The reliability of the Thematic Apperception Test

Controversy over the TAT's reliability may stem largely from the mis-application of traditional psychometric measures, which are inappropriate to this test. The TAT is implicitly based on a multiple regression model, for which coefficient alpha is not appropriate. Also, test-retest correlations may be adversely affected by the standard instructions to write a "creative" story. In a test-retest study, 47 high school students retook the TAT after a year with instructions designed to break the implicit set to produce a new and different story from that previously written. The test-retest correlations were r = .48 (need for affiliation) and .56 (need for intimacy), or approximately the same as those for, e.g., the MMPI, 16PF, and CPI, It was demonstrated that this high stability over time was not due to subjects' recalling and repeating previous responses. Finally, it was shown that alpha considerably underestimated the test-retest reliability, contrary to assumptions of classical psychometrics.     

Rorschach Measures of Posttraumatic Stress in Persian Gulf War Veterans

Imaginative stories written in response to either 6 or 10 different Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) pictures by over 1,500 college students in two studies were scored for intimacy motivation (McAdams, 1980), and a subset were scored for fear of intimacy (Pollack & Gilligan, 1982). The intimacy motive is a recurrent preference or readiness for experiences of warm, close, and communicative interaction with others, and it is assessed by coding the quality of the interpersonal interaction exhibited by characters in a TAT story. Fear of intimacy, on the other hand, is assumed to reveal itself through images of violence displayed in affiliative and intimate situations in TAT stories, for example, when one lover kills another. In both studies, women scored significantly higher than men on intimacy motivation, especially with respect to the intimacy themes of Relationship Produces Positive Affect, Relationship Transcends Space-Time Limitations, Surrender of Control in Relationships, and Connection to Outside World. This sex difference in intimacy motivation was most pronounced in stories written to pictures portraying possible heterosexual romance. Contrary to findings obtained by Pollack and Gilligan, however, men did not write more stories with themes of violence in intimate relationships than did women, providing little support for Consistent sex differences in a general fear of intimacy.     

Defense use and defense understanding in children

This study investigated the relation between children's use of defense mechanisms and their understanding of those defenses. We hypothesized that, once a child understands how a particular defense functions, the use of that defense will no longer be successful and will be replaced by another defense mechanism that is not yet understood. Defense use was assessed from the Thematic Appreception Test (TAT) stories told by 122 children; defense understanding was determined from the children's understanding of stories portraying defenses. The results indicated that younger children (mean age = 7-8) used the defense of denial more than the older children (mean age = 9-11). Older children understood the functioning of denial and projection better than the younger children. A comparison of children who did and did not understand a defense showed that younger children who understood the functioning of denial were less likely to themselves use denial. Likewise, older children who understood the functioning of projection were less likely to use this defense.     

Instructional Set and Thematic Apperception Test Validity

The strong controversy over the Thematic Apperception Test's (TAT) validity may be partly due to the divergent results critics and advocates have obtained in their own research. It is noted that conditions of test administration are closely associated with quality of TAT research results. To demonstrate a cause of TAT invalidity, 199 adolescents were given the TAT following one of four instructional sets: neutral, following a personality test, emphasizing that the TAT is a personality test, and in a nonthreatening but structured setting. As expected, stories written after neutral instructions were valid predictors of need for achievement, affiliation, and power criteria; whereas other stories yielded nonsignificant and sometimes negative validities. It was concluded that the instructions are crucial to the quality of TAT results, and suggestions were offered to help ensure validity.     

An exploratory study of the effects of emotionally toned incidental stimuli1

The present study examined the effects of emotionally toned (angry or pleasant) incidental stimuli upon fantasy production Subjects told more aggressive TAT stories when highly aggressive passages from a play were audible from the next room (at a volume and fidelity which made it difficult to follow the verbal message) than they did when no such stimulus was playing No increase in aggression was noted in the presence of a pleasantly toned stimulus Individual differences in responsiveness to the incidental stimulus were related to other measures of influence by incidental stimuli, and little individual consistency was evident It was suggested that the concept of a general trait of responsiveness to incidental stimulation may be too global, and that consistencies may be limited to particular response modes, types of stimuli, and orientations to the situation.     

Patterns of transactional style deviance in the TAT's of parents of schizophrenics

Parents of schizophrenics show more transactional style deviance in diverse situations than do other parents. In a sample of families of nonschizophrenic outpatient adolescents, a manual for scoring such deviance on stories told for seven TAT cards was developed. This scoring system was shown to be composed of six meaningful factors. When this system was applied to the TAT's of parents of offspring with a variety of psychiatric diagnoses, a total deviance score did not discriminate among the parents. High scores on two particular factors were found only in parents of hospitalized schizophrenics, but four factors were nondiscriminating. Parents of young adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorders were more likely to show high scores on at least one of these six factors than other parents. Considering the scores of mothers and fathers together yielded the best discrimination of parents of schizophrenia spectrum disorders from other parents.     

