Psy242MA Personality Appraisal

Prepared by Niel Steve M. Kintanar 1

The Draw a Person Test
Prepared by Niel Steve M. Kintanar, MA
Psy242MA Advance Personality Appraisal
DRAW A PERSON (DAP)
Acute observers always have been able to
detect emotional connotations in artwork.
As early as 1885, clinicians have been
interested the drawings of young children and
how it might reveal personality characteristics
of the child.
1920s, Florence Goodenough wrote
Measurement of Intelligence by Drawings and
was followed by other works of Bender, Buck,
Hammer, Jolles, Levy, Machover.
Psy242MA Personality Appraisal
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So on 8 x 11 white paper and a
well sharpened No. 2 black lead
pencil...
(Also make another copy by using the
carbon paper)
Please draw a picture of
a person.
(No stereotyped figures like stick figures,
cartoons, or stylized drawings or you will have
to draw a complete figure again. This is not a
test of artistic ability and it is not really
considered in interpreting and scoring.)
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Please write your
name, age, date, and
the sex of the person
(drawing) ?
Can you write a few
words, phrases that
describe the figure
drawn.
Young or old? Active or inactive? Flexible or
rigid? Handsome or ugly? Happy or sad?
Aggressive, dominant or passive? Casual or
formal?)
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Exchange drawings
with a partner and
your partner will try
to interpret the
drawing for you.
Interpretation of the DAP
1. Use of psychodynamic theories
(Projective you express what is
unconscious or hidden in you).
2. It is assumed that the drawing will be
how the person present himself or
herself.
3. Descriptions of the drawing is useful in deriving
meaningful hypothesis.
4. The goal really is to identify the areas of conflict,
exaggeration, omission, and distortion. (You can also
check the duplicate copy.)
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For Seatwork # 4
Please write your general comments, interpretations, and
hypotheses of your partner. In usual DAP testing final
report, this is the outline.
1. Description of testing situation and reaction of subject
to testing.
2. Brief description of subjects attitude to DAP.
3. General Impressions Conveyed by Figures drawn.
4. Differential treatment of male and female figures.
5. Discussion of interpretative hypotheses elicited from
catalogue.
6. Summary and recommendations.
Can you do Parts I & 2
of the Seatwork.
I. General Impressions Conveyed by Figures
Drawn.
II. Is sex of the drawing congruent with the sex
of the subject? (If not, refer to sequence
of sex, homosexual indicators in the
catalogue.)
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III. Interpretative hypotheses
A. General Characteristics
1. Pressure factors
2. Stroke of line characteristics
3. Size of Drawing
4. Placement of Drawings
5. Action or Movement
A. General Characteristics
1. Pressure Factors
a. Usually heavy pressures suggests:
Extremely tense individuals
Assertive, forceful, ambitious persons
Aggressive and possible acting out tendencies
b. Usually light pressures suggests:
Inadequately adjusting individuals
Hesitant, indecisive, timid, fearful, insecure
individuals
Low energy levels
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A. General Characteristics
2. Stroke or Line Characteristics
a. Marked directional preferences:
Horizontal movement weakness, fearfulness, self protective
tendencies, or femininity.
Vertical Movement suggests masculine assertiveness,
determination, and possible hyperactivity.
Curving Lines healthy personality, possibly suggesting distaste for
conventional
Rigid straight line rigid or aggressive tendencies
Continuous changes in direction of stroke - low security feelings.
b. Quality of stroke:
Firm, unhesitating, determined quality -secure, persistent, ambitious.
Vacillating direction, vague lines and interrupted strokes insecurity,
vacillating tendencies
Uninterrupted straight strokes quick, decisive, assertive persons.
Interrupted, curvilinear strokes slowness, indecisive; dependent,
emotional tendencies, femininity and submissiveness.
A. General Characteristics
2. Stroke or Line Characteristics
a. Length of stroke:
Long strokes suggest controlled behavior,
sometimes to point of inhibition.
Short discontinuous strokes impulsive,
excitable tendencies..
Very short, circular, sketchy anxiety,
uncertainty, depression, and timidity.
b. Shading and shaded strokes:
Anxiety
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A. General Characteristics
3. Size of Drawing
a. Usually large drawings suggests:
Aggressive tendencies
Expansive, grandiose tendencies
Feelings of inadequacy with compensatory defenses
Possible hyperactive
b. Usually Small suggests:
Feelings of inferiority, ineffectiveness or inadequacy
Withdrawal tendencies in restrained, timid, shy, persons.
Feelings of insecurity
Possible depressive tendencies.
Possible weak ego structure or low ego strength,
Regressive tendencies
When high on page low energy level, lack of insight, unjustified
optimism.
A. General Characteristics
4. Placement of drawings
a. Central placement suggests:
Normal, secure: The most common placement at
all ages.
In absolute center of the page insecurity and
rigidity, especially in interpersonal relations.
b. Placement high on page suggests:
High level of aspiration: striving hard for difficult
goals
Optimism, frequently unjustified.
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A. General Characteristics
4. Placement of drawings
a. Placement low on page suggests:
Feelings of insecurity
Feelings of inadequacy
Depressive tendencies, perhaps with defeatist attitudes.
b. Placement on edge or bottom of paper suggests:
Need for support associated with feelings of insecurity and
low self-assurance.
Dependency tendencies and a fear of independent action
Tendency to avoid new experiences or to remain absorbed
in fantasy.
A. General Characteristics
5. Action or Movement
See Action and Movement
in catalogue.
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III. Interpretative hypotheses
A. Four Major Areas
1. Head
2. Hands, Arms, Shoulders,
Chest
3. Trunk of the Body
4. Legs and Feet
B. Four Major Areas
1. Head
a. The locus of the sense of the self or ego.
b. It deals perceptively with the outer world.
c. Senses are used to received stimuli.
d. Things you need to check: Head, hair, facial
features, eyes & eyebrows, ears & nose
(nostrils), mouth & chin, lips, teeth,
forehead, head, neck and Adams apple,
beard or moustache, cap & accessories.
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B. Four Major Areas
2. Hands, Arms, Shoulders, and Chest
a. The functional unit to execute the commands of the
brain or the impulses of the body.
b. Does the subject draw his figures as reaching out
for help? Are they reaching out in aggression? Are
they fighting the world?
c. Things you need to check: Arms, hands, fingers,
shoulders, breasts, collar, muscles, thumb.
B. Four Major Areas
3. Trunk of the body
a. It indicates strength features.
b. Things you need to check trunk, clothing,
jewelry, waistline, hips, belly, buttons, belts,
joints, buttocks, nude, ties, genitals or
anatomy indication, phallic symbols,
waistline, transparency, empty figures, stick
figures.
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B. Four Major Areas
4. Legs and Feet
a. It indicates autonomy, self-movement,
self direction, balance.
b. Things you need to check stance,
legs, feet, knees, pockets, shoes,
heels, toes.
C. Other areas
1. Body part being cut off
2. Cutting off head
3. Excessive erasures
4. Shading of body parts
5. Check on warning indicators of severe
mental disturbance (last page)
6. Check on normality indicators (page 41.)
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Thank you very
much.
nielsteve@yahoo.com