Download Thematic Apperception test cards and more Slides Psychology in PDF only on Docsity!
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is only meant to be administered in an interpersonal setting. The test consists of 20 different cards containing ambiguous pictures, which are presented to the subject. Here are some of the key notes that will help you to understand the procedure better as you continue on this article. Key note Description M Males F Females B Boys G Girls BM Boys/Males GF Girls/Females The cards are provided to the subjects in following sequence. Category Sequence For the group of both males and females
1, 2, 3BM, 4, 6BM, 7GF, 8BM,
9GF, 10, 13MF
For the group of males
1, 2, 3BM, 4, 6BM, 7BM, 11,
12M, 13MF
For the group of females
1, 2, 3, 3BM, 4, 6GF, 7GF, 9GF,
11, 13GF
Keiser and Prather specified Murray’s most frequent cards in 1990, which were: 1, 2, 3BM, 3GF, 4, 5, 6BM, 6GF, 8BM and 8 GF.
Conditions
▪ The subject should be seated right beside the examiner with his or her chair turned away. ▪ Time should be measured from the moment when the first picture is presented to the time before the next picture is given.
Instructions
Each picture should be shown one at a time , and the subjects are then asked to depict a story from the pictures in the card. Total time duration assigned for 10 pictures is 50 minutes.
Condition for the Story (Compulsory)
It’s a must for the story to describe ▪ Present Situation ▪ Thoughts and feelings of the character(s) ▪ Preceding events: the events that led up to the story. ▪ Final Outcome
Recording Procedure
▪ Complete responses presented by a subject should be recorded. ▪ Along with behavioral observations: stuttering, voice tone, body posture, hand movements, exclamation, and so on. ▪ Practitioner should engage in questioning and inquiry to produce a continuous flow of the subject’s fantasy. ▪ The cards should be administered in the sequence they were presented to the subject. Henry A. Murray also developed scoring technique, and categorized it as following five aspects of the stories. ▪ The Hero: Scoring for the hero involves identifying the protagonist in the story. ▪ Need for the Hero: It was important for Murray to identify the motives, needs and desire of the hero. ▪ Identifying the presses: Environmental factors that influence with the needs or actions of the hero are regarded as presses. ▪ Scoring for Themes: This involves evaluating the nature of interplay and conflict between the presses and the needs. Emotion elicited by conflict and the way in which conflict is resolved is assessed. ▪ Scoring for Outcome: Major scoring for outcome is done on whether or not the story has a happy ending. Also, the impact on the outcome influenced by the strengths of hero and presses is assessed.
Picture 2: A woman holding a book in a country scene
watching a man working in a field in the background.
Observation: The card represents a group scene and deals with the individual challenge of living together with other people.This is the only card in the series that does so.
Picture 3BM: A boy huddled next to a couch with an
ambiguous object placed next to him, possibly a revolver
or a set of keys.
Observation : This is considered to be one of the most important pictures, especially for depressed patients, as it deals with themes of aggression, impulsive control, guilt and depression. For instance , If a patient describes the ambiguous object as a gun, it’s highly likely that the person might harm oneself (Intra-aggression) or another person (Extra-Aggression).
Picture 4: A man turning away from a woman who is
grabbing his shoulders.
Observation: This card yields out information regarding ones feelings and attitudes towards man-woman relationship. Also, themes of infidelity and betrayal, and the altitudes of male towards the role of women may be analyzed from the story.
Picture 5: A woman looking into a room from the door.
Observation: This card gives out information about the surrounding attitudes of the subject, a mother in a role of observing and judging behavior, or paranoia caused by the fear of attack or intruders. It’s important to understand the way in which woman is portrayed in the story.
Picture 6GF: An older man with a pipe in his mouth is
talking to a younger woman sitting on a couch, who is
looking back at him.
Observation: Although this card was initially developed to be a counterpart to Picture 6BM, it fails to do so as man and woman in the picture are often viewed as of same age.When father and daughter relationship is not established, stories tend to take an approach of heterosexual relationship.
Picture 7BM: A younger man looking into space (nothing)
and an older man looking at him.
Observation: This card discusses about a person’s attitudes and feelings towards authority figures.
Picture 8BM: The foreground shows a young boy looking
out of the picture. The background shows two men
performing operation on a patient.
Observation: The picture can be portrayed as a young man’s mental conflicts and the attitudes of characters in the story toward the older man performing surgery.
Picture 8GF: A woman sitting on a chair with her chin
resting in her hand. She is peering into space.
Observation: This is one of the pictures harder to generalize about, and usually produce stories of contemplative nature.
Picture 9GF: A woman standing behind a tree looking at
another woman, who seems to be running on a beach.
Observation: This card was intended to bring out female peer relations, and elaboration on the issues such as sibling rivalry, jealousy and so on. Paranoia can also be depicted here, as the woman on the foreground is standing behind a try.
Picture 10: A person is rest his/her on the shoulder of
another person. Gender is unidentified.
Observation: This picture gives out information about man-woman relationship regarding closeness and intimacy. The manner of comfort or discomfort displayed by the person indicates his/her attitudes towards the subject matter.
Picture 12M: A boy is lying on a bed, eyes closed, and a
man is standing above the boy with his hand raised.
Observation: The picture often indicates a story between an older man and a younger one, quite often as a therapist and a client. Subjects have been known to depict their attitudes toward some external controlling forces. It’s important to note how the older man is portrayed.
Picture 12F: A young woman at the front and an older
woman holding her chin at the background.
Observation: The background figure is often seen as a woman with evil qualities (mother-in-law for instance. Negative qualities are often feelings and attitudes towards her own mother.
