Projective Tests

Projective Tests

These tests present ambiguous stimuli so people project their own thoughts, feelings, and conflicts, revealing unconscious processes.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

• Purpose: Explores personality structure, emotional functioning, and unconscious processes.

• Age Range: Typically adolescents and adults.

• Format: 10 inkblot cards (5 black-and-white, 5 colored) shown one by one; responses are recorded and later scored.

• Measures:

  • Perceptual and cognitive processing

  • Thought disorder indicators

  • Affective regulation

• Notes: Scoring often uses the Exner Comprehensive System; controversial in validity but still widely used in clinical and forensic contexts.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

• Purpose: Reveals underlying motives, needs, and conflicts.

• Age Range: 12 years and older (younger children use CAT).

• Format: 31 picture cards depicting ambiguous social situations; client tells a story about each.

• Measures:

  • Themes of relationships

  • Unconscious drives (e.g., achievement, power, intimacy)

  • Emotional conflicts

• Notes: Scoring can be thematic or qualitative; used in personality assessment and research.

Children’s Apperception Test (CAT)

• Purpose: Similar to TAT, but designed for children.

• Age Range: 3–10 years.

• Format: Animal or human characters in various situations; child tells a story.

• Measures:

  • Social perceptions

  • Fears, anxieties, and coping mechanisms

  • Relationship themes (family, peers)

• Notes: Helps assess emotional and social development in children.

Sentence Completion Tests

• Purpose: Elicit personal attitudes, concerns, and conflicts.

• Age Range: All ages (versions for children, adolescents, adults).

• Format: Participant completes sentence stems (e.g., “I feel happiest when…”).

• Measures:

  • Self-concept

  • Interpersonal relationships

  • Values and attitudes

• Notes: Examples include Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank (RISB); flexible and quick to administer.

Draw-A-Person Test (DAP)

• Purpose: Assesses personality and emotional functioning through drawings.

• Age Range: Children and adults.

• Format: Participant draws a person (sometimes also a person of the opposite sex, or a house-tree-person).

• Measures:

  • Self-image and emotional state

  • Developmental maturity

  • Possible psychological conflicts

• Notes: Highly subjective; often used as a supplementary tool rather than a standalone measure.