Projective Psychodiagnostics: Inkblots, Stories, and Drawings as Clinical Measures

Projective psychodiagnostics refers to the use of psychological instruments through which the subject is asked to respond to a set of ambiguous (though often suggestive) stimuli, thereby “projecting” aspects of their personality into these responses. The most prominent of these instruments includes the Rorschach Inkblot Technique, in which the subject is confronted with ten inkblots and is asked what these stimuli look like, and then what perceptual features make them look that way. Another common projective technique is the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), a storytelling exercise in which the subject responds with a narrative to a series of ambiguous but sometimes highly charged black and white pictures depicting human interactions. Over time, new pictures have been developed for similar storytelling instruments targeted to children (the Children’s Apperception Test) or different ethnic populations. Both of these tests emerged under the influence of psychodynamic theories, and of the work of Carl Jung, whose Word Association Test served as a projective measure of psychological conflicts. Finally, there is a series of drawing tests which, while less commonly used, have had a projective history, including human figure drawings, the Bender–Gestalt Test, and the Wartegg Drawing Completion Test. Projective instruments have been used in a variety of psychiatric settings and have been criticized for being insufficiently grounded in either quantitative measures or scientific validity. The Rorschach has emerged with increasingly statistically based scoring systems addressing perceptual features, language, and content in the assessment of risk and diagnosis. The TAT is essentially a structured interview (since most scoring systems are not used by clinicians), but it nonetheless appears to be useful in gleaning information about a subject’s relationships with other people. Drawing tasks and sentence completion tests (derived from word association tests) are less commonly used, though more prevalent with children whose verbal abilities may be more limited. In general, projective tests appear to have some limited ability to define diagnosis and risk (and can be especially helpful in defining thought disorder and prognosis), but they may be most useful in helping clinicians obtain a deeper picture of conflicts and resources within the person tested.

Exploration of Human Figure Drawings Using Charcoal Pencil - Analysis of Post-Graduate Drawings by Zephania Lukamba

Human figure drawing is undertaken and ultimately used for a number of purposes. Artists use it to continually sharpen their skills in order to apply it in the execution of their work in artistic disciplines that pertain to self-expression. Students and other groups as well as individuals embark on human figure drawing in order to acquire and horn their skills for purposes of artistic development that is then applied ultimately to their respective artistic endeavours. However, the drawing and acquisition of skills is a process and people render their human figure drawings to different levels of success and finesse at any given stage. In this process, one draws human figures using certain prescribed guidelines. It is expected that as one works within this process, particularly in a formal learning environment like studio-based work, following these guidelines become essential and helpful in attaining a proportional and accurate human figure drawing. In analysing the featured work executed on toned paper, this paper seeks to determine the extent to which the artist applies the basic tenets of human figure drawing and whether the drawings themselves attain this threshold. The analytical framework includes the depiction of correct proportions, the study of gestures, the suggestion of movement and application of value. Within the development of personal style, the artist specifically explores the effect of charcoal pencil on toned paper as his medium of choice. His methodology includes the application of a variety of tones and the use of focused illumination upon pertinent areas in the drawings to create deliberate effects that highlight the drawings, enhance gestures, suggest movement and add dynamism to the drawings. The drawings include photograph referenced male and female figures as well as separate studies of hands and feet

Typical emotional expression in children’s drawings of the human face

This study was aimed at verifying if children introduce emotional expressions in their drawings of human faces, and if a preferential expression exists; we also wanted to verify if children’s pictorial choices change with increasing age. To this end we examined the human figure drawings made by 160 boys and 160 girls, equally divided in 4 age groups: 6–7; 8–9; 10–11; 12–13 years; mean ages (SD in parentheses) were: 83,30 (6,54); 106,14 (7,16) 130,49 (8,26); 155,40 (6,66). Drawings were collected with the Draw-a-Man test instructions, i.e. without mentioning an emotional characterization. In the light of data from previous studies of emotion drawing on request, and the literature about preferred emotional expressions, we expected that an emotion would be portrayed even by the younger participants, and that the preferred emotion would be happiness. We also expected that with the improving ability to keep into account both mouth and eyes appearance, other expressions would be found besides the smiling face. Data were submitted to non-parametric tests to compare the frequencies of expressions (absolute and by age) and the frequencies of visual cues (absolute and by age and expressions). The results confirmed that only a small number of faces were expressionless, and that the most frequent emotion was happiness. However, with increasing age this representation gave way to a variety of basic emotions (sadness, fear, anger, surprise), whose representation may depend from the ability to modify the shapes of both eyes and mouth and changing communicative aims of the child.

Creativity and creative work in children with disabilities

The article presents the results of the analysis of the problem of creativity and creative work in children with disabilities having different impairments. This research serves as a basis for conducting a separate study aimed at researching the peculiarities of the search for creative solutions in the process of completing figure drawings in younger schoolchildren with hearing impairments compared to their peers with normal hearing. For this purpose, a comparative analysis of the drawings of hearing-impaired students and elementary school students with preserved hearing was conducted by the criteria of fluency, flexibility, elaborateness, and originality. The need for the present study is determined by the tasks of the modern system of special and inclusive education aimed at the optimal personal development of all children and the creation of psychological and pedagogical conditions for the successful development of different types of creative activity that positively affect their socialization. The study uses a set of theoretical and empirical methods of analysis of the studied problem, as well as a comparative study of general and specific features of creativity in children with preserved and impaired hearing. These specific features are determined by a disproportionate formation of different types of thinking, a delay in the development of figurative memory, verbal speech, and imagination in comparison with hearing children. The novelty of the study consists in the expansion of knowledge about the potential possibilities of creative decisions and creative abilities of persons with developmental disorders at different ages in special psychology and pedagogics. The results of the study of creativity of children with hearing impairments can be used in the educational system for professional orientation and creating conditions for persons with special educational needs to master creative professions.

Human Figure Drawings in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Possible Window on the Inner or the Outer World

Background: Tests based on human figure drawings (HFD) have captured the attention of clinicians and psychologists for a long time. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the performance of HFD of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) relative to typically developing (TD) controls. Methods: All children were asked to draw three human figures (man, woman, self-portrait) and were evaluated with a neuropsychological battery. HFD were scored according to the Maturity Scale, and correlative approaches testing maturity against neuropsychological scores were applied. Results: ASDs presented marked deficits in maturity. No significant correlation emerged for both groups between maturity and the theory of mind test. On the contrary, positive and significant correlations between maturity and the affect recognition test (AR) were found, with group-specific patterns. In TD, this result regarded drawings of others, but not self-portraits, while an opposite pattern emerged for ASD, whose sole maturity in self-portraits significantly correlated with the AR scores. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the use of HFD tests with individuals with autism may not be used in clinical practices. However, in basic research, HFDs could be used to highlight dependencies between drawing performance and neuropsychological features, thus possibly providing hints on the functioning of autism.