Thematic Apperception Test

TAT interpretation – compiled by A. Glezerman, Ph.D.

Level 1: content analysis of responses to each card.
Card #
Hero
Hero’s needs:1) Abasement2) Achievement3) Affiliation4) Aggression5) Autonomy6) Counteraction7) Deference8) Defendance9) Dominance10) Exhibition11) Harm avoidance12) Avoidance of failure13) Nurturance14) Order15) Play16) Rejection17) Sentience18) Sex19) Succorance20) Understanding
Hero’s characteristics (emotional and physical)
Objects introduced
Objects omitted
Objects misperceived
Environment
Parental Figures
Hero’s reactions
Contemporary figures
Hero’s reactions
Junior figures
Hero’s reactions
Conflicts
Responses to conflicts
Anxieties
Defenses
Superego – punishment
Hero’s goals
Goal’s practicality
Hero’s adequacy
Means of achieving goals
Types of obstacles
Type of outcome
Realistic outcome?
Plot
Type of topic:1) Personal2) Relational3) Sexual4) Familial5) Professional6) Social7) Fantastical8) Abstract/Philosophical9) Religious/Spiritual
Level 2: content analysis of pattern of responses.
Themes common to more than one card
What type of stimulus triggers these themes
Outlier responses
What type of stimulus triggers these responses
Themes absent in responses
Common emotional states
Common needs
Common defenses
Common conflicts
Common goals
Common obstacles
Common outcomes
Overall perception of relationships
Overall perception of self
Overall perception of the world
Level 3: analysis of the process of responding.
Style of responding
Starting attitude to the task and changes in it
Respondent’s affect and changes in it
Structural elements missing in responses (beginning, situation, thoughts, feelings, outcome)
Latencies and changes in them
Length of stories and changes in them
Level of detail in the picture described and changes in it
Level of complexity (description, plot with conflict, conscious identification, interpretation of characters, generalization and symbolism) and changes in it
Responses indicating defensiveness
Type of defensive responses:1) Simple description of the card2) Highly formalized or structured responses3) Substitution of personal response by other (e.g. movie plot)4) Offering several options for story elements5) Other
Triggers for responses indicating defensiveness
Changes following these responses
Responses indicating loss of control (tangentiality, thought blocking, loss of logic, blanket refusal)
Triggers for responses indicating loss of control
Changes following these responses
Types of meta commentary:1) Evaluation of characters and plot (Narcissistic? Moralistic?)2) Personalization (low self-esteem?)3) Referring to common knowledge (low self-esteem? Anxiety?)4) Unusual precision of details (histrionic? Low self-esteem? Concrete? Good writer?)
Speech characteristics:1) Unusual style or verbiage2) Platitudes and quotes3) Paraphasias and pauses
Card #Common Themes (mostly Bellak, 1986; Соколова, 1980)
1Relationship w/parents, autonomy vs. compliance, achievement motivation, frustration, symbolic representation of sexual conflicts.
2Family relationships, family conflicts, autonomy/compliance, love triangles, pregnancy and children, gender stereotypes, historical themes, professional competency.
3BMGender (identification vs. dissociation), aggression, depression, suicidality.
3GFDepression.
4Relationship w/partner or spouse (could be self or parental), autonomy vs. dependence, trust and betrayal, sexual conflicts, jealousy.
5Relationship with mother, issues of privacy vs. intrusion, intimacy, safety.
6BMMother-son relationship.
6GFFather-daughter or husband-wife or male authority figure relationship.
7BMFather-son or male authority figure relationship.
7GFMother-daughter relationship, having children, sibling relationship, often includes very informative fairy tale.
8BMAggression, ambition.
8GFAspirations and dreams, current emotional state.
9BMCohort relationships, social interactions and biases.
9GFCohort relationships, mother-daughter and sibling conflicts, depression, suicidality, suspiciousness and paranoia, suppressed aggression.
10Male-female relationship.
11Primitive fears and anxieties, current emotional state.
12MRelationship with authority figures (often psychotherapist).
12FRelationship with mother or mother-in-law.
12BGDepression, suicidality, loneliness, tranquility.
13MFSexual problems and conflicts, aggression, guilt.
13BAnalogous to card 1 plus loneliness.
13GSame.
14Fear of darkness, suicidality, overall perception of the world and life.
15Death, depression, repressed aggression, religion.
16Blank card (in my experience, often reflects reaction to the assessment process or the examiner).
17BMFears, escape, body image, associations with sports and fitness.
17GFSuicidality, romantic stories.
18BMAttack vs. support, fears and dependencies, aggression.
18GFAggression, mother-daughter conflicts.
19Self and environment.
20Fears, loneliness, independence.

Compiled from: Леонтьев Д. А.(1998), Соколова Е. Т. (1980), Bellak, L. (1986), Murray H. A. (1943), Rotter J.B. (1946)

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