Peer Reflection: The peer reviews I received on the discussion board helped me fix some format

and grammatical errors in my original draft. Thanks to Ryan I realized that when I converted my

document into a word document my original format was altered. I also revised my grammar and

formatting errors that were overlooked. Brooke also gave me advice on formatting, also pointed

out that my original “References” section was labeled “Works Cited”. Dr. Bruce also drew to

my attention the glaring ethical citation errors I made in my original document. Fixing those

citations was crucial in updating this project.

Thematic Apperception Test

By Miles Austin

The Thematic Apperception Test(TAT) is a psychological personality

test(G1) in which a subject/client is asked to examine a photograph. After

examination, the subject/client is tasked with creating a story based on the

image. The narrative produced by these images reveals many aspects of the

subject's consciousness. For example, the tester can find inner conflicts,

concerns, personal aspirations, peer and familial relationships, where one sees

themselves in society, and much more. This test is one of the most widely used,

researched, and taught projective tests.

Figure 1: A Thematic Apperception

Test in process.^11
Background

Developed in the 1930s at the University of Harvard by psychologist Henry A. Murray

and psychoanalyst(G2) Christiana D. Morgan. They strived for a test that could give insight into
a whole person but found a contemporary test couldn't achieve that desire. By utilizing

ambiguous scenes, subjects/clients would be less defensive and, whether consciously or not, tell

the tester their experiences and current mental state(Langan-Fox & Grant, 2006)^7. The TAT

went through three versions until arriving at series D, which is what is still used today. It wasn't

adopted by psychoanalysts and clinicians until after WWII when it was used to help soldiers

suffering from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. The procedure became used as a tool in everyday

diagnosis in the 1970s.

In Action[Figure 1.]

The TAT is a personality inventory(G3) that contains a set of photographs. The

subject/client is asked a series of questions that creates a narrative, in which the administrator

will use the answers to reveal their subconscious. Below are some samples of potential

questions(Rossini & Moretti,1997)^10:

a) Current situation:

- What is happening in the image?

b) Thoughts and feelings of the character(s):

- What are the character(s) feeling and thinking?

c) Preceding events:
Figure 2. One of the
- What has led up to the event shown in the picture? original TAT picture
cards. This image was
d) Outcome: used for both men and
woman over the age of
14.^1
- What is going to happen after the image?

(Jain, Singh, Kar, Weiner, & Kuehnle,2017)^6

 The test contains thirty-two picture cards[Figure 2.]. These cards have images of men,

women, and gender-neutral people, all varying in age, or some show no people at all. Initially,

the person giving the test would adjust the cards depending on their subject/client. If the client is

male, the administrator will provide them with cards with male characters. As the use of the test

became slowly modified with time, the adjustment of cards per client became obsolete.

Murray developed a scoring system based on his theory of personality(G4). This system

took the stories written by the subject/client and searched for hints at needs or environmental

pressures(Langan-Fox & Grant, 2006)^7. After these needs are found, they've scored on a scale

from one to five, based on intensity, frequency, importance to the plot, and duration.

Push Back

Although Murray’s TAT gained popularity during the 1940s, no academic consensus validating

the test. This is due to Murray’s complex scoring system, which consistently proved unreliable

when a client/subject is retested(Langan-Fox & Grant, 2006)^7. Test fatigue was a frequent

problem, and there was no standard for scoring tests. Making any conclusion made put under

scrutiny as merely speculative.

The McClelland TAT

David McClelland was an American Psychologist whose most famous work centered

around motivation and individuals' need for achievement. He developed a theory that

hypothesized that early life experiences shape individuals' needs in the future. These future needs

fit under three categories: achievement(personal goals), affiliation(social status), and

power(desired autonomy) (Langan-Fox & Grant, 2006)^7. McClelland developed an altered

version of the TAT in 1953. He approached the story differently than Henry Murray. Where

Murray’s TAT, the tester approaches the story neutrally, looking for subtle cues. McClelland’s

scoring system seeks to achieve arousal. He believed that the TAT could display one's

implicit(G5) and explicit behavior(G6) and that it can predict spontaneous behavior (Langan-

Fox & Grant, 2006)^7.

Contemporary Uses and Scoring Systems

Regardless of its criticism, many aspects of psychology still utilize the TAT as a tool in

helping their patients and researching many aspects of human behavior. It helps assess various

personality/ mental disorders, criminal investigations, occupation screening, and psychological

evaluations. In contemporary times, various scoring systems have been developed that have been

backed up by empirical support(G7). Another adjustment made to the TAT was narrowing down

the number of cards per test. Originally twenty were used, but now eight are utilized to reduce

test fatigue (Dipaola, Meneghelli, Prastro, & Morano, 2015)^5.

SCORS-G

Psychologist Michelle Stain and Jenelle Slavin-Mulford created the Social Cognition and

Object Relations Scale-Global(SCORS-G) rating method in 2018. Their new scoring system has

given the TAT the ability to examine human cognition, abnormal cognition, and a

comprehensive personality model(McCredie & Morey, 2019)^8. The SCORS-G system

responses have predicted a subject/client's history of past childhood trauma, psychiatric

hospitalizations, and suicidality (McCredie & Morey, 2019)^8.

