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Detailed Procedure of Thematic Apperception test

Personality

Detailed Procedure of
Thematic Apperception
test

by Praveen Shrestha
in Personality
Updated November 18,
2017
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Cite this article as: Praveen Shrestha, "Detailed Procedure
of Thematic Apperception test," in Psychestudy, November
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18, 2017,
https://www.psychestudy.com/general/personality/detaile Motivation Emotion 
d-procedure-thematic-procedure-test.
Personality 
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is only meant to be
Social 
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administered in an interpersonal setting. The test consists of 20
different cards containing ambiguous pictures, which are
presented to the subject.

Here are some of the key notes that will help you to

understand the procedure better as you continue on this
article.

Key note Description

M Males

F Females

B Boys

G Girls

BM Boys/Males

GF Girls/Females

The cards are provided to the subjects in following sequence.

Category Sequence

For the group of both males 1, 2, 3BM, 4, 6BM, 7GF, 8BM,

and females 9GF, 10, 13MF

For the group of males 1, 2, 3BM, 4, 6BM, 7BM, 11,

12M, 13MF

For the group of females 1, 2, 3, 3BM, 4, 6GF, 7GF, 9GF

11, 13GF

Keiser and Prather specified Murray’s most frequent cards in

1990, which were: 1, 2, 3BM, 3GF, 4, 5, 6BM, 6GF, 8BM and 8 GF.
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Conditions

The subject should be seated right beside the examiner

with his or her chair turned away.
Time should be measured from the moment when the first
picture is presented to the time before the next picture is
given.

Instructions
Each picture should be shown one at a time, and the subjects are
then asked to depict a story from the pictures in the card. Total
time duration assigned for 10 pictures is 50 minutes.

Condition for the Story (Compulsory)

It’s a must for the story to describe

Present Situation
Thoughts and feelings of the character(s)
Preceding events: the events that led up to the story.
Final Outcome

Recording Procedure

Complete responses presented by a subject should be

recorded.
Along with behavioral observations: stuttering, voice tone,
body posture, hand movements, exclamation, and so on.
Practitioner should engage in questioning and inquiry to
produce a continuous flow of the subject’s fantasy.
The cards should be administered in the sequence they
were presented to the subject.

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Henry A. Murray also developed scoring technique, and
categorized it as following five aspects of the stories.

The Hero: Scoring for the hero involves identifying the

protagonist in the story.
Need for the Hero: It was important for Murray to identify
the motives, needs and desire of the hero.
Identifying the presses: Environmental factors that
influence with the needs or actions of the hero are
regarded as presses.
Scoring for Themes: This involves evaluating the nature of
interplay and conflict between the presses and the needs.
Emotion elicited by conflict and the way in which conflict is
resolved is assessed.
Scoring for Outcome: Major scoring for outcome is done
on whether or not the story has a happy ending. Also, the
impact on the outcome influenced by the strengths of hero
and presses is assessed.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Pictures
Picture 1: A boy looking at the violin.

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Observation: This card yields out information regarding ones
ability to concentrate and achieve higher competence. Stories
about the boy’s dislike to learning violin is also often portrayed.
This could reveal information about the subjects’ own past about
having been forced to learn or do activities they didn’t enjoy.

Picture 2: A woman holding a book in a

country scene watching a man working in a
field in the background.

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Observation: The card represents a group scene and deals with
the individual challenge of living together with other people.This
is the only card in the series that does so.

Picture 3BM: A boy huddled next to a couch

with an ambiguous object placed next to him,
possibly a revolver or a set of keys.

Observation: This is considered to be one of the most important

pictures, especially for depressed patients, as it deals with
themes of aggression, impulsive control, guilt and depression.

For instance, If a patient describes the ambiguous object as a

gun, it’s highly likely that the person might harm oneself (Intra-
aggression) or another person (Extra-Aggression).

Picture 3GF: A woman standing next to an

open door holding a side of the door with one
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hand and other hand covering her downcast
face.

Observation: This image is quite similar to the Picture 3BM, and

targets the depressive feelings of a subject, although 3BM brings
out richer stories and can be used on both males and females.

Picture 4: A man turning away from a woman

who is grabbing his shoulders.

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Observation: This card yields out information regarding ones
feelings and attitudes towards man-woman relationship. Also,
themes of infidelity and betrayal, and the altitudes of male
towards the role of women may be analyzed from the story.

Picture 5: A woman looking into a room from

the door.

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Observation: This card gives out information about the
surrounding attitudes of the subject, a mother in a role of
observing and judging behavior, or paranoia caused by the fear
of attack or intruders. It’s important to understand the way in
which woman is portrayed in the story.

Picture 6BM: A man is holding onto is hat with

his face down, and an elderly woman is
standing beside him parallel to a window.

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Observation: It’s an important picture used in testing males
regarding their feelings and attitudes toward their mother or
maternal figures in their life. Frequently, stories have been seen
to produce a young man struggling and seeking independence.
It’s important to note the manner in which the subject portrays
the struggle.

Picture 6GF: An older man with a pipe in his

mouth is talking to a younger woman sitting
on a couch, who is looking back at him.

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Observation: Although this card was initially developed to be a
counterpart to Picture 6BM, it fails to do so as man and woman
in the picture are often viewed as of same age.When father and
daughter relationship is not established, stories tend to take an
approach of heterosexual relationship.

Picture 7BM: A younger man looking into

space (nothing) and an older man looking at
him.

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Observation: This card discusses about a person’s attitudes and
feelings towards authority figures.

Picture 7GF: A young girl is sitting on a couch

with a doll in her hands, and an older woman
sitting behind her is reading to her from a
book.

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Observation: The intention of the cards is to bring out mother-
child interaction. The picture is also perceived as both figures
rejecting each other since both of them are looking away from
each other. Also, it can also be portrayed as a mother telling a
fairy tale to her child.

