Thematic Apperception Test

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is a widely used, researched, and taught projective psychological test.  It taps a subject's unconscious to reveal repressed aspects of personality, motives and needs for achievement, power and intimacy, and problem-solving abilities.

The TAT uses a picture interpretation technique with a standard series of 31 provocative yet ambiguous pictures.  The subject tells a story for each picture. In the case of adults and adolescents of average intelligence, a subject is asked to tell dramatic stories, including:

• what has led up to the event shown
• what is happening at the moment
• what the characters are feeling and thinking, and
• what the outcome of the story was.

Two series of ten pictures each are used for the test.  The pictures are selected with which the subject can identify.  Suggested administration involves one full hour being devoted to a series, with the two sessions being separated by a day or more.

Several cards in the test are presented with cards picturing individuals of the same gender.  Eleven cards (including the blank card) have been found suitable for both sexes, by portraying no human figures, an individual of each sex, or an individual of ambiguous gender.

Each story is analyzed to uncover underlying needs, attitudes, and patterns of reaction.  The TAT is based on what subjects project onto the ambiguous images.  The stories are interpreted by a psychologist, who looks for indications of trust, anxiety, fear, or the need for achievement.  Subjects might not be aware of such feelings, and they probably would not be revealed on objective tests.

TAT was developed by the American psychologists Henry A. Murray and Christiana D. Morgan at Harvard during the 1930s to explore the underlying dynamics of personality, such as internal conflicts, dominant drives, interests, and motives.  After World War II, the TAT was adopted more broadly by psychoanalysts and clinicians to evaluate emotionally disturbed patients.  Since the 1970s and the Human Potential Movement, psychologists use the TAT to help their clients understand themselves better and stimulate personal growth.