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Results for “THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST”

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PubMed2002

Children's internal representations, empathy, and fantasy play: a validity study of the SCORS-Q.

The authors investigated relationships among internal representations, empathy, and affective and cognitive processes in fantasy play to test the validity of the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale Q-Sort (SCORS-Q; D. Westen, 1995) with children. Eighty-six 8-10-year-olds were administered 8 Thematic Apperception Test cards, a standardized play task, and a self-report empathy measure. Teachers rated children's empathy and helpfulness. As predicted, internal representations were related to empathy, helpfulness, and quality of fantasy play. Developmental differences on the SCORS-Q were consistent with object relations theory and with results from the original SCORS. The findings support the value of internal representations as a means of understanding children's interpersonal functioning and contribute to the validity of the SCORS-Q for use with children.

Child↗

PubMed2002

Castration anxiety and phobias.

Based on Freud's case study of "Little Hans," the authors tested the hypothesis that men with phobias would score higher on castration anxiety than men without phobias. College men with either average or high scores on the Fears Scale of the MMPI-2 (n = 10 men in each group) responded to the Thematic Apperception Test, which was scored for castration anxiety. Men with high scores on the Fears Scale had higher scores on castration anxiety than men with average scores on the Fears Scale. The findings are consistent with Freud's hypothesis about phobias.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

TAT assessment of object relations: implications for child abuse.

Several recent empirical studies have documented impaired object relations in victims of childhood maltreatment. The consistency of these findings, despite sampling and other methodological differences, highlights the applicability of object relations theory to the study of abuse sequelae. This article illustrates the use of the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scales (SCORS) in the clinical assessment of maltreated children by applying it to selected Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) stories of a sexually abused girl, a physically abused girl, and a distressed but nonabused peer. Diagnostic and treatment implications are discussed.

Child↗

PubMed1996

Projection on projective techniques = pathology: the problem that is not being addressed.

A replication of the "levels effect" and reported correlation of "projection" and "pathology" was undertaken using a selected set of Thematic Apperception Test (Murray, 1943) cards varied for ambiguity and scored for pathology and projection. The levels effect was not found for pathology in either a normal or psychiatric group, but was found for projection in the normal group. The correlation between projection and pathology was again clearly confirmed. It was concluded that failure to take into consideration the stimulus properties of the cards and the context in which the test was administered may lead to false attribution of pathology to normal test-takers.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1988

Attitudes toward death in adolescent offspring of Holocaust survivors: a comparison of Israeli and American adolescents.

This paper is a continuation of a study begun in 1978 on attitudes toward death. A comparison study of Israeli and American adolescent offspring of Holocaust survivors who are in treatment in a residential treatment program in Jerusalem, Israel, is detailed. Biographical data, diagnostic classifications, a review of Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) responses and some dreams are presented. Israel is shown to be a therapeutic venue that allows the adolescent to redevelope a damaged identity.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1995

The impact of homelessness on children's level of aspiration.

In a sample of 39 school-age homeless children, their length of stay in shelters for the homeless was significantly correlated with an index of their level of aspiration. This correlation remained significant even when the effects of the children's intelligence and their performance on a related cognitive task were partialed out. Stories given in response to two Thematic Apperception Test cards by a small sample of these children illustrate the potentially traumatic consequences of homelessness on children's hopes and aspirations.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1982

Psychopathology as a function of neuroticism and a hypnotically implanted aggressive conflict.

Hypnotically implanted paramnesias (false stories) designed to arouse an unacceptable aggressive impulse successfully generated psychopathology in experimental subjects who were high in neuroticism. Control subjects received a similar paramnesia that was designed to arouse an acceptable impulse. The induced psychopathology approximated that observed in a psychiatric outpatient population. Experimental subjects who directed their aggressive impulses at fictitious authority figures experienced more psychopathology than did experimental subjects who directed their impulses at an authority figure who was physically present. Experimental subjects told shorter Thematic Apperception Test stories and expressed more blatant anger and aggression in their stories than did the controls, but the two groups did not differ in terms of the amount of anger and aggression projected nor did they differ in the amount of paramnesia material projected.

Aggression↗

PubMed1976

The relationship between behavioral indices of aggression and hostile content on the TAT.

The role played by fantasy in mitigating the overt expression of aggression was investigated by examining the relationship between aggressive behavior and aggressive story content on the Thematic Apperception Test. A rating scale, checklist, and offense scale were used to measure the aggressive behavior of 76 juvenile offenders. While only one measure correlated significantly with hostile content on the TAT, all three correlations were negative, suggesting an inverse relationship between measure of aggression and aggressive content on the TAT.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Sex differences, sex roles, and projection on the TAT: matching stimulus to examinee gender.

We examined the assumption that on the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) examinees identify more with stimulus characters of the same sex as themselves and therefore produce more projective material when tested with these gender matched cards. Repeated measures analyses of variance and t tests showed no increase in projection as a result of matching gender or sex role of subject to card stimulus. Results do not support the clinical utility of the separate male and female sets of TAT cards.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Anger and the use of defense mechanisms in college students.