Comparing diagnostic validity of the TAT and a new picture projective test

Diagnostic validity of the TAT and a new picture projective test, the PPT, were compared for normal, depressed, and psychotic subjects. Generally, the PPT elicited more positive emotional tone, more activity, and fewer thematic deviations than the TAT. The PPT and TAT were essentially equal in the capacity to discriminate between stories of normal and depressed subjects; however, the PPT was superior in differentiating psychotics from normals and depressives. On the PPT, depressives told stories with gloomier emotional tone and psychotics made more perceptual distortions, thematic and interpretive deviations. None of these differences were apparent on the TAT. The PPT pictures seem to have more diagnostic validity than the TAT stimuli.     

Exploring the Factor Structure of the Social Cognition and Object Relations–Global Rating Method: Support for Two- and Three-Factor Models

The Social Cognition and Object Relations Scales–Global Rating Method (SCORS–G) contains 8 scales for coding narrative content. This study explores the factor structure of this measure using college (n = 171), outpatient (n = 239), and inpatient (n = 78) samples. Participants told stories to the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Murray, 1943) cards. Stories were transcribed and coded by blind raters using the SCORS–G. Cases were randomly assigned to an exploratory or validation group. Exploratory factor analysis with the exploratory group suggested 2- and 3-factor models. The Emotional Investment in Relationships (EIR) scale did not obtain a primary loading on any factor and was not included in subsequentmodels. After modifications, confirmatory factor analysis indicated good-to-adequate fit for 2- and 3-factor models. Both models showed good fit in the validation group and met criteria for invariance across models. Findings indicated that some SCORS–G scales tap cognitive-structural elements, whereas others assess affective-relational components of narratives. We found mild support separating the affective-relational scales in terms of internal representations for the self and others and relationships. The results reported here indicate that clinicians and researchers can calculate a separate cognitive-structural composite score and an affective-relational composite score when using the SCORS–G to rate TAT stories.     

Formal Characteristics of Thematic Apperception Test Stories as Indices of Emotional Disturbance in Children

Formal characteristics of stories told about picture cards from the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) were defined as reflecting the storyteller's ability to accomplish the task and were distinguished from content that expresses the unique concerns of the individual. It was argued that increased emphasis on formal aspects of TAT responses is warranted, because these characteristics can be determined more objectively and are more suitable for direct group comparison. Therefore, the variables included in our study consisted of an integration and expansion of formal characteristics previously developed with adults, which showed promise in differentiating disturbed and normal groups of children. Based on these formal characteristics of TAT stories, 95% of the comparison group members and 85% of the disturbed group members were correctly classified. Emotionally disturbed boys (n = 40) differed from a comparison group (n = 40) on seven formal scoring categories which were hypothesized to differentiate the groups.     

Test Sophistication and Faking in the TAT Situation

This study investigated the effects of conscious altering of response (faking) and test sophistication on TAT performance. Thirty-six naive undergraduates and 36 TAT-sophisticated graduate students and clinicians wrote stories to all 20 TAT cards under one of two conditions: standard, and instructions to “fake” hostility. The four groups were then compared by Analysis of Variance on a number of quantitative response measures. Effects of the two experimental variables, sophistication and faking, varied with the response measure, but, in general, faking instructions led to response changes, and sophisticated subjects performed differently than naive ones. Some sex differences were also apparent. It was concluded that sophistication is a factor in how a subject fakes, the sophisticated subjects generally doing a better job of it. The implications for the effect of stimulus pull were discussed and it was concluded that the pull value of the stimulus is not affected by a peripheral response set but is affected by sophistication.     

Formal characteristics of Thematic Apperception Test stories as indices of emotional disturbance in children

Formal characteristics of stories told about picture cards from the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) were defined as reflecting the storyteller's ability to accomplish the task and were distinguished from content that expresses the unique concerns of the individual. It was argued that increased emphasis on formal aspects of TAT responses is warranted, because these characteristics can be determined more objectively and are more suitable for direct group comparison. Therefore, the variables included in our study consisted of an integration and expansion of formal characteristics previously developed with adults, which showed promise in differentiating disturbed and normal groups of children. Based on these formal characteristics of TAT stories, 95% of the comparison group members and 85% of the disturbed group members were correctly classified. Emotionally disturbed boys (n = 40) differed from a comparison group (n = 40) on seven formal scoring categories which were hypothesized to differentiate the groups.     

Hostility on the TAT as a Function of Defensive Inhibition and Stimulus Situation

It was hypothesized that there would be significant differences in the aggressive imagery of inhibited and uninhibited subjects when TAT cards or instructions strongly suggested an aggressive response but not when the experimental conditions did not suggest hostile themes. This prediction was verified on a sample of women but no support was found in a sample of men. The findings were related to other studies in the literature and directions for further research suggested.     

