The author of TAT is Henry A.

Murray at Harvard University in the year 1935 and it is anchored on his

theory needs.

The early versions of TAT have 2 authors: Henry Murray and Christiana D. Morgan (the secret love
affair of Murray) and she is listed as the first author, but later versions dropped her name.
Reportedly, her role in the creation of the test was primarily in the selection and editing of the
images only. Since she was listed as the first author, majority of written inquiries about the test
were addressed to her; and most of these letters included questions that she could not answer;
therefore she requested that her name be removed from future authorship.

But Murray and Morgan spent the 1930s selecting pictures from magazines and developing the
test. There are 3 versions namely Series A, Series B, and Series C, unfortunately I cannot find a
specific date on which these series are created, Morgan and Murray decided on the final set of
pictures, Series D, in 1935 which remains in use today.

The TAT can be administered to individuals 5 to 79 years old.

 It is a projective test consisting of a series of cards depicting ambiguous scenes, situations, and
characters (that may include men, women, and/or children) in which the subject is requested to
create a story about the picture. It is popularly known as “picture interpretation technique”.

 TAT consists of 31 cards which were divided into categories. The blank card is provided with the
goal to ask subjects to create their own scene and story.

So napansin niyo magkaiba pa yung male and female saka boys and girls. This is because Murray
wanted to have cards intended for adolescent individuals only and younger individuals only. While there
are also cards that can be shown to both adolescent and younger individuals.

Each card also accounts for various themes and variables. **IPAKITA ANG PICTURE**

Picture 3BM: 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.

Picture 4: This card yields out information regarding ones feelings and attitudes towards man-
woman relationship. Also, themes of infidelity and betrayal, and the attitudes of male towards the
role of women may be analyzed from the story

Picture 13MF: Subject’s sexual and aggressive feelings are portrayed with this picture. This could
also lead to information about sexual conflicts and feelings towards the partner after or before
intercourse. People with OCD often spend great amount of time on the picture because of the
large number of details present in it.
PURPOSE:

 For individual assessment to evaluate personality. However, it is important to note that TAT is
usually administered to supplement or support a group of tests to determine the personality of
an individual. It should not be used alone to diagnose mental disorders. It is often administered
to individuals who have already received a diagnosis in order to match them with the type of
treatment or interventions best suited to their personalities.

It is considered to be effective in eliciting information about a person’s view of the world and
his/her attitudes toward the self and others. Because as the subject tell stories about the
pictures, they reveal their needs, expectations of relationships with peers, parents or other
authority figures, subordinates, and possible romantic partners.

 For forensic purposes. For example, the TAT was administered to a 24-year-old man in prison
for a series of sexual murders. The results indicated that his attitudes toward other people are
not only outside normal limits but are similar to those of other persons found guilty of the same
type of crime.

ADMINISTRATION:

Qualification Level: C

Time: Two sessions of 1 hour each

 Administered to individuals in a quiet room free from interruptions or distractions.

 The subject sits at the edge of a table or a desk next to the examiner.
 The examiner shows the subject a series of cards taken from the full set of 31 TAT cards.

The usual number of cards shown to the subject is between 10 to 12, although Murray
recommended the use of 20 cards, administered in two separate one-hour sessions with the
subject.

So how does the examiner choose the cards?

There is a sequential numbering system or (SNS) which can be used for basis which cards are
appropriate for the subject.

However, examiners can also use their best judgment when selecting cards in order to determine
which might be most likely to elicit useful information from the respondent.

 The subject is instructed to tell a story about the picture on each card. The story should include a
description of the event in the picture (present situation), thoughts and feelings of the people in the
 picture, the developments that led up to the event, and the outcome of the story. The examiner
should engage in questioning and inquiry to produce a continuous flow of the subject’s fantasy.

Recording the Responses:

Murray's original practice was to take notes by hand on the subject's responses, including his or her non-
verbal behaviours. However, research has indicated that a great deal of significant material is lost when
notes are recorded in this way. As a result, some examiners now use a tape recorder to record subjects'
answers.

A subject’s complete responses should be recorded, along with their reaction time as well as any
behavioural observations such as exclamation, pauses, change in voice and tone, stuttering, body
posture, hand movement, emotional responses and so on.

SCORING:

 Do not have a formal type of scoring system.

Murray (1943) originally proposed a scoring scheme in which each TAT story is rated according to the
needs that are being experienced by the hero/central figure of the story as well as the presses that are
being exerted by the environment. This scoring system is too elaborate and time consuming for clinical
work.

AND most TAT examiners find the available scoring systems to be complex. Therefore they tend to use
only non-quantitative methods of interpretation.

In a survey of more than 100 psychologists in North America, most clinicians (97%) reported that they
did not use any scoring system at all, but relied on their clinical judgment and intuition to interpret and
score the TAT.

I actually encountered A LOT of scoring techniques proposed by different professionals and they
measure different variables and uses different statistical techniques.

TAT is often criticized because it is not standardized, meaning there are no rules of administration and
formal scoring system. Clinicians often vary in how they administer the test. Additionally, few
practitioners use Murray's complex scoring system and instead rely on their subjective interpretation
and clinical opinion.

For example, even if clinicians use the same scoring system, they may use different cards or a different
number of cards. This makes it incredibly difficult to obtain estimates of reliability and validity and
almost impossible to compare results. Also, yung mga answers or stories ng subject mo ay depende sa
kung anong nakalakihan niyang culture.
The results of the TAT must be interpreted in the context of the subject's personal history, age, sex, level
of education, occupation, racial or ethnic identification, first language, and other characteristics that
may be important. All TAT experts agree that a complete interview and a case history must accompany
any attempt to interpret the TAT.

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-thematic-apperception-test-tat-2795588

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/thematic-apperception-test

https://www.psychestudy.com/general/personality/detailed-procedure-thematic-procedure-test

http://www.minddisorders.com/Py-Z/Thematic-Apperception-Test.html

Morgan, W. (2002). "Origin and History of the Earliest Thematic Apperception test".  Journal of Personality
Assessment.  79  (3): 422–445.  doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa7903_03. ; see Weber's "Christiana Morgan (1897–
1967)," in Michel Weber and William Desmond, Jr. (eds.), Handbook of Whiteheadian Process Thought,
Frankfurt / Lancaster, Ontos Verlag, 2008, v. II, pp. 465-468.

Anderson, J. W. (1999). Henry A. Murray and the Creation of the Thematic Apperception Test. In L. Gieser &
M. I. Stein (Eds.), Evocative Images: The Thematic Apperception Test, Washington, DC: American
Psychological Association.

What is Apperception?

Both apperception and perception are about understanding and interpreting what we

experience. ... Apperception, however, is more about a conscious comprehension whereas perception is
an interpretation of what one's senses are saying.

Apperception is the process of learning new information by relating and incorporating it into past
knowledge and experience. For example, a perception would be seeing a dog and thinking "There is a
dog." Apperception would be seeing a dog and thinking "That dog looks like my friend Larry's dog."

Basic assumption of this kind of test:

* The client identifies with the protagonist/hero (main character) in the picture and thus client's
concerns, hopes, fears, conflicts and desires are reflected in the way the client describes what is going
on with this character.
*According to Murray, our behavior is given direction by what he calls themas or themes, which
combine internal needs (either of biological origin or psychogenic) with environmental demands which
he calls press. The dynamics currently on-going in our lives are reflected in the stories we construct.