PROJECTIVE

TECHNIQUES
 What is PROJECTION?
… a process of ascribing
one’s own drives,
feelings and sentiments
to other people or to the
outside world as a
defensive process
(Freud, 1896)
 Features of Projective Tests
 STIMULI are ambiguous and unstructured.
• Verbal instructions: “I want you to draw a person.”
• Pictures: Blots, monochromatic pictures

 STIMULI are less obvious in purposes.

• Projective drawings: Test of drawing skills?
• TAT: Storytelling test?

 RESPONSES are open-ended and unstructured.

 Features of Projective Tests
 INTERPRETATION
• Must be viewed as HYPOTHESES and
POSSIBILITIES.
• The person is his own REFERENCE POINT.
• Tests assess different aspects of the personality.
 Basic Qualities of Projective Tests
A. Unstructured – stimuli are ambiguous and responses are
open-ended
B. Disguised – respondents are not aware what it measures
C. Global – culture-fair and measures personality of an
individual as a whole
D. Unconscious Processes – reveals inner thoughts, ideas and
desires
E. Unquantified – test responses are summarized rather than
quantified.
 Types of Projective Techniques
A. Completion Tests
• The subject is asked to complete some stimulus or task.
• Examples: Sacks Sentence Completion Test, Rotter’s
Incomplete Sentence Blank, Slater-Gallagher Sentence
Completion Test

B. Expressive Tests
• The subject is asked to do variety of actions like drawing,
painting and psychodrama.
• Examples: Draw A Person Test, House-Tree-Person, Kinetic
Family Drawings, Finger Painting
C. Association Techniques
• The subject is presented with a stimulus and usually responds
with a word or percept.
• Examples: Rorschach Inkblot Test, Hand Test, Holtzman
Inkblot Test, Word Association

D. Construction Techniques
• The subjects develops a story to a given stimulus situation.
• Examples: Thematic Apperception Test, Children’s
Apperception Test,

E. Choice/Ordering Techniques
• The subject is asked to choose from a number of alternatives
or stimuli presented, or to order the stimuli presented
• Example: Luscher Color Test
 Popularity of Projective Tests
The most commonly used projective tests
nowadays are:
• Rorschach Inkblot Test
• Thematic Apperception Test / Children’s Apperception
Test
• Sentence Completion Tests (SSCT, RISB, SGSCT)
• Drawing Tests (DAP, HTP and KFD)
• Hand Test
 Sacks Sentence
Completion Test (SSCT)
 Test Description

The SSCT was developed by Sacks and Levy of the New
York Veterans Administration Mental Hygiene Service. It
consists of 60 items and four questions represent each of
the 15 attitudes measured.
 The SSCT was developed to help the therapist to
formulate hypotheses regarding the individual’s attitudes
and feelings with regard to following specific areas:
• Family
• Sex
• Interpersonal Relationships
• Self-concept
 Areas of the SSCT
 Family
Attitude towards mother, father and family unit

 Sex
Attitude towards men/women and heterosexual relationship

 Interpersonal Relationship
Attitude towards friends and acquaintances, superiors at
school, people supervised, colleagues at school

 Self-concept
Fears, guilt feelings, attitude towards own abilities, past, future
and goals.
 Purposes of SSCT
 To be able to formulate a hypothesis as an individual
responds to an unstructured stimulus that are influenced
by his needs, motives, fears, expectations and concerns.
 To aid in detecting impairment of thought processes.
 To suggest areas of conflict.
 Provides economical means of surveying a patient’s
thoughts, feelings, motivations and behavior along a
number of important psychological dimensions.
 Administration
 The SSCT can be administered individually or
to groups and requires 20 to 40 minutes to finish.
The subject is asked to read the following
instructions and to ask any questions he or she
may have about them:
“There are 60 partly completed sentences. Read
each one and finish it by writing the first thing
that comes into your mind. Work as quickly as
you can. If you cannot complete an item, encircle
the number and return to it later.”
 Scoring
 A rating sheet has been devised for the SSCT which
brings together, under each attitude, the four (4)
stimulus items and the subject’s response to them.

 The categories are grouped together by the

researcher/therapist in order to interpret the meaning
from responses. Each group of responses is also
interpreted qualitatively and quantitatively. At the end of
this process a general summary is completed.
Each of the 60 responses are grouped together in the 15
categories of attitudes. The responses in specific attitude
are evaluated on a 0-2 scale.

0 = No significant disturbance
1 = Mildly disturbed
2 = Severely disturbed
X = Unknown or insufficient evidence

 Following the summaries and ratings of the

individual attitudes, an outline is presented for a
General Summary of the SSCT findings.
II. Attitude Towards Father
1. I feel that my father seldom has shown 1
affection towards me.
16. If my father would only act like a father. 2
31. I wish my father was more of a man. 2
46. I feel that my father is not much of a 2
man.