Picture 8BM: The foreground shows a young

boy looking out of the picture. The background
shows two men performing operation on a
patient.

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Observation: The picture can be portrayed as a young man’s
mental conflicts and the attitudes of characters in the story
toward the older man performing surgery.

Picture 8GF: A woman sitting on a chair with

her chin resting in her hand. She is peering
into space.

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Observation: This is one of the pictures harder to generalize
about, and usually produce stories of contemplative nature.

Picture 9BM: Four men lying in a field against

one another.

Observation: The stories about the picture usually gives out

attitude of the subject towards the members of the same sex.
Also, social prejudice can be identified, particularly when the
subject describes the men in the picture as homeless and
workless.

Picture 9GF: A woman standing behind a tree

looking at another woman, who seems to be
running on a beach.

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Observation: This card was intended to bring out female peer
relations, and elaboration on the issues such as sibling rivalry,
jealousy and so on. Paranoia can also be depicted here, as the
woman on the foreground is standing behind a try.

Picture 10: A person is rest his/her on the

shoulder of another person. Gender is
unidentified.

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Observation: This picture gives out information about man-
woman relationship regarding closeness and intimacy. The
manner of comfort or discomfort displayed by the person
indicates his/her attitudes towards the subject matter.

Picture 11: Multiple figures are

traveling toward a bridge on a road in a
chasm. There seems to be a dragon above
them against the side of a cliff.

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Observation: This is a vague image, so it acts as a good test for
imaginative abilities and assessing the skills involved in
integration irregular nad poorly refined stimuli.

Picture 12M: A boy is lying on a bed, eyes

closed, and a man is standing above the boy
with his hand raised.

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Observation: The picture often indicates a story between an
older man and a younger one, quite often as a therapist and a
client. Subjects have been known to depict their attitudes toward
some external controlling forces. It’s important to note how the
older man is portrayed.

Picture 12F: A young woman at the front and

an older woman holding her chin at the
background.

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Observation: The background figure is often seen as a woman
with evil qualities (mother-in-law for instance. Negative qualities
are often feelings and attitudes towards her own mother.

Picture 12BG: There is a tree and a rowboat

next to it in a country setting with no presence
of a human being.

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Observation: Depressed or suicidal subjects are more likely to
depict stories of isolation and abandonment, whereas stable
subjects are likely to portray stories of being at peace in the
woods and fishing or just boating.

Picture 13MF​: A woman is lying on the bed in

the background and a man is standing in front
of her with his head in his arms.

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Observation: Subject’s sexual and aggressive feelings is
portrayed with this picture. This could also lead to information
about sexual conflicts and feelings towards the partner after or
before intercourse. People with OCD often spend great amount
of time on the picture because of the large of number of details
present in it.

Picture 13B: A boy sitting in the doorway of a

log cabin.

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 Cite this article as: Praveen Shrestha, "Detailed Procedure
of Thematic Apperception test," in Psychestudy, November
18, 2017,
https://www.psychestudy.com/general/personality/detaile
d-procedure-thematic-procedure-test.

Observation: Both adults and children may show feelings of

introspection or loneliness. Adults mostly relate the picture with
their childhood memories.

Picture 13G: There is a flight of stairs and a

girl climbing on it.

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Observation: Varied stories are presented from the card, but
lacking in richness and details. The card is unique in the manner
because of the lack of any specialty. This too can depict
loneliness and introspection.

Picture 14: A person is silhouetted against a

window.

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Observation: This card leads the subject to telling the stories
about the motives and situations that lead to the path of self-
destructive behavior. Also, another aspect the picture could
indicate is the personal philosophical beliefs and interests.

Picture 15: A man is standing with his hands

clasped together. There are tombstones
everywhere.

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Observation: This card leads the subject to tell the story about
death and reveals information about his/her attitude towards
death and the process of dying. The story could be aggressive,
violent or calm and quiet, depending on the subject. Another
possibility is the display of anger towards the dead person
because of the feelings of abandonment.

Picture 16: Blank card

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Observation: The subject imagines a picture and tells a story,
which could be sad, happy, optimistic, creative, and so on.

Picture 17BM: A naked man climbing down or

up a rope.

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Observation: Attitudes regarding the subject’s personal body
images are seen in the story. Themes of narcissism,
achievement, prowess, homosexuality may be observed.

Picture 17GF: The sun is shining from

between the clouds with a building over the
bridge. A woman is standing on the bridge
looking at the water.
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Observation: The story related to the  card reveals attitudes or
feelings toward the impending arrival or recent separation with a
loved one. This card is also effective in case of suicidal patients.

Picture 18B: Three hands are grabbing a man

dressed in a long coat.

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Observation: Individual forces are attacking, so, this could show
the presence of anxiety. The manner in which the subject
handles her own anxiety is important and should be noted.

Picture 18GF: Just below the flight of stairs, a

woman is grasping the throat of another
woman.

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Observation: Feelings of jealousy, inferiority, and the cause of the
aggressiveness along with the hostile relationships with other
women is revealed from this card. Repression of hostility and
denial is other useful information revealed from the card.

Picture 19: A surreal depiction of clouds and a

home covered with snow.

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Observation: It is one of the unstructured cards, and thus helps
to asses the individuals ability to integrate less accurate stimuli.
Anxiety and insecurity can also be seen from the card.

Picture 20: The card shows a man leaning

against a lamppost at night in a hazy
atmosphere.

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Observation: Subject’s attitudes and feelings toward loneliness,
uncertainty and darkness is revealed. The way in which the
subject handles fear can also be analyzed.

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What are other people reading?

Minnesot Conditio Uncondit The Big

a nal ional Five
Multipha Positive Positive personali

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