The draw-A-Man Test as an index of developmental disorders in a pediatric outpatient population

Abstract

The Goodenough Draw-A-Man Test was originally conceived as a measure of intelligence but has also been related to measures of sensory defect, visual-motor coordination, neurologic dysfunction, personality, and school readiness. The present study conceived of the Draw-A-Man as a nonspecific “index of psychological functioning” (IF) rather than as an IQ test. Deficient performance was interpreted as a sign of possible developmental disorder to be defined by other means. The Draw-A-Man was routinely administered and scored by nurses for children four years and older seen in a university hospital pediatric outpatient clinic. Children with an IF score below 85 showed significantly greater incidence of developmental disorders including mental retardation, learning problems, communication disorders, and visual-perceptual and perceptual-motor problems than the general clinic population. The Draw-A-Man IF score was most sensitive to intellectual retardation but was also sensitive to other disorders that tend to interfere with cognitive functioning in reasonably intelligent children. These results suggest that the Draw-A-Man could provide pediatricians with a useful developmental screening device and alert them to the possibility of developmental disorders.