It was hypothesized that experimentally induced anger would result in an increased use of defense mechanisms in college students. As predicted from the theory of defense mechanism development, the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) stories of angered students showed a higher level of use of projection and identification, and the use of these defenses was significantly correlated with the presence of aggressive content in the stories. The results were consistent with previous studies in showing that the predominant defenses of late adolescents are projection and identification, and that men use more projection than women.

Adult↗

PubMed1983

Assessment of depression in mentally retarded adults.

Depression and psychopathology were assessed in 110 adult patients (ages 18-71 years) classified as borderline, mildly, moderately, or severely mentally retarded. Patients completed modified versions of the Beck Depression Inventory, the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, the MMPI depression scale, the Thematic Apperception Test, and the Psychopathology Instrument for Mentally Retarded Adults. Clinicians and ward personnel rated the patients on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and an informant version of the Psychopathology Instrument for Mentally Retarded Adults. The measures correlated significantly with each other and were consistently related to the diagnosis of depression.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1980

Relationship between behavioral indices of aggression and hostile content on the TAT for incarcerated young women.

The role played by fantasy in moderating the overt expression of aggression was investigated by examining the relationship between aggressive behavior and hostile content on the Thematic Apperception Test. A Behavior Rating Scale, Behavior Checklist, and Aggressiveness of Offense Scale (Matranga, 1976) were used to measure the aggressive behavior of 15 incarcerated women between 16 and 20 yr. old. No support was found for the hypothesis that hostile content on the TAT is negatively correlated with behavioral measures of aggression. Instead, results suggested that there is no significant relationship between these variables, at least with an incarcerated, predominantly Native female population.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1977

Differentiation of intropunitive from extrapunitive female inmates.

Five cards of the Thematic Apperception Test were administered to 10 extrapunitive and 10 intropunitive female inmates. A scoring index based upon the individual's relationship and response to the environment was derived. Discrimination of group membership made by two independent judges who employed the index resulted in significant differentiation of groups on card 3BM. Discussion considers response to card 3BM as a manifestation of identification with the stimulus figure. Environmental constriction as an important response component also is examined.

Criminal Psychology↗

PubMed2005

Defense mechanisms and self-reported violence toward strangers.

College men who reported committing violence toward strangers (N = 30) and nonviolent college men (N = 30) completed Thematic Apperception Test cards (TAT) and responded to the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). Defense mechanisms were coded from the TAT responses with the Defense Mechanism Manual (DMM). The men who reported violence toward strangers had higher DMM Denial scores and higher MMPI-2 Antisocial Practices scores than the nonviolent men. Student violence toward strangers seems to reflect immaturity rather than psychopathy.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Further validation for the Cramer Defense Mechanism Manual.

This article presents psychometric properties of the Cramer Defense Mechanism Manual (Cramer, 1991b) for the Thematic Apperception Test (Murray, 1943). The developmental hierarchy of defenses originally postulated by Cramer was supported in this cross-sectional sample. Gender differences and the validity of distinguishing between "mature" and "immature" levels of defense were also investigated. Findings for gender differences largely replicate those previously reported by Cramer (1987, 1991a). Results also support the view of a developmental hierarchy of defenses and the validity of distinguishing between mature and immature levels of two of the three types of defenses.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Defense mechanisms and physiological reactivity to stress.

The relation between the use of defense mechanisms and autonomic nervous system reactivity, under conditions of laboratory stress, was studied in 78 men and women. Both diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and skin conductance level (SCL) were monitored during exposure to ten stress tasks; concurrently, the use of three defense mechanisms was assessed by coding Thematic Apperception Test stories. Autonomic reactivity was found to be related to defenses; the nature of that relation differed across the defenses. DBP, typically found to be associated with cognitive work, was higher in those individuals who used more Identification, a defense that requires greater cognitive activity. The use of Projection, on the other hand, was associated with lower DBP. In addition, the use of Identification showed a tendency to be associated with lower SCL.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1975

Marihuana effects on TAT form and content.

In a double-blind study, 72 normal male subjects were given either placebo or marihuana containing 20 mg. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol. Stories written to cards selected from the Thematic Apperception Test did not differ on hostile or sexual content scales between drug and placebo conditions, but 6 out of 10 scales specifically constructed to detect marihuana effects were successful at differentiating the two conditions. Under marihuana the stories had a timeless, non-narrative quality, with greater discontinuity in thought sequence and more frequent inclusion of contradictory ideas. Novelty of content was somewhat increased by marihuana, while relation to the picture, imagery, repetition, and closure were not significantly affected.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1985

Verbal measures of alexithymia: what do they measure.

Previous studies have shown that measurement of verbal affective expression is influenced by the method used for obtaining speech samples, thereby supporting a situation-dependent, or state concept of alexithymia. In this study monadic speech samples obtained from 20 psychoneurotic and 20 psychosomatic patients, using selected thematic apperception test (TAT) cards, were examined using different methods of content analysis. Although no differences were found with the Gottschalk-Gleser anxiety, hostility outward and hope scales, the psychosomatic patients had a more limited emotional vocabulary than the psychoneurotic patients as measured by an 'affect vocabulary score' (AVS). In contrast to the Gottschalk-Gleser scores (GGS), the AVS correlated with measures of fantasizing ability and would appear to be a more valid method of measuring alexithymia. The findings also supported a trait concept rather than a state concept of alexithymia.

Affective Symptoms↗