Quantitative Score: 7/8

Interpretative summary: Shows need for relationship with an

adequate father-image. Feels that his own father fails to fulfil
this role.
II. Attitude Towards Father
1. I feel that my father seldom gets 1
together with me as father and son.
16. If my father would only listen to things. 2
31. I wish my father would stay the same. 0
46. I feel that my father is a fine person. 0

Quantitative score: 3/8

Interpretative summary: Expresses positive attitudes towards

father but wishes their relationship were closer.
II. Attitude Towards Father
1. I feel that my father seldom lacks humor. 0
16. If my father would only take a vacation. 0
31. I wish my father would stay as he is. 0
46. I feel that my father is a loving dad. 0

Quantitative score: 0/8

Interpretative summary: Expresses complete satisfaction with

father’s personality.
 Practice Exercises
V. Attitude toward heterosexual relationships
11. When I see a man and a woman together I feel
envy.
26. My feeling about married life is a good idea if only
you are ready.
41. If I had sex relations I will do it with the cutest
guy ever.
56. My sex life is not active anymore.

Quantitative Score: 2/8

Interpretative Summary: The client feels envious of other
people’s relationship and she has reservations about married life
and sexual relations.
I. Attitude toward mother
14. My mother died a long time ago.
29. My mother and I will never get along.

44. I think that most mothers are caring and loving.

59. I like my mother but she does not care, instead

she left us.

Quantitative Score: 6/8

Interpretative Summary: The client believes that most mothers are

loving and caring but completely rejects and condemns her mother
whom she considers as a non-existent person.
VIII. Attitude toward people supervised
4. If I were in charge of everything, I know it will be
great.
19. If people work for me I will give them equal
opportunity for growth.
34. The people who work for me loves being around
me.
48. In giving orders to others, I usually used nice
words.

Quantitative Score: 0/8

Interpretative Summary: The client believes in her ability to

supervise people, and expresses equality, concern and
respect to them.
III. Attitude toward family unit
12. Compared with most families, mine is not really a
perfect one.
27. My family treats me like a child.
42. Most families I know are complete and happy one.

57. When I was a child, my family always go out of

town.

Quantitative Score: 2/8

Interpretative Summary: The client is aware of the flaws and

shortcomings of her family but also remembers happy memories
about them.
X. Fears
7. I know it is silly, but I am afraid of death.
22. Most of my friends don’t know that I am afraid of
trusting too much.
37. I wish I could lose the fear of pain.
52. My fears sometimes force me to control my
feelings.

Quantitative Score: 7/8

Interpretative Summary: The client’s fears about death, pain

and trusting too much cause her to control her emotions or
possibly engage in intellectualization.
XIV. Attitude toward the future
5. To me, the future looks friendly.
20. I look forward to a great and blessed life.
35. Someday I will reach all my dreams.
50. When I am older I will share all my experiences to
the young people.

Quantitative Score: 0/8

Interpretative Summary: The client is very optimistic about the

future and wants to do something productive once she gets older
by sharing her experiences to young people.
XI. Guilt Feelings
15. I would do anything to forget the time I was hurt
by someone.
30. My greatest mistake was trusting someone too
much.
45. When I was younger, I always wanted to be a
doctor.
60. The worst thing I ever did was to trust someone
too much.

Quantitative Score: 6/8

Interpretative Summary: The client’s guilt feelings are centered on

her experiences wherein she was hurt by someone and she trusted
someone too much.
 General Summary of SSCT
 Principal areas of conflict and disturbance
• Areas or attitudes with a score of 2

 Interrelationship of attitudes
• Dynamics of the attitudes and how each attitude affect one
another.

 Personality structure
• Mode of response, emotional adjustment, maturity, reality
level and manner in which conflicts are expressed.
DRAW-A-PERSON
(DAP)
 Advantages of DAP
1. The DAP is simple, easy task for most patients.

2. The DAP is quick and easy to administer. It is typically

completed within 5 to 10 minutes and it requires a few
materials.

3. It offers clues concerning conceptual and motor development.

4. The DAP is the only test in the battery that has no external
stimulus or structure.

5. The DAP often yields a great deal of information concerning

self-concept, personality style, orientation and conflict areas.
6. The DAP has few age and intelligence
limitations.
7. The DAP is often welcomed by inhibited and
non-talkative patients.
8. The DAP is a useful test with clients who are
evasive and/or guarded.
9. The DAP is more sensitive to psychopathology
compared with other projective test.
10. The DAP is often an excellent springboard for
discussion of specific conflict areas.
 Administration of DAP
 Materials
• 8 ½ x 11-inch unlined paper
• Well-sharpened #2 pencils with erasers

 Testing Area
• Drawing surface should be flat and smooth
• There must be enough illumination
• The seat must be comfortable for the client
• Drawing area must have enough room for the clients arms and
legs to move
• Drawing area must be wide enough for clients to be able to rest
their arms
 Instructions
• One sheet of paper should be placed in front of the
patient in a vertical position, along with one pencil.
• “I would like you to draw a picture of a person.”

