A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO THE

THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST

Copyrighted Material

Copyrighted Material

A PRACTICAL GUIDE
TO THE THEMATIC
APPERCEPTION TEST
The TAT in Clinical Practice
Edward Aronow, Ph.D.
Montclair State University

Kim Altman Weiss, Ph.D.

New York Presbyterian Hospital

Marvin Reznikoff, Ph.D.

Fordham University

Copyrighted Material

USA

Publishing Office:

BRUNNER-ROUTLEDGE
A member oj the Taylor & Francis Group
325 Chestn ut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel: (2 15) 625-8900
Fax: (2 15) 625-2940

Distribution Center:

BRUNNER-ROUTLEDGE
A member oj the Taylor & Francis Group
7625 Empire Drive
Florence, KY 4 1042
Tel: 1-800-634-7064
Fax: 1-800-248 -4724

UK

BRUNNER-ROUTLEDGE
A member oj the Taylor & Francis Group
27 Church Road
Hove
E. Sussex, BN3 2FA
Tel: +44 (0) 1273 2074 11
Fax: +44 (0) 12732056 12

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO THE THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST: The TAT in Clinical

Practice
Copyrigh t 200 I Taylor & Franc is. All ri ghts reserved. Printed in th e United Sta tes of
America. Excep t as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part o f
this publication may be reproduced or distributed in an y form or by any means, o r stored
in a database or retrieval system, w ith out prior written permiss ion of the publisher.
234

5 6

890

Printed by Sh erid an Books, Ann Arbor, M l.

Cover design by Nancy Abbol!.
A CIP ca talog record for thi s book is avai lable from the British Library.

@ The paper in thi s publication meets the requirements of the ANSI Standard
Z39.48 -1 984 (Perma nence of Paper).

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Aronow, Edwa rd.
A practical gu id e to the thematic appercep ti on test: th e T.A.T. in clinical practice /
Edwa rd Aronow, Kim A ltm an Weiss, Marvin Reznikofr.
p. cm.
Includes ind ex.
ISBN 0-87630-944-9 (a lk. pape r )
l. Thematic Apperception Test. I. Weiss, Kim Altman. !T. Reznikoff, Marvin. III.
Title.
BF698.8 .T5 A7 2001
I 55.2'844-dc2 1

2001027392

I SBN 0-87630-944-9

Copyrighted Material

To Drs. Lon Gieser and Wes Morgantwo dedicated TAT historians.

To Christiana Morgan-an early TA T pioneer.

Copyrighted Material

Copyrighted Material

CONTENTS

ix

Introduction

A History of Apperception Techniques

Test Administration

When to Use the TAT

Materials
Setting
Rappo rt
Which Ca rd s to G ive
In stru ct io ns
Reco rdin g the Responses
Inquiry
Testing Children
Im pact of Race o n the Exa min er

5
5

9
11
12
12

Interpretation

13

Th eo ry
Scori ng Systems
Main Themes Technique
Nomothetic and Idiograp hi c Interpretat io n
Areas of Interpretati o n
Rules and Ca ution s in Interp retat ion

13

6
6
6

14
15
16
17

25

vii

Copyrighted Material

viii

Contents

Stimulus Characteristics of the TAT Cards

31

Research Findings

51

Need for Ac hi evement

H osti lity and Aggress ion
Scor in g of Defense Mec h ~1 ni sms
Interpe rso nal Ob ject RelJtions

51

Diversity Issues in TAT Use and Alternatives to the TAT

59

Alternatives to the TAT

Which Test to Use?
Cons id er in g Indi vidu al Differences in Assessment

61
69
70

The TAT in Psychotherapy

73

Pmtocol # 1
Protocol # 2

76
80

Integrating the TAT into a Test Report

83

Outline of a Psychologi ca l I\eport

Additional Suggestions for Effec tive Repmt Writing

84
89

Sample Protocols

95

Protocol
Protocol
Protocol
Protoco l

#
#
#
#

53

55
56

95
98
102
104

2
3
4

References
Index

107
115

Copyrighted Material

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of the present text, as its name implies, is to provide the
student with a short, manageable, but also reasonably comprehensive guide
to the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) and other apperceptive techniques.
As the present authors have stated elsewhere (Aronow, Reznikoff, &
Moreland, 1994), the TAT, like the Rorschach, provides essentially idiographic rather than nomothetic information. Thus, it is quite effective in telling the clinician how the subject views the self and the world in his or her
own unique way. It is less effective as a psychometric procedure, providing a nomothetic measure of traits. For this reason, we prefer the term
technique when dealing with projective devices, reserving the term test for
those instruments that are primarily nomothetic (e.g., Millon Adolescent
Personality Inventory-2, MMPI-2). Rossini and Moretti (1997) have correspondingly remarked on the resulting tendency of TAT applications in
clinical practice to abandon both any psychometric approach or scoring
system.
The present text will cover both the well-known TAT and the Children's
Apperception Test (CAT), and will also foray into the somewhat lesser
known cousins of these techniques that have come into the testing arena
in recent years. Subject populations that will be considered include children, adolescents, and adults. Some scoring systems that have been put
forward will be discussed but, as we will state, we do not view scoring
systems for apperceptive techniques as time-effective. Their usefulness is,
thus, principally limited to research on apperceptive techniques. This book
will also give special attention to cross-cultural issues and the application
of apperceptive techniques to minority populations.
The text is organized as follows: Chapter 1 will discuss the history of
apperception techniques, with Chapter 2 devoted to test administration.