Defense Mechanism Manual’s (DMM)

 Phoebe Cramer was a Clinical Psychologist whose most influential work centered around

analyzing defense mechanisms(G8) using the TAT. Her study examined four age

groups(preschool, elementary school, early adolescents, and late adolescents) and the

development of their defenses (Cramer, 1987)^2. Her test evaluated three defense mechanisms

and applied varying maturity levels to them. The three are: Denial(least mature),

Projection( intermediate maturity), and identification(most mature)(G9) (Cramer, 1987)^2.

Glossary

Term Definition

9) Cramer’s TAT Definitions of Denial, Denial

Projection, and Identification: (1) Omission of major characters or
(Cramer,2008)^3 objects.
(2) Misperception.
(3) Reversal.
(4) Statements of negation.
(5) Denial of reality.
(6) Overly maximizing the positive or
minimizing the negative.
(7) Unexpected goodness, optimism,
positiveness, or gentleness.
Projection
(1) Attribution of hostile feelings or
intentions, or other normatively
unusual feelings or intentions, to a
character.
(2) Additions of ominous people, animals,
objects, or qualities.
(3) Magical thinking.
(4) Concern for protection from external
threats.
(5) Apprehensiveness of death, injury, or
assault.
(6) Themes of pursuit, entrapment, and escape
(7)Bizarre story or theme.
Identification
(1) Emulation of skills.
(2)Emulation of characteristics, qualities, or
 attitudes.
(3) Regulation of motives or behavior.
(4) Self-esteem through affiliation.
(5)Work; delay of gratification.
(6)Role Differention.
(7)Moralism.

8) Defense Mechanism: These are unconscious strategies whereby

(Psychology Today)^4 people protect themselves from anxious
thoughts or feelings.

7) Empirical Support: Refers to specific psychological

treatments/theories that have been proven
effective in controlled research.

6) Explicit Behavior: These behaviors are at the conscious level, are

deliberately formed and are easy to self-
report.

5) Implicit Behavior: Behavior that cannot be observed directly,

such as processing a thought or emotional
reaction.

4) Murray’s Theory of Personality: A theory of personality that was organized in

(Langan-Fox & Grant, 2006)^7 terms of motives, presses, and needs. Murray
described needs as a “potentiality or readiness
to respond in a certain way under certain
given circumstances.”

3) Personality Inventory: Is a self-administered test that produces

insights into an individual's personality.

1) Personality Test: A personality test is a method of assessing

(American Psychological human personality constructs. Most
Association)^9 personality assessment instruments are in fact
introspective self-report questionnaire
measures or reports from life records, such as
rating scales.

2) Psychoanalysts: Is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques

(Wikipedia) that deal in part with the unconscious mind,
and which together establish a method of
treatment for mental disorders. The discipline
was established in the early 1890s by Austrian
neurologist Sigmund Freud, who developed
the practice from his theoretical model of
 personality organization and development,
psychoanalytic theory.

References

The Apperception Test That Sealed My Fate. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://designobserver.com/feature/the-apperception-test-that-sealed-my-fate/40173/^1

Cramer, P. (1987). The Development of Defense Mechanisms. Journal of Personality, 55(4),

597-614. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1987.tb00454.x^2

Cramer, P. (2008). Seven Pillars of Defense Mechanism Theory. Social and Personality

Psychology Compass, 2(5), 1963-1981. doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2008.00135.x^3

Defense Mechanisms. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/defense-mechanisms#:~:text=Defense

mechanisms are unconscious strategies,channel their energy more productively.^4

Dipaola, D., Meneghelli, P., Prastaro, M., & Morano, D. (n.d.). Thematic Apperception Test: An

original proposal for interaction analysis. Retrieved from

https://cab.unime.it/journals/index.php/MJCP/article/view/1109/pdf^5

Jain, M., Singh, A., Kar, S., Weiner, I., & Kuehnle, K. (2017). Projective Assessment of

Children and Adolescents ☆. Reference Module in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral

Psychology. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-809324-5.05058-6^6

Langan-Fox, J., & Grant, S. (2006). The Thematic Apperception Test: Toward a Standard

Measure of the Big Three Motives. Journal of Personality Assessment, 87(3), 277-291.

doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa8703_09^7

Mccredie, M. N., & Morey, L. C. (2019). Convergence between Thematic Apperception Test

(TAT) and self‐report: Another look at some old questions. Journal of Clinical
 Psychology, 75(10), 1838-1849. doi:10.1002/jclp.22826^8

Personality Assessment. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.apa.org/ed/graduate/specialize/personality^9

Rossini, E. D., & Moretti, R. J. (1997). Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) interpretation:

Practice recommendations from a survey of clinical psychology doctoral programs

accredited by the American Psychological Association. Professional Psychology:

Research and Practice, 28(4), 393-398. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.28.4.393^10

Science Photo Library. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/112525/view/thematic-apperception-test^11