A comparison of computerized and conventional administration of the German versions of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and the Carroll Rating Scale for Depression

A normal sample of 72 German-speaking adults completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ-R) as well as the Carroll Rating Scale for Depression (CRS), one half of each questionnaire with paper and pencil, the other half as a computerized version, with the order of administration controlled. Furthermore, a parallel control group was drawn from the normative sample of the German EPQ-R (paper-pencil administration only). No systematic differences in group means and standard deviations were observed for any of the scales. For the control group, reliability measures were better for Extraversion, but slightly worse for the Lie scale of the EPQ-R. The overall acceptance of the computerized version was very good and did not depend upon previous experience with computer application. Moreover, some preliminary data on the relationship between personality variables and response latencies are presented.