No abstract

To explore the viability of a revised and more differentiated scoring system for use with the Gerontological Apperception Test (GAT; Wolk & Wolk, 1971), 102 older adults (mean age = 68.3 years) were administered the GAT. Scoring criteria were developed to reflect a variety of constructs speaking to the interpersonal, health-related, and intrapsychic dimensions of the experience of later life. For each of these 20 GAT variables, indices of interscorer agreement exceeded 80%. Bivariate correlations suggested that 12 of 20 GAT dimension scores were related to chronological age as well as to scores derived from measures of crystallized and fluid ability. This also was true for 2 of 5 GAT factor scores. Not only do these data suggest that newly developed GAT variables can be reliably scored, but they also indicate that these more carefully differentiated variables relate to measures of intellectual functioning in theoretically meaningful ways. These findings therefore speak to the utility of the GAT using more carefully defined scoring criteria.

In a study by the first author wherein 102 community-residing older adults were administered the Holtzman Inkblot Technique (HIT), data collected were analyzed regarding the equivalence of the HIT and the HIT 25. Although alpha coefficients and split-half correlations were low when single-response-per-card data were analyzed, corrected Spearman-Brown coefficients were more supportive of the use of the HIT 25 with older adults. These data suggest that although a shortened form of the HIT may be useful with aged persons, research exploring the substantive bases for creating a shortened version of the HIT is nevertheless necessary.

Multiple regression analyses of Holtzman Inkblot Technique (HIT; Holtzman, Thorpe, Swartz, & Herron, 1961) factor scores were conducted to empirically determine the viability of a short form of the HIT with older adults. Although R2 values were acceptable, the contribution of individual cards to total factor scores was dubious at best. These data suggest that the development of a short form of the HIT for use with older adults is premature and requires more systematic research to justify its viability.