ix
Copyrighted Material

Introd ucti on

Th e thi rd ch a p ter w ill prese nt tes t int erp rc ta tion , in cl udin g th e li se o f th e

onc -se n tence s u m m ary tcc hni q u e th a t we find ve ry h e lpful. Sco rin g sys te m s w ill be bri efly prese nt e d ill th e cont ex t or th is ch a pt e r.
C h a pt e r 4 w ill prese nt data o n t h e stimulu s va lu e of th e TAT ca rd s. Th e
fifth ch a pt er w ill s u ccin Cl ly d escr ibe resea rc h findin gs pertainin g 10 a pp e rcept ive techniqu es, w hile C h a pt e r 6 w ill d ea l w ith di ve rsit y iss u es a nd
a lte rn a tive a pperce pti ve m e thod s. Th e seve nth ch a pt er w ill cove r th e TAT
a n d psyc h ot h e ra py, w hile C hapt er 8 w ill d escr ibe ho w a ppe rcepti ve fin d in gs shoul d be integ ra te d in a psyc hologica l re p o rt. Th e fin a l ch a p te r, C h a pter 9 , w ill prese nt sa mp le prolOcol s.

Copyrighted Material

A History of Apperception
Techniques

Th e pre hi story of projective techniqu es goes back quite far, including works
of th e ancient Greeks on st imulu s a mbiguit y, comments by Oa Vin ci on
the a rti sti c u se fuln ess of di sce rning obj ects in th e Illud or the e mbers of J
fire, and Shakespeare's co mm e nts on "cloud int e rpre ta tion ."
For in sta n ce, in th e 15rh ce nlUry, Leonardo Oa Vin ci quoted Botlicelli as
stat in g that when a spo nge full of various colors is thrown aga in st a wall, a
blot is produ ced in which figures of people, various animals, a nd so on ,
may be pe rce ive d. Oa Vinci sugges te d th e use of pe rce ption s such as th ese
lor a rti sti c in spira tion (cited in Zubin , Emn , & Schumer, 1965) . He sta te d :
Don't take Ill y a d vice li g htl y w h e n 1 adv ise yo u , eve n though it m ay a ppear
bo rin g to stop a nd gaze a t wa ll spo ts, or a t th e ashes in th e fire , in the cloud s,
or in th e Illud a nd a t similar things; yo u will, if yo u consider it caref ull y,
discove r in it Jllany wo nd e rful thin gs. For th e pa inter's spirit is a rou sed to
n ew thin gs b y it, be it in compositioll of batt les, of animals a nd m e n , or in
th e va ri o u s co mpo sition s of la nd scapes a nd of unu sual thin gs su ch as d ev il s,
a nd t h e ir lik e, w hi ch are ca lcul a te d to bring yo u hon or. Through th e ind escribab le a nd indefinit e thin gs, the spirit becomes awa ken e d to new discoveri es. (Da Vinci, quo ted in Zubin et a I. , 1965, p. 167)

