Sentence completion tests (Ex: Rotter & Wilierman 1947) are a class of semi-structured projective techniques. Sentence completion tests typically provide respondents with beginnings of sentences, referred to as “stems,” and respondents then complete the sentences in ways that are meaningful to them. The responses are believed to provide indications of attitudes, beliefs, motivations, or other mental states. It enables the respondents to disclose their concealed feelings.


Herman Ebbinghaus is generally credited with developing the first sentence completion test in 1897. It was used as part of an intelligence test.

The SCT typically consists of thirty to one hundred brief sentence stems which the subject is instructed to complete with the first words that come to mind. The tests are usually administered in booklet form where respondents complete the stems by writing words on paper.

The technique is considered most efficient in assessing the content of personality (attitudes, motives, and conflicts) at a more conscious or manifest level than such instruments as the Rorschach or TAT.

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Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_completion_tests