TAT: THEMATIC
APPRECEPTION TEST
Abstract:
Thematic Apperception Test, also known as TAT, was first
developed by the American psychologist Henry A. Murray and lay
psychoanalyst Christiana D. Morgan in 1930s. The idea for the
test emerged after an student of Murray, Cecilia Roberts,
enquired to the professor about the possibility of using Henry’s
test in a clinical setting to explore the underlying dynamics of her
ill son’s personality. Developed in the belief that the content of
imagined stories would provide clues to the underlying dynamics
of a subject's interpersonal relationships and self-attitudes. TAT
data is expected to reveal the hierarchy of a person's needs and
the nature of his or her dominant emotions and conflicts.
INTRODUCTION:
The Thematic Apperception Test, or TAT, is a type of projective
test that involves describing ambiguous scenes. Popularly known
as the "picture interpretation technique," it was developed by
American psychologists Henry A. Murray and Christina D. Morgan
at Harvard University in the 1930sThe TAT test is often applied on
individuals in a group as a series of tests to analyze and evaluate
their personality. TAT test has been successfully administered to
pinpoint information about a person’s view of the world and his
other attitudes towards others and the self. Through the stories
the subjects tell about the pictures, the examiner elicits
information like the subject’s expectations in life, relationship
with friends and family, viewpoint towards the elderly and
younger ones and so on.
Murray’s theory of personality:
From a Psychoanalytic Perspective Murray used the term “personology” to
describe his study of human lives and individual differences in personality. He
described a habit system as automatic, unconscious behaviors shaped by the id,
ego, and superego. Murray emphasized positive instincts related to motivation
and needs.
His theory of personality is based upon needs and motives that suggest our
personalities are a reflection of behaviors controlled by needs. While some needs
are temporary and changing, other needs are more deeply seated in our nature.
According to Murray, these psychogenic needs function mostly on the
unconscious level, but play a major role in our personality. . He is consistently
aware of how individuals interact with their environment. Murray developed a list
of 28 needs. He developed a list of 24 possible forces in person’s environment
named as press.
Hypothesis:
The TAT is based on the projective hypothesis. Projective
hypothesis refers to the notion that when confronted with
ambiguous and unstructured stimuli, the responses elicited by a
person reflect one's unconscious needs, feelings, anxieties,
motives, thoughts, conflicts, and prior behavioral conditioning.
The TAT relies upon the projective hypothesis, which suggests
that the examinee's responses reflect important facets of the
individual's personality.
Procedure:
This projective test is also regarded as a picture interpretation technique as it
consists of a series of drawings that give a picture of human figures in various
ambiguous situations. The test consists of 31 cards, 30 with pictures and a black
card. Subjects are then asked to interpret the pictures by creating a story
describing the situation of the person in the cards. The blank card is provided with
the goal to ask subjects to create their own scene and story. Designated sets of 20
pictures are administered to men and women, while the two other sets are
administered to boys and girls. Murray recommended the test to be administered
in two 1-hour sessions, consisting of 10 cards each.
Instructions:
The examiner will show the pictures on the card one at a time,
and the subject will be making up as dramatic a story as he/she
can for each picture card. 50 minutes for 10 pictures. The
following story structure must be obtained:
a) current situation:
-what is happening at the moment?
b) thoughts and feelings of the character (s);
-what the characters are feeling and thinking?
c) preceding events;
-what has led up to the event shown in the picture? d)
outcome ;
-what was the outcome?
Interpretation:
The 3 Levels of Interpretations suggest by Bellak & Abram,
1997 are:
Descriptive Level- it is the mere repeat of the story
Interpretative Level- It extends the descriptive level by an
alteration of it [if one does the X, then the outcome will be
Y.].
Diagnostic Level- It is the further extension that an
interference is made about the client.
The results of the TAT must be interpreted in the context of the
subject’s personal history, age, sex, level of education,
occupation, racial or ethnic identification first language, and other
characteristics that may be important. Evaluations may be based on five
aspects:
The Hero: Identifying who the central character is
Need for Hero: needs, motives, desires of the hero
Identifying presses: any important environmental factors
that may influence the hero
Scoring for themes: noting the nature of the interplay and
conflict between the needs and presses, the types of
emotions it elicits and how the conflict is resolved.
Scoring for outcome: analysing the ending, and the extent
to which the happy ending is controlled by the hero’s
strengths and forces in the environment.
The story reveals the subject’s attitudes, fantasies, wishes, inner
conflicts and view of the world. It reflects the subject’s feelings,
assumptions, optimism or pessimism.
Results:
Results must be interpreted in the context of the subject’s history,
age, sex, education, occupation, racial or ethnic identification,
language and other important characteristics.
CARD:2
PICTURE DESCRIPTION:
This picture depicts story of a village girl, who is restrained from achieving her dreams due to society’s
pressure , and the burdens of responsibilities she has on her shoulders. She dreams of going to school
and pursuing a career in teaching, in order to change her villages fate. But chained by the norms of her
society she feels depressed and prisoned. The elderly Pregnant women , who is the sister of the main
character is a symbol of ‘ An exemplary village girl”, who’s only duty is to get married, have kids and take
care of her house .On the other hand the man working in the field shows the tough life of a farmer, the
man working in the field is the girls father, who works day and night to provide for her family. She
dreams to escape this life of imprisonment and live a purposeful and successful life by gaining
knowledge.
INTREPRETATION:
-Age of the main character: 16 years old.
▪️Gender of the main character: female.
▪️Age and gender of other characters: sister: 18, Father: 54
▪️Mood (main character ): Sad and depressed
▪️Theme of the story: neutral.
▪️Feelings: Feelings of hopelessness, helplessness and lack of freedom.
▪️Thought pattern: optimistic and aspiring.
▪️needs of the main character and others : Freedom and achievement.
▪️relationship of main character wd others: Neutral but conflicting view points.
REFERENCES:
https://www.psychestudy.com/general/personality/thematic-
apperception-test
https://www.scribd.com/document/365924833/Thematic-
Apperception-Test-Administration-and-Interpretation-of-the-TAT-
pdf
