Draw-A-Person Test

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The Draw-A-Person Test (DAP, DAP test, or Goodenough-Harris Draw-A-Person Test) is a psychological projective personality or cognitive test used to evaluate children and adolescents for a variety of purposes.

Contents 1 History 2 Uses 3 Nature of the test 4 Notes and References

[edit] History

Developed originally by Florence Goodenough in 1926, this test was first known as the Goodenough Draw-A-Man test. It is detailed in her book titled Measurement of Intelligence by Drawings. Dr. Dale B. Harris later revised and extended the test and it is now known as the Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test. The revision and extension is detailed in his book Children's Drawings as Measures of Intellectual Maturity (1963).

[edit] Uses

One common use of the DAP test is as a rough evaluator of IQ and cognitive ability. Clinicians who use the test claim that the amount and type of details a child includes in their human-figure drawings can be examined and scored to help infer their levels of cognitive / intellectual development. The test is most useful for children aged 3 to about 12 years, after which natural talent, skill and education level become factors that impact on the drawing. Many clinicians favor the use of the test because of its low reliance on language fluency, and for the fact that the child is not given a tight time limit, which allows children to complete the task at their own pace.

Some psychological practitioners use the DAP test as an evaluation of a child's level of emotional disturbance or to investigate their potential history of sexual abuse. However, there is no empirical basis for doing so, and the figure a child draws has little or no connection to abuse history or to their level of emotional disturbance.^[1]

The test has also been used to, projectively, diagnose schizophrenia; however, this is not the intention of the test as asserted by Goodenough (1926) and Harris (1963). Psychologist Julian Jaynes, in the 1976 book, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind wrote that the test is "routinely administered as an indicator of schizophrenia," and that while not all schizophrenic patients have trouble drawing a person, when they do, it is very clear evidence of a disorder. And that such signs might be a patient's neglect to include "obvious anatomical parts like hands and eyes," with "blurred and unconnected lines," ambiguous sexuality and general distortion. ^[2]

[edit] Nature of the test

Test administration involves the administrator requesting children to complete three individual drawings on separate pieces of paper. Children are asked to draw a man, a woman, and themselves. No further instructions are given and the child is free to make the drawing in whichever way he/she would like. There is no right or wrong type of drawing, although the child must make a drawing of a whole person each time - i.e. head to feet, not just the face. The test has no time limit, however, children rarely take longer than about 10 or 15 minutes to complete all three drawings. Harris's book (1963) provides scoring scales which are used to examine and score the child's drawings. The test is completely non-invasive and non-threatening to children - which is part of it's appeal.

The purpose of the test is to assist professionals in inferring children's cognitive developmental levels with little or no influence of other factors such as language barriers or special needs. Any other uses of the test are merely projective and are not endorsed by the original creators of it.

[edit] Notes and References

1. ^ Williams, Wiener, & MacMillan (2005)
2. ^ The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (2006)

Goodenough, F. (1926). Measurement of intelligence by drawings. New York: World Book Co. Harris, D. B. (1963). Children's drawings as measures of intellectual maturity. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc.

• Ter Laack, J.; de Goede, M.; Aleva, A. (2005). "The Draw-A-Person Test: An Indicator of Children's Cognitive and Socioemotional Adaptation?". Heldref Publications.
• Williams, Simon D.; Wiener, Judy; MacMillan, Harriet (2005). "Build-A-Person Technique: An examination of the validity of human-figure features as evidence of child sexual abuse.". Elsevier Science.