THEMATIC APPERCEPTION

TEST

PRESENTED

By

MR. Mehraj AHMAD BHAT

THEMATIC APPERCEPTION

TEST

This test was developed by Morganand later developed by Murray in1935 in the course of researchprogramme at the HowardPsychological clinic.

Cont… It may be considered as an improvement

over the Rorschach test.

The main use of TAT is to expose theunderlying inhabited tendencies which aperson can not admit in normal situationsdue to unconsciousness of them orunwillingness to admit.

The term thematic has been derivedfrom the word “Thema” meaning a topicon which a person think, speaks or

writes.Thema according to Murry is aninteraction of the need and press

variables.Need according him, is a hypotheticalprocess within the organism whichstimulates him to overt or covert action.Press according him, is a force in theenvironment which may, facilitate orinterfere in the satisfaction of need.

ASMINISTRATION OF TEST TAT material consists of 31 cards.

Thirty of them are vague pictures in black and whiteand one is blank.

These cards has been shown to four groups.

One set for boys >14 symbolized as “B”

One set for girls >14 symbolized as “G”

One set for males <14 symbolised as “M”

One set for females <14 symbolised as “F”

OUT OF 31 cards 11 = shown to all

07= BM

07 = GF

01 = M

01 = F

01 = MF

01 = G

01 = B

01 = G

Young boy contemplating a violin

Young woman or girl holding books, man in background

ploughing

Woman clutching at man, who is straining away, picture

of second woman in background

Elderly woman back turned on young man , who is

looking down.

Gaunt man standing among grave stones.

Man climbing up or down a rope

Boy looking straight out of picture ,rifle at left, dimly seen

surgical operation in background

Young woman in drooping posture, face hidden by hand

Woman with breasts bare, lying on bed man standing

with forearm across his eyes.

Young woman with weird old woman behind her

shouldour

Instructions for adults and

children's under 14This is a test of imagination. I shall show

you some pictures, one at a time. Your taskwill be to describe a story. The story mustrelated to the events shown in the picture,i,ewhat is happing at the movement, what thecharacters are feeling and thinking etc.Youcan devote about five minutes to each story.

Recording and scoring The response of the examine are recorded

verbatim and comments of the examiner are givenafter every card. The purpose of the comment is toknow whether outcome has been mentioned ornot, whether a story is long or short.(Averagelength of a TAT story is 300 words).A story of lessthan 140 words is not scored at all. If an examineedescribes more than one story in a single card, heis motivated to concentrate on only one long story,rather than several short stories.

Interpretation of the test: HeroHero of the story (male and female) is the central

figure around whom the entire events revolve. Theexaminee recognizes the hero by his principletraits like superiority, criminality, belongingness,inferiority etc. The examinee identifies himselfwith the hero by taking much interest in him.Hero is the main character of the story whodominates from the beginning of the story. Theremay be more that one hero’s in the stories.

Motives, trends and feelings of the

heroesHere, the interpreter analyses the overt

behavior of the hero, i.e., what the herothinks, feels and does. These overt behaviorreflects the needs and emotions of theheroes which are actually the needs andemotions of the examinee. Some of theseneeds are aggression, achievements, sexrelated needs etc.

Forces of the hero’s

environment:Here emphasis is given on environment

variables which is called press. Theycan either facilitate or interfere infulfilling the needs. Some of thesepress are rejection, dominance,physical injury etc.

Outcomes:Outcome refers to how the story ends.

This ending may be tragic or comedian.

This ending shows how an examineethinks about the future of his life.

Thema:It refers to the interaction of the hero

with the forces of the environment.The purpose of thema is to studydifferent types of forces which work foror against the hero in the story.Themaactually helps us to understand theproblems of the examinee.

Interests and sentiments:Here choice of the topics of the stories

and ways of handling them areanalysed.The assumption is that anexaminee chooses a story according tohis own interest or attitudes andhandles them on the same line.

Conclusion: After analyzing all the above six points conclusion

are drawn. But following points must be kept inview while drawing conclusions.

Only 6 out of 20 stories should fall under the impersonalcategory. The elements given under this category are notpersonal. They are rather derived from films, novels, storybooks etc.

If more than 6 out of 20 stories fall under this category. Itindicates three things.

1.Examinee is not involved in the test. 2.Content is psychologically irrelevant. 3. Administration of the test is poor.

Murray has given three types of

normal personality:

1. Inner

2. middle

3. outer

TAT has been designed to reveal the second level not the first level.

Limitations of TAT 1.Limited applicability of the test : It can be applied

only on those people who are intellectually above thanaverage. Those who are low in intelligence are notexpected to form stories on the basis of cards.

2. Validity of the test: Validity of the TAT is very low,because there is lack of standardized procedure offinal normative data.

3. Fantasies and real life contradiction: Every manwants to become a superman and every poor wants tobecome a billionaire. So ideas given by him in thestories may not necessarily reflect the real personalityof man.

Reliability of TAT 4. Reliability of TAT: Reliability of the

test can be calculated only by testretest method or equivalent formmethod and split half method cannotbe used here at all because set ofpictures can not be divided into twoequal halves.