Copyrighted Material

A Prac ti cal Guid e to the TAT

Binet aJl(] Henri, the founders of modern intelligence testing, are usually given credit as the originators of the scielllific approach to projective
te chniques, using inkblots in the study of visual imagination (Binet & Henri,
1896). Binet and Henri also lI sed children's reaction s to pi ctures as m ea sures of int e ll ect.
The TAT was first de veloped by Murray and hi s covvorkers at the Harvard
Ps yc hological Clin ic, having first been described by Morgan and Murray
(1935). The term apperception was chosen in view of th e fact that subjects
don't just perceive, rather, the y construct stories about the cards in accordance with their persona lit y characteristics and th e ir experiences (Anderson, 1999). As contrasted with the Rorschach, the TAT ha s usually been
regarded as providing Illore structure to the subject. As Murra y noted in
th e test m a nual, the original procedure required two on e- hour sessions
with 10 ca rd s used in eac h session. Those cards used in the second session
were chosen to be mort' unusual, with subjects asked to give free pla y to
t hei r imagi nat ions.
Th e re ha s been controversy about the eMIl' history of the TAT in that
Christiana Morgan was, at the initial stages, given the first authorship on
the TAT. Th e controversy \vas magnified beca use of the long, conlliClual
relation s hip between Morgatl and Murray. Douglas (199 3 ) has suggested
that the downgra ding of Christiana Morgan in the authorship of til l' TAT is
anexampic of male chau v inislll, though ll10st current authors view Murray
as lhe prim <lry lorce behind the TAT (c .g., M()rgall , 1995). There is gCllcra l
agreem e n r that the id e il lor t he TAT l'merged from a n in -class quest ion
asked b y on e of Murray's undergra duatt' students. The stud e nt reported
th a t h e r son, when ill, had spent the d ,lY making up stories about pi ctures
in maga zincs. This mother w()nliered if pictures might be used in a clini ca l
se lling to re lease fama sy material (Douglas, 1993).
The TAT quickly becam e one ()f the most popular a nd so m et imt's tile
most popular proj ective technique in the clilli cian's armamentariulll. Obrzut
and Bol ick (1986) describe thematic picture techniques as "lhe 1llost widespread projectiv e technique s use d with children and adolescents" (p. 176).
Similarly, Piotrowski and Keller (1984) lound that clini ca l progrilill directors Illost often cited [he TAT as the projective test with which tra ined
psychologists should be familiar. Lubin , Larsen, and Matara zzo (1984) and
Watkin s, Ca mbell, Ni e berding, and Hallm a rk ( 1995) have likewise re ported
the instrument's continuing popularit y among projecti ve rec hniqu es in a
variety of situations and populations. The TAT and simi lar themaric instruillents have been round to be frequent ly used for ilssessmenl in crosscu ltura l resea rch (Ret ieL 1987) . A good grounding in the interpretarion of
a pperce ption techniques thu s appears highly desirable .
Th eTAT a ppea rs to ha Vt' rccei vell be t t er a ccep ta nce in t h e scient i fic comIllunit y than, lor example, the Rorsc hach. It s hould a lso be noted lhat the

Copyrighted Material

A Hi story ot Apperceptioll Techniques

TAT is known for its nonclinical contributions as well, bcing an important

technique used in various areas of personalit y research; as for example,
McCklland's work s on the need for achievement (e.g., McClelland, 1958,
1961 a, 196 I b) . These more strictly sc ien ti fic applications of t hc TAT ha vc
probably facilitat ed its acceptance by res ea rch-ori e nt ed ps ychologists.
A numbe r of mh e r proj ectivt' story tec hniques have been put forward
su bseq uent to the TAT. These ha ve included till' CAT dt'signt'd by Bella k
(Bt'llak & Abrams, 1997 ); tht' CAT-H , using hum a n figure s [or older children (l3ellak & Hurvich , 1966); th e Robe rts Apperception Test for Children
(RATC; McA rthur & Robe rts, 1982); tht' Blacky Pi ctures Tt'st (Blum, 1950);
tht' Make-A-Picture Story Tt'st (MAPS; Shlll'idman, 1952); th e School
Apperct'ption Me thod (SAM; Soloman & Starr, 1968); the Michigan Pi ctures Test Revised (MPTR; Hutl. 198 0); th e Gerontological Apperception
Test (GAT; Wolk & Wolk , 1971); th e Senior Apperception Tt'chniqut' (SAT;
13t'liak & Abrams) ; the Tcll-Mc-A-Story (TEMAS; Con stantino, Malgad y &
Va zquc z, 198 1); and the Southern Mi ss iss ippi TAT (SM-TAT; Ritzkr,
Sharkey, &- Chud y. 1980).
In addition, the TAT itst'lf has bet'n adapted a t tim es lor certain special
purposes by modifying the original set of picturt's, such as in altitude survt'ys evalu a ting tilt' attitudes toward iss uc s such as labor probkms and
authority (e.g., Ha rrison, 1(65). Another type of TAT modification invol ves
till' int e nsive measurenwnt of a single characteristic such as sex or agg rcssion. The STudies by McCklland and hi s associaTes (m e ntioncd earlier) on
nced lor ac hicve ment (nAch), utili zing two of the TAT cards along with
two other pictures, rt'present an es pecia ll y impress ivt' bod y or research.
Series D of thc TAT lIas bt't' n in ust' for m a n y years; prev iou s Serics A, 13,
and C were dcsign ed to be ust'd by gluing pictures onto a cardboard background. Murstt' in (1963) has dt'scrib ed the se lection of cards for Series D,
with cards being choscn on the basis of their contribution to es tablishing
diagnoses lor various clients .
Man y peopl e associated with the Harvard Psychological Clini c arc rcportt'd to have contributed pictures, with artistic work bt'ing donc by
Christian a Morgan and Samuel Thai (Morgan, 1995). Morgan has also
noted that the ll1odification s of original images and earlicr TAT rq)I'cst'ntat ions were ge nerally in the direction of removing detail and complexity
and incrcasing ambigllity-thereby preslImably increa sing the lik e lihood
or proj ect ion.
Froll1 its ince ption, the TAT has steadfastly ITll1ain ed a widely uSt'd tcst
in clinical se ttings. It has spawncd man y variations having resea rch a nd
clinical applications. From the standpoint of both its historical a nte cede nts
and current lIsage, it is very likely that it will continue 10 be an important
instrull1ent in tht' area of perso na lity assessmcnt.

Copyrighted Material