BENDER- GESTALT

The Bender Visual Motor Gestalt test (or Bender-Gestalt test) is a psychological assessment used to
evaluate visual-motor functioning, visual-perceptual skills, neurological impairment, and emotional
disturbances in children and adults ages three and older.
Purpose
The Bender-Gestalt is used to evaluate visual-motor maturity and to screen children for developmental
delays. The test is also used to assess brain damage and neurological deficits. Individuals who have
suffered a traumatic brain injury may be given the Bender-Gestalt as part of a battery of
neuropsychological measures, or tests.
The Bender-Gestalt is sometimes used in conjunction with other personality tests to determine the
presence of emotional and psychiatric disturbances such as schizophrenia.
Precautions
Psychometric testing requires a clinically trained examiner. The Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test should
be administered and interpreted by a trained psychologist or psychiatrist. The Bender-Gestalt should
always be employed as only one element of a complete battery of psychological or developmental tests,
and should never be used alone as the sole basis for a diagnosis.
Description
The original Bender Visual Motor Gestalt test was developed in 1938 by psychiatrist Lauretta Bender.
There are several different versions of the Bender-Gestalt available today (i.e., the Bender-Gestalt test;
Modified Version of the Bender-Gestalt test for Preschool and Primary School Children; the Hutt
Adaptation of the Bender-Gestalt test; the Bender Visual Motor Gestalt test for Children; the Bender-
Gestalt test for Young Children; the Watkins Bender-Gestalt Scoring System; the Canter Background
Interference Procedure for the Bender-Gestalt test). All use the same basic test materials, but vary in their
scoring and interpretation methods.
The standard Bender Visual Motor Gestalt test consists of nine figures, each on its own 3 × 5 card. An
examiner presents each figure to the test subject one at a time and asks the subject to copy it onto a single
piece of blank paper. The only instruction given to the subject is that he or she should make the best
reproduction of the figure possible. The test is not timed, although standard administration time is
typically 10-20 minutes. After testing is complete, the results are scored based on accuracy and
organization. Interpretation depends on the form of the test in use. Common features considered in
evaluating the drawings are rotation, distortion, symmetry, and perseveration. As an example, a patient
with frontal lobe injury may reproduce the same pattern over and over (preservation).
The Bender-Gestalt can also be administered in a group setting. In group testing, the figures are shown to
test subjects with a slide projector, in a test booklet, or on larger versions of the individual test cards. Both
the individual and group- administered Bender-Gestalt evaluation may take place in either an outpatient
or hospital setting. Patients should check with their insurance plans to determine if these or other mental
health services are covered.
Normal Results
Children normally improve in this test as they age, but, because of the complexity of the scoring process,
results for the Bender-Gestalt should only be interpreted by a clinically trained psychologist or
psychiatrist.