A study of instability using the Goodenough drawing scale.

Abstract

I N practically every phase of the study and interpretation of maladjustment, psychologists and psychiatrists differ. It appears that the basic reason for these controversies lies in the fact that the study, observations, and description of maladjustment have been largely literary in type and subjective in nature. One finds, therefore, a variety of opinions and generalizations that can be easily discarded on the ground that they have never been subjected to a rigorous experimental study.The failure of investigators to study maladjustment objectively has been indicated time and again by both psychiatrists and psychologists. Thus Glueck (6, 119) states: "In dealing with the defective, we at least have a number of rather dependable criteria which enable us to diagnose his condition. . . . No such dependable criteria are available as yet for a diagnosis of psychopathy." Slawson (12, indicates that the ineffectiveness of the studies, descriptions, and resultsi of personal experience of noted psychiatrists is due largely to the following two factors: (1) The studies have not as a rule utilized objective instruments of precision, but have been based largely upon the subjective opinions of observers, whose findings, although in all probability accurate determinations of the symptoms observed, do not lend themselves to comparisons because of their subjectivity; (2) the studies relating to emotional instability lack quantitative designations, thus making it impossible to put the results of studies to a statistical analysis.Alfred Binet had considerable interest in the qualitative analysis of the responses given on his original mental scale, with a view to differentiating the mentally disturbed from the mentally deficient. However, he was unable to prove conclusively the differentiating features of his scale in this respect. Later on, clinicians reported empirical evidences of characteristic performance on certain standardized tests and scales of maladjusted individuals functioning on various levels of intelligence. Mateer(lO) proposed ten criteria of psychopathy arrived at through her experiences in 288 * Mental disorders.

Studies in the psychology of children's drawings: II 1928-1949.

“…It is interesting to note that the pattern of the differences is the same as that found by those who have compared normal and retarded children; this in spite of the fact that the two groups were equated for total score on the drawing test. Berrien's (33) study, discussed later in this paper, attempts an item analysis to obtain a diagnostic measure of different types of behavior disorder in children, The possibility of using the Draw-a-Man Test as an indicator of maladjustment was also studied by Brill (41), who found that his maladjusted boys typically scored lower on this scale than they did on the Binet while the reverse was more often true of the well-adjusted. His attempt to devise a short form of the drawing test for the purpose of predicting maladjustment commits the too-familiar statistical error of using the same data for validating as for deriving the scale.…”

“…Whorley (pp. [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45], after a careful analysis of the literature on the subject, decided that the elements of compositional unity upon which authorities seemed best agreed are three in number, viz. ; emphasis, balance, and fitness.…”

Personality and Drawing in Retarded Children

“…Brill (5) has attempted to use the Goodenough Drawing scale as a means of studying instability, selecting nine elements of the scale which may "prove diagnostic of adjustment." He found four items showing conclusive differences between the adjusted and maladjusted, and five showing a probability of reliable difference.…”

The child's emotions.

“…Drawing, art work, and construction with plastic materials may give children an excellent opportunity to work out their aggressions harmlessly. Much that would otherwise be inexplicable in their behavior is sometimes thus revealed (i, 5, 10,17,48,67). At Bellevue Hospital in New York City, interesting work is being done in the Children's Ward by the use of puppets (6).…”