"There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in."
- Graham Greene
What the MMTIC measures
Like the well-known Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® instrument, the Murphy-Meisgeier Type Indicator for Children® (MMTIC™) is a self-report assessment of psychological type. Although the two instruments share the same theoretical approach to understanding personality, first proposed by Carl Jung and further developed by Isabel Myers, they differ in the age groups for which they are designed. The MBTI® assessment is intended for a mature audience, while the shorter, easier-to-read MMTIC instrument is designed for type assessment in children and teenagers (grades 2-12).
The MMTIC has been used with many thousands of children since its introduction in 1987. The new version of the instrument reflects significant improvements in assessment, administration, and interpretation.
MMTIC results give educators, administrators, counselors, parents, teenagers, and children valuable insights into differences in learning styles (how information is gathered and how attention is directed) and healthy social interactions. Type has profound implications for both early learning success and lifelong healthy type development and use.
MMTIC new version improvements
The updated version of the MMTIC represents the culmination of two decades of use of the original version and over six years of dedicated testing and refinement. Principal advantages of the new version include the following:
- Elimination of the U (undecided) band. Because type preferences are still developing during childhood, the original MMTIC scored some children’s preferences as undecided, indicative of a response pattern that pointed equally to both opposing poles on a given scale. Such U results proved frustrating to teachers, parents, counselors, and children, who often confidently identified a clear preference despite their assessed undecided status. The revised MMTIC is based on a sophisticated data analysis methodology called Latent Class Analysis, which provides both a preference and a measure of response consistency for each scale, similar to the preference clarity index of the MBTI instrument.
- Expanded target age. The new MMTIC has been tested and verified with high school students, expanding its top-end target age group from 8th grade to high school seniors.
- Ease of use. Children can take the new MMTIC online, or teachers can collect answer sheets from a group assessment and enter data for quick online scoring and downloadable reports.
- Low price with no minimums. Affordable for a single student or an entire school district. Many materials are available for downloading at no charge.
- Shorter completion time. The revised MMTIC has 43 items (versus 70 previously), ideal for children's attention spans.
- Expanded product line. More support materials and associated books, including the more comprehensive MMTIC™ Manual.
Taking the MMTIC
There are two basic ways that young people can take the MMTIC:
- Online. Any child who has access to a computer and the Internet can enter responses online. Once scored, reports can be downloaded by an authorized adult, including administrators, teachers, school psychologists, or guidance counselors.
- Paper answer sheets. Designed for use with groups of children, or one child at a time. Answer sheets and assessment booklets can be purchased or downloaded, depending on the method by which the instrument is scored.
- MMTIC™ Key-In Answer Sheets allow students to record their answers on a paper answer sheet, whether they have seen the questions on a computer screen or from a printed instrument. The teacher or facilitator then enters these answers into the MMTIC™ Facilitator’s Interface, thus the name “Key-In.” Online administrations must be purchased for key-in scoring.
- MMTIC™ Mail-In Answer Sheets are designed for use with groups of children who complete Scantron (bubble-style) answer sheets. These answer sheets are mailed to the CAPT scoring center. The MMTIC report results are either emailed or mailed to the authorized adult. Price includes CAPT scoring and personalized downloadable reports.
MMTIC report options
- MMTIC™ Student Report. A multipage personalized report that describes typical type differences; gives specific information about a child's type, strengths, and stretches; and offers recommendations for study skills and working in teams. There are three levels (elementary, middle, and high school) of student reports, each written in age-appropriate language and rich with graphics.
- MMTIC™ Professional Report. Intended for use by guidance professionals and school psychologists, this multipage report summarizes a child's specific strengths and stretches and recommends child-specific ways to help with effective learning and better relationship skills. A student report must be scored in order to generate a professional report.
- MMTIC™ Type Table Report and Classroom Manager. Students’ results can be aggregated into a type table showing the distribution of different types for a particular group. Attached to the type table is a list of each student’s name and their response consistency for each preference scale.