• When the first complete drawing is finished, the

examiner should put another sheet of paper in front of
the patient.
• “Now, I’d like you to draw the person of the opposite
sex.”
• When this task has been completed
satisfactorily, the patient should be asked to sign
each drawing.

• The clinician should then date each drawing and

indicate which was done first.

• The clinician should then present the first

completed drawing to the client and should
request that the client make up a story about the
person drawn.
 Important Consideration on DAP
 During the drawing task itself, it is important for the
clinician to observe the drawing sequence.
• Remarks made by the client
• Style or approach to the task
• Adequacy of attempts to manage the task

 Each aspect of the approach to the task tells the

clinician a great deal about the client’s adaptation in
the environment, self-concept, methods of dealing
with stressful situations, conflicts and personality
style.
 The Typical Drawing
 The typical drawing of a person consists of:
• The head which is drawn first
• Facial features
• Legs and feet
• Arms and hands
• Neck, shoulder and trunk
• Includes additional details (e.g. belt and clothing)
 It is placed approximately in the middle of the page.
 The size of the drawing is approximately 6-7 inches.
 The Typical Adult Drawing
 Head, trunk, arms and legs are typically in proportion with
relative symmetry, spontaneity, movement or animation.
 Line quality is typically consistent.
 Head is more oval than round and some attempt is made to
draw the facial features in a realistic manner.
 Body is lifelike, with a 3-D quality (e.g. the head sits well on
the neck)
 Sex characteristics are included so that the male and female
drawings may be distinguished from each other.
 Interpretation of Structure and Content
I. Size
- self-esteem and the manner in which the patient deals with
self-esteem

II. Pencil Pressure

- indication of energy level

III. Stroke and Line Quality

- environmental interaction

IV. Lack of Detail

- withdrawal tendencies with an associated energy reduction
- typical reaction to stress experienced as external to the patient
- depression that is often associated with withdrawal tendencies and
lack of energy to complete the figure
V. Placement
- mood, social orientation and mindset
VI. Erasures
- uncertainty
- conflict-filled indecisiveness and restlessness
- dissatisfaction with self
- anxiety and conflict
VII. Shading
- adjustment level; anxiety level
VIII. Distortion and Omissions
- gross distortions indicate poor reality contact or
negative self-concept
- moderate distortions and omissions may indicate
conflict or anxiety
- reflects the source of the problem
- can also be an indication of severe
psychopathology and/or lack of sense of self.
IX. Transparency
- poor reality ties, except in the drawings of
young children where they are typically normal.
- poor reality testing; anxiety and conflict;
sexual disturbance; regressive or psychotic conditions
X. Vertical Imbalance
- the greater the imbalance from the vertical
position, the greater the anxiety.
XI. Sex of First-Draw Figure
- Most normals draw the same-sex drawing
first. There is no real relationship between sex-role
orientation and the figure drawn first.
 Interpretations Concerning Body Parts
I. Head
- intellectual and fantasy activity, impulse and emotional
control, site of socializaion and communication

II. Nose
- phallic symbol or a symbol of power motive

III. Mouth
- feeding-eating concerns, speech disturbances, outbursts of
anger or a dependent approach in life

IV. Ears
- sensitivity, feedback to the external world
V. Chin
- stereotype for strength and determination
VI. Beards/Mustache
- need to enhance personal or sexual status, virility
strivings, efforts to enhance masculinity, attempts to
hide aggressive tendencies or compensation for adult
inadequacy
VII. Neck
- indicates concern regarding the need to control
threatening impulses
VIII. Shoulder
- power and strength; power strivings
- left shoulder has feminine indications while right
shoulder has male indications
IX. Breasts
- dependency, maturity and identification with mother image

X. Waistline
- separates the area of physical strength from the area of
sexual functioning

XI. Trunk
- basic drives and attitudes related to the development and
integration of these drives in personality.

XII. Genitalia
- rarely drawn, but when they are, they indicate severe
psychopathology, overt aggression in children, or sexual
preoccupation or curiosity in adolescents.
XIII. Arms and Hands
- contact with reality and interpersonal relationships; anger
expression

XIV. Legs and Feet

- security feelings and/or feelings concerning mobility

XV. Profile View

- evasiveness, reluctance to face and communicate with
others, reserved interpersonal style, serious withdrawal or
oppositional tendencies, paranoid tendencies

XVI. Stance
- degree of security the person feels in his/her environment.
 DAP Emotional Indicators
 Koppitz stated that the presence of any of the
following is a possible indication that the subject has
problems with his or her socio-emotional functioning:

