said labeling cards have different second indicia such that after a numerical value is given to each card the value of cards of the same color can be added and compared to the numerical total of other color groups.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 85 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the card deck includes forty different testing cards and wherein ten of said testing cards include an identifier associated with a first color, ten of said testing cards include an identifier associated with a second color, ten of said testing cards include an identifier associated with a third color and ten of said testing cards include an identifier associated with a fourth color and wherein each of said first, second, third and fourth colors are different from each other.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 25 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the labeling cards are devoid of any indicia designed to be associated with any of said four color groups.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 72 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each testing card also includes a picture located on its front face with said picture showing an image related to the card's written statement. the color indicator of each card and the card's point value based upon which of said piles it is located in and wherein the basic personality type having the greatest number of points is considered to be the user's primary personality type.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 51 words
The invention of claim 1 wherein each card has a secondary indicia on its top face that provides a category classification of the card, such that the person being tested can view all of the cards in a particular category prior to placing them in association with the chosen labeling cards.
Claim 7
Independent Claim 228 words
A method for testing and determining a person's basic personality type, said method comprising: (a) a testing person taking a first card from a specially-designed deck and then reading a written statement located on a front face of said card to a person being tested, wherein said statement describes a characteristic associated with one of four basic personality types, and wherein said card also includes a color indicator associated with the basic personality type associated with the card's written statement; (b) the testing person receiving an answer to the question from the person being tested, the person being tested answering according to (deciding) the degree to which the written statement describes the (user) person being tested; (c) the testing person placing the first card onto one of a plurality of piles with each pile being associated with a different degree of agreement and a different point value; (d) repeating the above-described procedure with every card in the deck; and (e) the testing person evaluating the (user's) personality type by tabulating the total points for each basic personality type as determined by the color indicator of each card and the card's point value based upon which of said piles it is located in and wherein the basic personality type having the greatest number of points is considered to be the (user's) primary personality type of the person being tested.
Claim 8
Independent Claim 228 words
A method for testing and determining a person's basic personality type, said method comprising: (a) a testing person taking a first card from a specially-designed deck and then reading a written statement located on a front face of said card to a person being tested, wherein said statement describes a characteristic associated with one of four basic personality types, and wherein said card also includes a color indicator associated with the basic personality type associated with the card's written statement; (b) the testing person receiving an answer to the question from the person being tested, the person being tested answering according to (deciding) the degree to which the written statement describes the (user) person being tested; (c) the testing person placing the first card onto one of a plurality of piles with each pile being associated with a different degree of agreement and a different point value; (d) repeating the above-described procedure with every card in the deck; and (e) the testing person evaluating the (user's) personality type by tabulating the total points for each basic personality type as determined by the color indicator of each card and the card's point value based upon which of said piles it is located in and wherein the basic personality type having the greatest number of points is considered to be the (user's) primary personality type of the person being tested.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 34 words
The method of claim 6 wherein each card also includes a picture associated with the card's written statement and wherein when a user looks at the card, the user also sees the card's picture.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 36 words
The method of claim 6 further comprising an initial step of laying out a plurality of labeling cards that function to label a plurality of different piles onto which the cards from the deck are sorted.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 57 words
The method of claim 6 wherein each card has a secondary indicia that provides a category classification of the card, said method including the testing person showing the person to be tested the characteristic statements on all cards with the same category classification prior to placing each of the cards onto one of a plurality of piles.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 18 words
The method of claim 6 wherein the testing person and the person being tested are the same person.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

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US1370249A Cited
US1540085A Cited
US1583223A Cited
US2034991A Cited
US4294451A Cited
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US4728108A Cited
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2000-12-29 2001-06-30 2001-12-30 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2004-12-29 2005-06-30 2005-12-30 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2008-12-29 2009-06-30 2009-12-30 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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