Journal of Youth and Adolescence

, Volume 5, Issue 2, pp 201–219 | Cite as

Drawings of the opposite sex: Continued use of the draw a person test and young state hospital patients

  • Harold K. DudleyJr.
  • Ellis M. Craig
  • Mark Mason
  • Steven M. Hirsch
Article
Received:
  • 78 Downloads

Abstract

The Draw A Person test has continued to be one of the most frequently utilized psychological tests with children and adolescents. This is especially true for the child/adolescent populations in state hospitals. Because of the frequent criticism leveled against the DAP's validity, this study was undertaken in order to provide normative data for the DAP with this particular clinical population. Previous research has focused on the drawings of the same sex as the subjects; this study deals with the characteristics of the drawings of the opposite sex. The subjects were 84 male and 66 female psychiatric patients from the Adolescent Unit (AU) at Rusk State Hospital. As each patient was admitted to the AU, he was scheduled for psychological testing, with the DAP, the Revised Beta, and the MMPI being a part of this testing. The results of this study indicate that IQ ranking is the most significant factor affecting DAP test performance by male subjects. IQ ranking was not found to significantly influence the drawings by females. Neither MMPI test performance nor social background factors were shown to significantly affect DAP test performance. It is suggested that in order for the DAP to become a more objectively utilized personality technique, a scoring method should be developed that takes into account the overall quality of the drawing in conjunction with the individual details of each area of the figure drawn. More focus should also be given to the characteristics of the opposite-sex figure drawn by the subjects and its potential interpretation.

Keywords

Male Subject Psychiatric Patient Clinical Population Hospital Patient State Hospital 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Albee, G. W., and Hamlin, R. M. (1949). An investigation of the reliability and validity of judgments of adjustment inferred from drawings.J. Clin. Psychol. 5: 389–392.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  2. Bielianskas, V. J. (1960). Sexual identification in children's drawings of the human figure.J. Clin. Psychol. 16: 42–44.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  3. Bodwin, R. F., and Bruck, M. (1960). The adaptation and validation of the Draw-A-Person Test as a measure of self concept.J. Clin. Psychol. 16: 427–429.Google Scholar
  4. Buck, J. N. (1948). The H-T-P test.J. Clin. Psychol. 4: 151–159.Google Scholar
  5. Buros, O. K. (ed.) (1965).The Sixth Mental Measurement Yearbook, Gryphon Press, Highland Park, N.J.Google Scholar
  6. Burton, A., and Sjoberg, B. (1964). The diagnostic validity of human figure drawings of schizophrenia.J. Psychol. 57: 3–18.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  7. Dudley, H. K., Jr., Mason, J. M., and Craig, E. M. (1973). The Draw A Person Test and young state hospital patients.J. Youth Adoles. 2: 313–330.Google Scholar
  8. Exner, J. E., Jr. (1962). A comparison of the human figure drawings of psychoneurotics, character disturbances, normals, and subjects experiencing experimentally-induced fear.J. Project. Tech. 26: 392–397.Google Scholar
  9. Gilbert, J. G., and Hall, M. R. (1962). Changes with age in human figure drawings.J. Gerontol. 21: 397–404.Google Scholar
  10. Goldstein, A. P., and Rawn, M. L. (1957). The validity of interpretive signs of aggression in the drawings of the human figure.J. Clin. Psychol. 13: 169–171.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  11. Hammer, M., and Kaplan, A. M. (1964). The reliability of sex drawn first by children.J. Clin. Psychol. 20: 251–252.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  12. Holzberg, J. D., and Wechsler, M. (1950). The validity of human form drawings as a measure of personality deviation.J. Project. Tech. 14: 343–361.Google Scholar
  13. Hughes, A., Oliver, J., and Dudley, H. K., Jr. (1970). Building a foundation.Tex. Med. 66(12): 72–77.Google Scholar
  14. Kamano, D. K. (1960). An investigation on the meaning of human figure drawing.J. Clin. Psychol. 16: 429–430.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  15. Levy, S. (1959). Figure drawings as a projective test. In Abt, L. E., and Bellak, L. (eds.),Projective Psychology, Grove Press, New York, pp. 257–297.Google Scholar
  16. Lewinsohn, P. M. (1965). Psychological correlates of overall quality of figure drawings.J. Consult. Psychol. 29: 504–512.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  17. Lindzey, G. (1959). On the classification of projective techniques.Psychol. Rev. 56: 158–168.Google Scholar
  18. Machover, K. (1949).Personality Projection in the Drawing of the Human Figure, Thomas, Springfield, Ill.Google Scholar
  19. Machover, K. (1951). Drawing of the human figure: A method of personality investigation. In Anderson, H. H., and Anderson, G. L. (eds.),An Introduction to Projective Techniques, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., pp. 341–369.Google Scholar
  20. McGuirl, D., and Moss, S. (1962). An indirect validation study of the Draw-A-Person Test through the cartoons of William Steig.J. Project. Tech. 26: 88–95.Google Scholar
  21. Schilder, P. (1950).The Image and Appearances of the Human Body, International Universities Press, New York.Google Scholar
  22. Simmons, A. D. (1966). A test of the body image hypothesis in human figure drawings. Dissertation, University of Texas at Austin.Google Scholar
  23. Starr, S., and Marcuse, F. L. (1959). Realiability in the Draw-A-Person test.J. Project. Tech. 23: 83–86.Google Scholar
  24. Strumper, D. J. W., and Nichols, R. C. (1962). A study of some communicable measures for the evaluation of human figure drawings.J. Project. Tech. 26: 342–353.Google Scholar
  25. Swenson, C. H., Jr. (1957). Empirical evaluations of human figure drawings.Psychol. Bull. 54: 431–466.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  26. Whitmyre, J. W. (1953). The significance of artistic excellence in the judgment of adjustment inferred from human figure drawings.J. Consult. Psychol. 17: 421–424.PubMedGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Plenum Publishing Corporation 1976

Authors and Affiliations

  • Harold K. DudleyJr.
    • 1
  • Ellis M. Craig
    • 1
  • Mark Mason
    • 1
  • Steven M. Hirsch
    • 1
  1. 1.Mental Health ServicesTexas Department of Mental Health and Mental RetardationAustin

Personalised recommendations