1. Poor integration of parts or figures

2. Shading of face
3. Shading of body and/or limbs
4. Shading of hands and/or neck
5. Gross asymmetry of limbs
6. Slanting figure, axis of figure tilted by 15 degrees or
more
7. Tiny figure – two inches or less
8. Big figure – 9 inches or more
9. Transparencies
10. Tiny head – less than 1/10th of the total figure
11. Crossed eyes – both eyes turn in or out
12. Teeth
13. Short arms – not long enough to reach waistline
14. Long arms – long enough to reach kneeline
15. Arms clinging to the sides of the body
16. Big hands – as large or larger than the face
17. Hands cut off, arms without hands or fingers
18. Legs pressed together
19. Genitals
20. Monster or grotesque figures
21. Three or more figure spontaneously drawn
22. Clouds, rain and snow
23. Omissions
 DAP Indicators of Organicity
 McLachlan and Head (1974) stated that the
presence of the following are indicative of an
organic brain disorder:
1. Figure off balance
2. Major detail missing
3. Gross body distortions (e.g. square-shaped face,
legs smaller than arms, lack of symmetry)
4. Weak synthesis (e.g. poor integration of body
parts, dislocation and displacement)
5. Poor motor control (e.g. line destruction)
SAMPLE DAP DRAWINGS
BENDER VISUAL-MOTOR
GESTALT TEST (BVMGT)
 Introduction
 The Bender-Gestalt (BG) Test consist of nine geometric
forms or designs, each of which is presented to a subject
for him/her to copy on a sheet of paper.
 Lauretta Bender adapted the nine figures from Max
Wertheimer’s patterns which were published in his 1923
paper about Gestalt Psychology.
 Her main goal was to examine the gestalt experience of
children at different stages of maturation and adults
suffering from various psychopathological or
intellectual defects.
 Theoretical Approach
 In copying the designs, performance would not
only be a function of the individual’s capacity to
perceive correctly and execute the figures but
also of the individual’s interpretation of them.
 Prolonged psychological stress often results in a
disturbed organism, thus distress can be
projected on the interpretive and psychomotor
capacity of the individual.
 It is expected that in those persons in whom the
attitude toward reality is most disturbed, greater
deviation from the stimuli can be found.

 Deviations from the BG stimuli in the scoring

system run from faithful reproductions with low
scores to extremely deviant reproductions with
very high scores. This continuum is correlated
with a progression from less to greater
psychological distress.
Test Kit
 Administration
 The subject is not told how many cards are
there and has access to a stack of paper.

 The instructions are to the effect that the cards

will be shown one at a time, that each will
have a simple drawing on it, and that the task
is to copy the drawing as well as the subject
can.
 The examiner then takes a single sheet of paper from
the stack, presents it vertically oriented to the subject
and places the first card (A) oriented up with the
instruction repeated, “Copy this as well as you can.”

 The availability of the stack of paper is to permit choice

of using a single sheet or more for the test without
advice.

 The stack of design cards is visible for the subject to

plan how to proceed with the size.
 If the subject asks how many cards there are, the
response is – “Just a stack of cards.”

 Rotation of the paper is permitted but note is made

of this fact.

 Initial attempts to rotate the test cards are

interrupted by the examiner who then states, “You
are supposed to copy it this way.” However, if the
subject insists on shifting the cards, it is permitted
and notation is made of the fact.
 It is important to observe and make notes about the
subject’s method of work, apparent planning,
impulsive actions, frequent erasures, direction and
order in which the subject attacks the design, use of
sketching movements, apparent blocking on any
figures, etc.

 Extreme variation of design is also noted.

 The elaboration phase and association phase of the

Hutt Adaptation of Bender-Gestalt Test can also be
done.
 Hutt and Briskin Scoring System
 Errors
1. Rotation – There is rotation of 80° to 180°.
2. Overlapping difficulty
3. Simplification – Figure is simplified or drawn in an
easier form.
4. Fragmentation – Figure is broken into parts or
incomplete.
5. Retrogression – Use of a more primitive gestalt form
than the stimulus.
6. Perseveration
7. Collision or Collision Tendency – touching or overlapping
another figure or is drawn within ¼ inch or less of another
figure but does not touch.

8. Impotence – behavioral or verbal expressions of inability to

draw a figure.

9. Closure difficulty – difficulty in joining the parts of the

figures together.

10. Motor incoordination – irregular lines

11. Angulations difficulty – difficulty in reproducing angles.

12. Cohesion – isolated decrease or increase in size of the

figures.
Sample Protocols
 ANY QUESTIONS?
Happiness is not
something you
postpone for the
future; it is
something you
design for the
present.

-Jim Rohn

THANK YOU!