Is hostility linked with affiliation among males and with achievement among females? A critique of Pollak and Gilligan

This investigation attempted to replicate and to clarify methodologically an investigation by Pollak and Gilligan (1982). Those investigators reported sex differences in violence imagery to Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) pictures depicting affiliation and achievement situations. Pollak and Gilligan concluded that men perceive danger in situations of affiliation whereas women perceive danger in situations of achievement. It was demonstrated in the present study that Pollak and Gilligan incorrectly classified TAT cards into motivational categories, which may have resulted in incorrect inferences. In addition, their findings could not be replicated when using four different systems for classifying TAT cards into motivational categories. Other potential sources of error in their research, including a restrictive scoring scheme for hostility, unusual instructions, and failure to control for sex role in the TAT pictures, did not influence the pattern of results.     

Gender Differences in Family Stories: Moderating Influence of Parent Gender Role and Child Gender

One hundred and twenty families and their 4-year-old children participated in a study on family stories. The participants were primarily White (91%), with the remainder Black (4%), Hispanic (2%), and Asian (2%). The parents were primarily middle class and upper class, with approximately 5% identifying themselves as from a lower socioeconomic background. Parents were asked to tell their son or daughter stories about when the parent was growing up. All parents completed measures of child behavior and a subset of parents completed the Bem Sex Role inventory. Stories were coded for the strength of affiliation, achievement, and autonomy themes. No gender differences were found for parents or child in the strength of affiliation themes. Fathers told stories with stronger autonomy themes than did mothers, and sons were more likely to hear stories with themes of autonomy than were daughters. An interaction was found between gender type of parent and gender of child for strength of achievement theme. Traditional gender-typed parents told stories with stronger achievement themes to their sons, and nontraditional gender-typed parents told stories with stronger achievement themes to their daughters. Exploratory analyses were conducted examining the relations among story theme, parent gender type, and child behavior. Higher levels of externalizing behaviors were found in boys whose fathers endorsed strong masculine attitudes, but told stories with weak achievement themes. Higher levels of internalizing behaviors were found in girls whose mothers told stories with strong affiliation themes, but endorsed weak feminine attitudes. Family stories are proposed to be one aspect of socialization that includes an interaction between child and parent characteristics.     

Using the Rasch model to quantify the causal effect of test instructions

This experimental study was designed to quantify, by means of the Rasch model (RM), the effects of three instruction/scoring conditions on student measures and on the reliability of an achievement multiple-choice test in a field context. Examinees performed the test in one of three conditions which differed only in the instructions provided. Predictions regarding performance indicators were fulfilled, and the expected differences in reliability favoring omission-inducing instructions did appear. This difference in reliability was found for both Rasch and raw data and thus it can be concluded that the fact that results from previous studies failed to corroborate this prediction must have been due to the lack of important consequences of test scores for the students. The RM has served to neatly quantify the differences between instructions promoting guessing and instructions promoting omission under uncertainty, showing that the recommendation to omit is not only educationally but also psychometrically sound.     

Marijuana-induced primary process content in the TAT

Seventy-two normal adult male subjects wrote TAT stories under baseline and either placebo- or marijuana-ingestion conditions. Marijuana subjects received 20 mg. doses of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol. The stories were keypunched and content analyzed with the Regressive Imagery Dictionary, which yields a score for primary process content. Results indicate that marijuana, relative to placebo, caused subjects to write stories with a higher proportion of primary process content than they had included in baseline stories.     

The WAIS Picture Arrangement Subtest as a Measure of Anticipation

Summary

Recent research and theory has stressed the importance of future extension as a parameter in psychological development and in psychopathology. One of the primary methods for assessing future extension has been through fantasy productions to TAT cards or to story stems. Both of these methods have been useful but they are limited because they are dependent in part on verbal fluency. It has been suggested that the Picture Arrangement (PA) subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale assesses anticipation and planning and, as such, it provides a non-verbal measure of future extension. PA scores were found in a pilot study to have a positive and significant relationship to future extension as measured in stories told to story roots, and in the present study to future extension as measured in TAT stories.     

Effects of Changes in Instructions and Pictorial Variations on Story-telling Performance of Paranoid Schizophrenics

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of variations in instructions and pictorial stimuli on the story-telling performance of paranoid schizophrenic patients to TAT-like cards dealing with the dimensions of sex and hostility.

Twelve TAT-like pictures, six depicting sexual scenes and six representing hostile content were administered to 68 paranoid schizophrenics. One group of 34 Ss was instructed to tell stories in the first-person, while a different group of 34 Ss told stories in the third-person. Two criterion measures were examined; initial reaction time and total number of words.

Initial reaction time was significantly slower under first-person instructions, but only for the hostile pictures.

Initial reaction time was shortest for the moderately sexual pictures and verbal output was greatest for the least sexual pictures.

For the hostile pictures, neither the main effect of instructions nor the degree of hostility significantly affected any of the criterion measures.